Abstract
Global competition has pushed firms to improve and upgrade their manufacturing operations continuously. This paper explores the role of knowledge base and learning to facilitate this phenomenon. Developing a knowledge base requires organising knowledge and expertise for a field of inquiry and making it available in formats suitable for users to support and aid various operational, developmental, and organisational functions. Classification and coding form the basis for organising knowledge bases. Classification implies grouping objects into similar classes on the basis of some similarity criteria pertinent to one or more attributes. Learning in the context of classification implies discovering new attributes, bases for grouping and requires frequent updating of the knowledge base. A formal knowledge base makes a firm's knowledge cumulative and serves an important integrating and coordinating role for the organisation. The paper presents an example application utilizing classification as a tool for knowledge acquisition in design support activities.