Not all information is of equal value. For manufacturing companies, critical knowledge is invariably linked to the design and manufacture of products. This knowledge must be identified, stored and contextualized – that is, linked to other relevant product knowledge. For this reason, product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions are often an ideal backbone for an effective knowledge management initiative that seeks to:

• Eliminate lengthy redesign cycles by leveraging enterprise-wide knowledge
• Protect consistency and quality of company innovations and brand attributes
• Reapply corporate innovations in new product environments
• Protect corporate IP across a global environment of partners and suppliers

To truly embrace new and innovative ideas from multiple sources, Machinery and Industrial products companies must gather and make widely available relevant product and process knowledge from key constituents across the value chain. Knowledge and IP Management empowers decision-makers by enabling the exchange of accurate and timely information with the right people – from ideation, engineering, and design through specification and requirements, sourcing, manufacturing, production, sales, and service.

Effective IP management solutions require mechanisms to document key information relative to innovations, such as who/when/how contributed. This is especially important in a complex distributed organization that includes multiple suppliers.

Once knowledge has been identified, contextualized and stored, companies must find ways to share this knowledge internally and externally across the value chain.