Knowledge Sharing within both Make-to-Order and Engineer-to-Order Manufacturing Enterprises

摘要

One of the main problems associated with Make-to-order (MTO) is how MTO manufacturers learn from what are essentially "one-off projects. This paper proposes a framework that supports knowledge sharing across the MTO projects. The framework focuses on assessing the critical phases of the new product development (NPD) process, as well as providing a knowledge base for embedding, managing and disseminating the aspects of the learning curve in order to support future projects. The paper highlights the importance of knowledge sharing and the on-going frustrations of NPD-MTO and is supported by a complex industrial case study within a Small Medium Enterprise (SME) MTO manufacturing enterprise.