Abstract:

Due to its key role in the industrial value chain between the product development and the mass production, the tool and die making industry relies on its knowledge in process organization and manufacturing techniques in order to produce high quality products at competitive prices. In the design and production process of a tool many influences from areas like material properties, manufacturability or wear reduction have to be considered.
Knowledge is therefore an important resource in the tool and die making industry and a driver of innovative products with a high quality. Hence knowledge management is key to utilize existing resources in order to strengthen the competitiveness of tool and die making companies.

The tool and die making industry is facing the challenges of demographic aging and a decreasing apprentice rate. Because of the increasing average employee age many high-qualified employees who gained a lot of experience are going to be on the verge of retirement. In many companies the knowledge of those highly experienced employees is not documented in any form and will therefore be lost by the time of retirement. Another challenge is a decreasing apprentice rate, because fewer young employees start working in companies of the tool and die making industry. In order to keep up the work productivity the young employees have to be able to access more knowledge than in the past and understand it in less time. Currently the tool and die making industry lacks a systematic approach for managing the resource knowledge more effectively. Companies have no guidelines for choosing knowledge management methods in order to store and use different kinds of knowledge. Due to the usually small size of toolshops a knowledge management approach for the tool and die making industry has to focus on the feasibility in such conditions.

An approach to handle these future challenges is the assessment of practice-oriented knowledge management methods as well as a categorization with the aim of having a holistic overview of feasible methods for the tool and die making industry. This paper describes the results of a study on knowledge management methods and how well they fit the requirements of this industry. The study was carried out with a group of German tool and die making companies. Based on these results and the assessment of further knowledge management methods from other business sectors a method set of knowledge management methods for the tool and die making industry will be created. This set of knowledge management methods will allow companies to identify and choose knowledge management methods which fit their requirements and limitations.

Keywords:

Knowledge Management, Tool and Die Making, Knowledge Management Methods, Know-how.