WiRPro

 

WiRPro

Extending Product Lifecycle Management by knowledge-based feedback of product use information into product development

 

 

Traditionally, most manufacturers already have established processes of efficient forward information flow that accompany the product lifecycle, starting in product development and leading all the way to sales. In doing so, they usually base their operations on IT systems like CAx, ERP and PLM. Yet, information about the consequences of the decisions made during product development, which manifest themselves as failures and weaknesses only as early as the product use phase, are made available and can thus be utilized by product developers in a highly limited way, at best.
The aim of the WiRPro cooperative project was the conceptualization and development of a Feedback Assistance System (FAS) that facilitates the management, processing, representation and cross-process access to product use information (PUI) generated in the use phase of a product generation. While, in the early stages of the product lifecycle, Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) chiefly comprises the management of product information that are related to product types, WiRPro aims at the integration of the product use phase. The product information generated in that phase does, however, not relate to virtual product types. Instead, it refers to genuine product instances of the product types of the predecessor development phase. WiRPro enables manufacturers, customers and service providers to derive new use and operational models, to create scalable business models. These models shall serve the implementation of innovative concepts for maintenance and provision efficacy, as well as feedback mechanisms that facilitate the targeted incorporation of product use phase PUI of the latest product generation into next-generation product development. If aggregated correctly, these mechanisms hold the potential of creating a solid base for future product modification and improvement.

The WiRPro project is a cooperation between the Institute of Knowledge Based Systems and Knowledge Management (WBS) at Siegen University and the Chair of IT in Mechanical Engineering (ITM) at Bochum Ruhr-University, Germany.