Modelling collaborative knowledge to support engineering design project manager

Product development cycles are nowadays tightened to the minimum and submitted to a growing competitive pressure. However, product and process complexities are constantly increasing. This paradox requires new organisational concepts to satisfy customers' requirements. Design actors are therefore invited to collaborate more and more closely in order to enhance design efficiency. Collaborative design process gathers actors which have to achieve a common objective linked to a new product, information and knowledge sharing, with a high level of activities coordination. In this paper, we are particularly interested in the knowledge exchanged and shared during these collaborations. We first identify the types of knowledge characterising a collaborative design process and the need for a framework to manage collaborative design. A model of design context is provided to support design process and knowledge exchanges. The particular case of conflict resolution during collaborative design is studied through the use of a software formalising the designers' exchanges during a real industrial conflict. (C) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.