Ontology-Based Multi-level Knowledge Framework for a Knowledge Management System for Discrete-Product Development

Abstract

This paper introduces an approach to an ontology-based multi-level knowledge framework for a knowledge management system for discrete-product development. Participants in a product life cycle want to share comprehensive product knowledge without any ambiguity and heterogeneity. However, previous knowledge management approaches are limited in providing those aspects: therefore, we suggest an ontology-based multi-level knowledge framework (OBMKF). The bottom level, the axiom, specifies the semantics of concepts and relations of knowledge so ambiguity can be alleviated. The middle level is a product development knowledge map; it defines the concepts and the relations of the product domain knowledge and guides the engineer to process their engineering decisions. The middle level is then classified further into more detailed levels, such as generic product level, specific product level, product version level, and manufactured item level, according to the various viewpoints. The top level is specialized knowledge for a specific domain that gives the solution of a specific task or problem. It is classified into three knowledge types: expert knowledge, engineering function knowledge, and data-analysis-based knowledge. This proposed framework is based on ontology to accommodate a comprehensive range of knowledge and is represented with first-order logic to maintain a uniform representation.