Electronic knowledge books (eK-Books) as a medium to capitalise on and transfer scientific, engineering, operational, technological and craft knowledge.

Abstract

The capitalisation on and transfer of technological, engineering and scientific knowledge associated with empirical know-how is an important issue for the sustainability and development of manufacturing. Indeed, certain sectors of industry are facing the increasing ageing of the labour force, recruitment difficulties and high staff turnover, leading to a loss of knowledge and know-how. In a context of numerical and digital transition and the migration of processes to industry 4.0, one of major challenges manufacturers face today is their capacity to build intelligent platforms for acquiring, storing and transferring their know-how and knowledge. It is crucial to create new media and tools for staff training and development capable of capturing knowledge and reusing it to create a project history through expertise and data collection. This paper presents the methodology and guidelines for implementing electronic knowledge books (eK-Books), along with their uses. The eK-Book is a semantic web-based hypertext medium (channel) allowing stakeholders to capitalise on, structure and transfer knowledge by using concept maps, process maps, influence graphs, downloadable documents, web pages and hypermedia knowledge sheets. They are intended for engineers, expert or novice technicians, manufacturers, sector coordinators and plant managers, as well as trainers and learners. They are usable and manageable in all types of environments and with different levels of accessibility. This paper highlights (1) the transfer knowledge capacity of eK-Books and (2) their usability in two agri-food sectors namely (1) the cheese sector with protected designation of origin (PDO) and protected geographical indication (PGI), and (2) the butchery and cold meat sectors.