Knowledge mining and application in manufacturing Dr. Ram K. Iyengar, President Technovations International Inc, Groton MA USA technovationsintl@gmail.

com Innovation is the key to competitiveness in manufacturing of metal products. US American manufacturing companies need to strengthen their capacity to generate knowledge and introduce innovations for producing new metal products or improve the value of the existing products to their customers. To achieve this they need higher resource efficiency, with improved product quality and at lower manufacturing cost. If the US manufacturing companies want to maintain a strategic position that is both profitable and sustainable in the face of the growing global competition, then it should engage in continuous research, improvement, and training of the workforce. To establish continuous cycles of improvement and innovation that yield sustained benefits over time, the US manufacturing companies (MC) need to encourage generation of new knowledge by engaging engineers with research and innovations capability either as employees or by outsourcing to knowledge mining and application (KMA) companies such that are engaged in innovations and continuous improvement services. Collaboration between the MC and KMA, the key suppliers and customers of MC, can lead to the development of new manufacturing technologies including better design of equipment, processes and new products. Knowledge mining and its application is a social process of interactive learning among several stakeholders in the supply chain that accelerates knowledge and information generation as well as, their transfer, exchange, and application. Successful collaborative efforts lead to: o Resource efficiency, o Processes and control innovation, o Product development. o Energy and environment management o Human resource development through training and diffusion of knowledge KMA is highly sophisticated human endeavor and requires higher technical, managerial, and social skills in the knowledge workers. The need for the interdisciplinary skills, the costs, and time for development of innovative solutions, can be high due to the increased complexity of scientific, engineering and technological development to allow the MC to undertake these efforts on its own. The KMA can partner and assist the MC to assess the impact of market trends, raw materials, and energy & environment issues to proactively initiate responses to the identified challenges. They will constantly search for ways in which MCs resources can be augmented and redeployed to meet MCs strategic goals in changing environment. The major drivers for the collaborative efforts are: Access to the best talent in specific technical areas, which are relevant to but not available within MC, Economies in labor and overhead costs, Encourage risk-taking and long-term thinking, Faster innovation cycles and improved technology transfers Shorten the time for implementation Technovations International Inc, Groton MA USA 1

Develop or expand new markets for the products of MC, Create relevant knowledge and information for the profitability and growth of the MC, Enable the MC to identify and enter into new business ventures. Recent development in information technology (IT) has facilitated the transfer of knowledge and information that enables knowledge workers to provide precise and relevant information to the workforce and show how to perform their functions. Information engineering and management system also provides the required information to individual knowledge workers, the workforce, or teams to manage themselves and closely monitor their performance; by delivering the information when and where required using the state-of-the-art- multimedia tools.

The author has developed robust training modules that address a broad spectrum of requirements for a diverse workforce. The unique methodology provides a framework that enables the MC to identify and reach the efficiency of their manufacturing capabilities. The interactive training module provides the workforce to implement best practices for the manufacture of metal products. It also provide an instantaneous access to archives of the standard operating practices and manufacturing process specifications and technical information for the manufacture metal products. Finally it provides access to maintenance, safety and environmental rules and regulations issued by the MC. In conclusion, to be globally competitive, the US American manufacturing companies need to collaborate with companies engaged in knowledge mining and applications, to continuously improve their operation, introduce innovation, undertake research to overcome future threats, and finally train their workforce.

Technovations International Inc, Groton MA USA