A computerized knowledge management system for the manufacturing strategy process

This paper presents Co-MASS, a computerized knowledge management system for the collaborative development of manufacturing and operations strategy. The system supports the social and knowledge processes of collaborative strategy development by integrating a domain-specific modelling formalism based on the resource view of the firm, an associated structured dialogue scheme, an argumentation-enabling mechanism, and an efficient algorithm for the evaluation of alternatives. The competence-based manufacturing strategy paradigm behind its design rationale, its main elements, and a use case in a real setting are presented. Evaluation results provided positive feedback for the usability of the system, the discourse structure and the functionality of the user interface. The main contribution of our system lies in the integration of knowledge management, decision support and argumentation features, which constitutes a novel approach to develop manufacturing strategy.