Abstract :
This paper presents a conceptual and computational framework to support experts in the design and manufacturing of high
quality products. The framework is based on the development of specific knowledge artifacts characterized by tools for the
management of functional, procedural, and experiential knowledge. As a case study, the GUITAR HERO project is presented.
The project aims at building a knowledge-based system to support experts of a handicraft enterprise involved in
the design and manufacturing of electric guitars characterized by an aluminum body. The domain of the project is extremely
innovative, because electric guitars are typically manufactured with different kinds of wood rather than metals or other
materials. To this aim, an ontological representation of the electric guitar has been implemented exploiting NavEditOW,
a computational framework for the codification, navigation, and querying of ontologies over the Internet, based on the
OWL language.
