Document-driven management of knowledge and technology transfer: Denmark´s CIM/GEMS project in computer-integrated manufacturing

The documentation effort undertaken by the Danish CIM/GEMS (computer-integrated manufacturing: general methods for specific solutions) project to drive, direct, and support its CIM-technology development and transfer activities is described. The project recognized that in the phases of CIM development-from planning through maintenance-the primary deliverable is not the CIM system itself, but the documentation used to describe, specify, justify, and support its development and use. As a result, the project organized itself so that it would transfer to its industry participants the information needed to build CIM systems, and not CIM technology alone. Because this information best resides in well-written and complete documentation, the CIM/GEMS project adopted a management-by-document approach, treating documentation activities as part of system development and assigning professional personnel to the task. As an archive of CIM-system development, the documents captured the project´s in-progress work and the knowledge of developers who performed that work. As a deliverable, the documents were the principal means for carrying CIM knowledge and experience off-site