Effektiv kunskapsöverföring : Utredning av en avdelnings situation på ABB Robotics

Sammanfattning: The pace of product development is increasing. It is important to keep high quality in the products even though the time for product development decreases. Those companies which can utilize previous experiences are positioned with a significant competitive advantage. To ABB Robotics it has become evident that the knowledge transfer process within the product development department is inadequate. This study was a result and an attempt to address this unsatisfactory insight. The main purpose of this study was, through reviews of the departments’ organisation, processes and technology, to provide recommendations with the opportunity to optimize the streamlining of the knowledge transfer process. An empirical study based on interviews and observations was conducted parallel to a literature study. In the analysis, the theoretical framework was compared with collected empirical data. Different areas were analysed, such as how different groups work together and how the documentation process displays employee experience. It is also discussed how computer-aided systems can be utilized to facilitate information and the transfer of knowledge. The conclusions show that the department has already started the journey towards a more effective knowledge transfer process. A renovation in order to accomplish an open office landscape and a newly founded information letter to the employees are examples of this. However, there are also a number of areas with potential for improvements. The department is recommended to increase the insight into the work of the different groups and develop structured work procedures in order to take care of previous experiences. Furthermore, the company needs to improve the knowledge transfer process by more efficiently leverage existing computer-aided information systems.