Generation of Electronic Products Documentation

The product knowledge manager (PKM) is a multiphase knowledge base system developed to aid in the life-cycle management of electronic products at Boeing Aerospace and Electronics. Numerous pieces of documentation (including source control drawings, fabrication drawings, acceptance test procedures, qualification test procedures) are required for nearly every electronic product developed by Boeing. This documentation is highly formatted and must comply with strict Boeing drafting standards as well as customer and program requirements. Phase 1 of PKM has been in production use since September 1987. It provides an intelligent user interface and a documentation facility to generate and manage drawings, documents, and their templates. The system is written in KEE and Lisp. Approximately 60 KEE knowledge bases provide information on products, programs, authorization, drafting standards, and documentation structure. Over 600 Lisp functions operate on the knowledge bases to perform user-requested operations.