Good knowledge managers know that the real value of KM comes not when knowledge is shared, but when it is applied to a new situation—in other words, when the knowledge allows the organization to do something better, faster, cheaper, or more safely. One area where KM can generate a lot of value is the product development (PD) process. Ready access to past designs and lessons learned can empower PD teams to develop more innovative products, bring them to market faster, and avoid reinventing the wheel.

APQC’s new report, Improving the Flow of Knowledge in Product Development, describes 16 best practices for incorporating KM into PD. Topics include aligning PD knowledge capture efforts with business drivers, embedding KM into the stage-gate process, hosting targeted knowledge transfer events, and maintaining a searchable repository of critical PD knowledge. If you want to know how to improve the flow of knowledge in your PD process, download the free study overview and full report now.

We are particularly excited that two of the five best-practice organizations featured in this report—Ecopetrol S.A. and The Toro Company—will be presenting at APQC’s 2012 KM Conference this April. A third organization, General Mills, will also talk about the role of knowledge sharing and learning in its PD processes. You can read descriptions of all the conference breakout sessions here. Or, if you already know you want to attend the conference, click here to register. We hope to see you next month!