Transfer of Knowledge from the Service Phase: A Case Study from the Oil Industry

This paper aims to investigate the knowledge arising during the later phases of the lifecycle of complex customised machinery and understand how this knowledge is transferred between projects and between different user groups. A series of four identical rigs for offshore drilling was selected as a case study and the transfer of knowledge between the first two rigs was explored through interviews with the operators and the project management team.

The expected knowledge transfer strategies were analysed and compared with the actual transfer mechanisms, similarities and differences were investigated. It was found that the transfer of knowledge primarily occurred within the individual phases of the product’s lifecycle and there was poor transfer across the different phases.