ISSN 0147-6882, Scientific and Technical Information Processing, 2010, Vol. 37, No. 6, pp. 377–385. © Allerton Press, Inc., 2010. Original Russian Text © A.V. Smirnov, N.G. Shilov, A.M. Kashevnik, 2009, published in Iskusstvennyi Intellekt i Prinyatie Reshenii, 2009, No. 1, pp. 46–56. 377 1 INTRODUCTION Modern production is characterized by the exten- sive use of various forms of enterprise cooperation [1], thereby reducing time-to-market and production costs. Networked organizations, consisting of a large number of members, are usually more flexible and sta- ble than hierarchically organized large–scale compa- nies [2]. A production network (PN) is a set of enterprises unified on principles of cooperation in the framework of a common information space, which are capable of producing a final product or service on the basis of interaction. The operation of network production structures is impossible without modern information technologies. This raises the problem of ensuring effective interac- tion between production network members using a common information space and knowledge bases con- taining knowledge of the subject area and information on the production network members. Therefore, a knowledge management system that will ensure the management of these knowledge bases and the ability to access them by the production network members should be an integral part of production networks. It is proposed to use the context in knowledge man- agement systems when dealing with currently relevant knowledge. The context refers to information that may be used to describe the situation of a certain object. In a knowledge management system, the object is a member of a production network. 1 This study was supported in part by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project no. 08-07-00264, and by the basic research program of the Russian Academy of Science Presidium Intelligent Information Technologies, Mathematical Modeling, System Analysis and Automation, project no. 2.13. PRODUCTION NETWORK OPERATION PHASES The life cycle of a production network consists of five main phases: building a community of potential members, the selection of production network mem- bers for order fulfillment (the configuration of a pro- duction network), the operation of a production net- work (order fulfillment), the reconfiguration of a pro- duction network in case of failure by a member to perform their obligations, and the redistribution of the community of potential production network members [3]. Table 1 shows the phases of the production net- work functioning and tasks that must be addressed by the knowledge management system at each of these phases. During the phases of building and redistribution of the community, potential members are registered in it or excluded. For these purposes, the following ele- ments of the knowledge management system are sug- gested: (1) The ontological model contains a formalized description of the subject area, includes a list of syn- onyms for concepts included in its structure that allows for unification of members using different terms for the same concepts. (2) Profiles of production network members are created during registration in the knowledge manage- ment system. (3) The knowledge map binds production network members with the ontological domain model, through which it becomes possible to use these members as sources of knowledge. At phases of configuration and reconfiguration of a production network, the configuration of the order and the subsequent construction of a production net- work for the fulfillment of this order take place. For Personalized Context-Oriented Support for Interactions between Production Networks Members 1 A. V. Smirnov, N. G. Shilov, and A. M. Kashevnik Abstract—An approach to information support for interactions between production networks members is proposed based on the use of a context–oriented knowledge management system. The use of context makes it possible to provide the production network members with currently relevant knowledge. Managing the pro- files of members and users enables the personalization of information support for members in the knowledge management system and allows using them as sources of knowledge. Keywords: production network, ontology, context, profile management. DOI: 10.3103/S014768821006002X