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Research paper : Acquisition of skills on the shop-floor (N. Matsuki)−78−Synthesiology - English edition Vol.3 No.1 (2010) that cannot be expressed verbally.” The difference between Nonaka’s tacit knowledge and what is defined in this paper is how to address the action skills. Since action is influenced by knowledge, the boundary is not clear, but there is no discussion that encompasses the manual skills of an expert skilled worker in Nonaka’s tacit knowledge. The skill discussed in this paper perhaps corresponds to the knowledge ability that combines the tacit knowledge of both Polanyi and Nonaka. On the other hand, Nonaka’s formal knowledge overlaps to a great extent with the definition of technology. Therefore, excluding the action skills, the conversion of tacit knowledge into formal knowledge in the SECI model and the conversion of skills into technology are synonymous. Also, this paper will not discuss the tacit knowledge of a group that plays an important role in the SECI model.By the way, is one person’s tacit knowledge, tacit knowledge for other people also? There may be cases where a certain person is incapable of providing a verbal expression or cannot explain the reasons, but the subject might have been studied elsewhere and had already become formal knowledge. This is one assumption in this study. The knowledge of physics, chemistry, and engineering needed in materials and manufacturing is substantial, and we think that the assumption that a worker in a factory can be knowledgeable in everything is not practicable. It is more natural to think that an individual understands only part of the scientific and engineering findings made by humankind. As an assumption of this study, many of the tacit knowledge and the skills of the expert worker have already become formal knowledge (technology). Here, the phrase “does not understand” includes the nuance “has not solved the ‘application’ of how it affects the workings in the factory even though the principle is known.” Although we did not conduct a survey that allows numerical expression, the company engineer who is a world leader in some specialty understands the formal knowledge of that specific narrow field while, in general, a worker at a family-run factory may not have a wide range of formal knowledge. Due to such an assumption, clarification of tacit knowledge that humankind does not yet know and the pursuit of the formal expression of such knowledge are not the subjects in the research for the expert skill acquisition method. This research does not investigate “tacit knowledge” in its true sense.2.2 Traditional research of skillsThe tacit knowledge of Polanyi and Nonaka discussed in the section is briefly explained. Michael Polanyi is a doctor of medicine, chemistry, and a philosopher. He thinks that there is a process in the human action where complex controls are conducted implicitly without explicit cognition, such as riding a bicycle. He calls this process tacit knowledge. If it cannot be essentially verbalized, Polanyi’s tacit knowledge cannot be turned into formal knowledge or technology. Therefore, following Nonaka’s definition, tacit knowledge will be re-defined as an “action based on experience and insight, and the verbal expression for its control mechanism is difficult,” and this will be the subject of investigation in this research. In engineering, researches had been done on the automatic control of motorcycles, and the control system as an alternative to tacit knowledge for riding the bicycle has been realized. Considering this point, the tacit knowledge in Polanyi’s sense will not be the subject of this research.Nonaka, who is a scholar of business management, defines tacit knowledge as a keyword to analyze knowledge management in business, particularly in the Japanese manufacturing industry. He proposes the SECI model where the individual and group tacit knowledge and formal knowledge change and develop as a knowledge spiral. SECI is an acronym for socialization, externalization, combination, and internalization. What we are interested in is the content of the skill expressed as tacit knowledge. It is important to know the engineering meaning of the expert skill that works effectively in response to a new situation. In this sense, our standpoint for tacit knowledge differs from the one that covers business management.In cognitive science, researches on the skill acquisition mechanism have been done. For example, Ericsson et al. point out the importance of training in acquiring expert skills[3]. While this is an extremely interesting topic, how a worker acquires a skill is not the subject of this research.In engineering, there are proposals of skill transfer using virtual reality (VR)[4] and corporate attempts at digitizing and visualizing the skills for TIG welding[5]. Both researches are technologies to supplement and support on-the-job training (OJT).Our stance is that it may be possible to express expert skills as formal knowledge, as described in the previous section. The basic policy for establishing the expert skill acquisition method in this research is to express the expert skill using the formal knowledge that has been already established.2.3 Types of skills under investigationIn discussing expert skills, the mass media often portrays an expert craftsman of a family-run factory using exceptional manual skills to create beautiful parts, and transmits the message that this supports the Japanese manufacturing industry. This will be discussed later, but the skills investigated in this research are the skills related to various decision-makings rather than the skills of action.The skills used at the processing factories are presented in Table 1. The subject of this research is mainly the skills related to preparations conducted before starting the work, such as the set-up. Particular attention is given to the skill of decision-making. The skill of decision-making is a skill

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