AbstractDuring product engineering, engineers draw on existing knowledge as a basis. This knowledge is applied in design processes either by adopting elements, alternating some attributes, or changing the solution principles. While concepts for design reuse exist, the proactive design of a suitable knowledge base is still a challenge. In this paper, we show influencing factors in engineering and their influence on the knowledge base. These factors are of the areas market, company, project, and

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... eam. Based on our results, we intent to develop a support for engineers to set up the knowledge base.