ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a case study that shows how one team at Merck & Co., Inc. have evolved a practical and user-centric approach to taxonomy that is paying big dividends in how product knowledge is managed, shared, and used. The concept of taxonomy may have been familiar to some within Merck's Manufacturing Division (MMD), but its meaning at that time was largely tied to the typical high school biology teachings on the classification of life, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, and so on. Merck & Co., Inc. manufactures, packages, and distributes more than 100 products to approximately 140 markets around the world. The successful application of taxonomy is just about finding that adequate balance between flexibility and standardization of the language of our business. In addition to the three iterations of taxonomy development described in the chapter, three pilots are in progress for vaccines and biologics modalities, the animal health line of business and a new knowledge domain of issue management.
