Life cycle responsibility for manufacturing companies increases the service content coupled to the product. One consequence is that transferring knowledge gained from all life cycle phases has an even more decisive impact on the definition of the product concept, here referred to as the functional product. The paper focuses on transferring experiences from the manufacturing phase and how to account for these in the design phase. Based on an empirical study at two companies, an automotive and one aeronautical company, current practices were identified. Manufacturing experiences are captured and managed in a manufacturing context whereas the use of experience in the design phase is discussed. Finally a generic approach to support the use life cycle experiences in earlier phases of product development is suggested, where the design and manufacturing case serves as an example.