Knowledge base
May/17/2005
The Tradepoint knowledge base is an extremely powerful component of your
Tradepoint Solution. The knowledge base allows you to store many different types
of information: Training manuals and procedures, job hints and instructions,
product information and any knowledge that might pertain to your organization.
Here is a simple scenario to illustrate a use:
Your photocopier falls apart every Friday afternoon at 3:00. Your admin
manager knows that in order to get it to work you must “kick the side three
times, pound the top twice then press the green button.” What happens when that
admin person goes on vacation or maternity leave? The knowledge has left with
him or her. If you had a centralized knowledge base where the admin could write
the instructions on how to fix the photocopier then even when they were gone,
everyone would have access to their knowledge to fix the problem themselves
(without calling him / her).
The key is to share the intellectual knowledge that is found within the minds
of every staff. Another example of a knowledge base use: Your Company tends to
experience employee turnover in your stock and inventory department. In stead of
having a manager instruct every new employee on a one off basis on how to
receive a shipment, your manager simply write a knowledge base containing
instructions like:
1) Truck backs in
2) Open the bay doors
3) Take laptop and wand and
swipe every crate as it enters the facility
4) Every crate marked s5267 goes
to department A
5) Every crate marked x6375 goes directly to department X
6) Every crate marked g523 stays in holding to be quality checked
7)
After inventory has been checked, sign off the shipper.
Needless to say the Knowledge base can be used as a powerful training tool as
well as help your corporation capitalize on its intellectual capitol.
Each knowledge base tool can be referenced or indexed by keyword searches,
dates created or changed, or found by categories, products and other query
types. This makes it easy to find any knowledge base article in seconds.
Tradepoint knowledge base articles are also locked down with security settings
meaning you can specify only certain type of staff can have access to certain
articles. Manager for example will be able to have access to management articles
that employees may not have access for example. Even web clients visiting your
website can access certain knowledge base articles if you provide them with the
correct security name password and permissions. Doing this in Tradepoint is
quite easy. Even though most companies have never thought to store information
for their company in this way, the Tradepoint knowledge base fast becomes an
integral part of their success; especially “learning organizations”.
Knowledge base articles can even have web or display templates applied to
every article? This allows KB articles to be congruent with certain graphic
themes when being displayed. The possibilities are endless for your use of the
Traepoint Knowledge Base.