A knowledge base is a centralized system that stores and organizes the information and knowledge of a company’s employees. Knowledge bases facilitate access to certain content and resources, enabling employees in dead-end situations to quickly find answers to their problems. The knowledge base is therefore an invaluable tool that improves and simplifies the process of finding information for the various employees within a company.
Find business/project information
Challenges
- Responding to calls for tender
- Benefit from the experience of colleagues beyond their own team on specific topics
- Access specific, detailed data and advice
How to meet these challenges
elqano enables employees to get in touch with people who have recently worked on subjects that interest them, to help each other and share feedback.
Find very specific information on the other side of the world, in another team
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Sample question
“I’m looking for internal case studies on operational excellence or increasing flow capacity for port terminals or related industries (logistics, infrastructure, etc.). We want to demonstrate to our customer that we have experience in implementing Lean methodologies and finding solutions to operational inefficiencies.”
- Whether it’s to feed into a sales proposal or to get business feedback, access to employees’ history or know-how saves precious time and avoids “reinventing the wheel”.
- elqano sends the question to the top experts who have worked on the subject, whether they’re one floor down or on another continent. Knowledge sharing is cross-functional, rapid and decentralized.
83%
exchanges via elqano are cross-region and cross-business unit
70%
of responses are provided by senior functions
10%
knowledge gap identified by companies
Book a demo“We realized that a question from a consultant in Dubai on the “metaverse” was answered by an analyst in Canada, even though we didn’t think we had the expertise in-house”.
Head of Knowledge Management of a leading global consulting firm
Capitalize on employees’ knowledge and expertise
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Sample question
“Could you give me an overview of the advantages and disadvantages of choosing QR codes or BAR codes for a warehouse managed manually by WMS for discrete products?”
- Knowledge often transmitted tacitly and informally becomes accessible to all
- Answers are capitalized on and suggested when a similar question is asked. This relieves some experts of up to 40% of their time, for some of them.
Bastien Detraz
Head of Data Management Industry
Louis Vuiton
Experts become more accessible and better identified. Questions that used to be addressed repeatedly to the same experts begin to be capitalized on, and this benefits the experts who are only called upon for new subjects.
FAQ
What is a knowledge base?
How does a company create a database?
The creation of a database requires a precise and structured process. In the first stage, it is important for a company to clearly define the objectives and problems that the knowledge base is intended to solve. The company must therefore determine why the database is to be created, and what information is to be stored.
The next step is to collect and structure the data gathered. This can only be done with the help of employees, who must identify and pass on the knowledge and resources they have acquired through their various experiences. To be successful, this step must be as time-efficient and automated as possible.
Finally, having tested your knowledge base, the new objective is to train users in this new tool, while updating the content, resources and information available.
What is the purpose of a knowledge base?
The aim of a knowledge base is to store and make centrally accessible information and knowledge relating to a specific company or field. The aim is to improve collaboration, knowledge transfer and problem-solving speed within the company, by enabling employees to quickly find the data they need for their work.
What forms of knowledge?
There are different types of knowledge, including tacit knowledge, which is implicit and intuitive, explicit knowledge, which is formal and documented, technical knowledge, which is specific to a trade or field, procedural knowledge, which relates to the steps involved in carrying out a task, and conceptual knowledge, which relates to ideas, principles and concepts in a field of expertise.
Knowledge base, a response to which challenges?
When it comes to knowledge management, companies face a number of challenges.
Challenge no. 1: collecting and organizing corporate knowledge.
Within your company, it can be difficult to effectively collect and organize the knowledge of your employees.
Challenge 2: sharing knowledge.
Your employees may find it difficult to find the information they need to do their jobs effectively.
Challenge 3: keeping information up to date.
Data can quickly become obsolete, so it’s essential for your company to ensure that the data it shares is reliable and up-to-date.
Challenge no. 4: knowledge security.
As a company, your challenge is to protect the sensitive and confidential information you share with your employees.
Challenge n°5: promote remote information sharing.
Knowledge is generally highly siloed, and is rarely exchanged between your teams spread over several countries, business units or subsidiaries.
Challenge no. 6: optimize your employees’ working time.
People recognized as “experts” are often over-solicited internally, and waste a considerable amount of their working time.