Knowledge management and warehousing

By Art St. Onge, president St. Onge Co. -- Modern Materials Handling, 3/1/2001

While most new management techniques fade quickly, occasionally one exhibits substance and lasts. Knowledge management, the subject of last month's column, is in this category, I believe. It fits here, primarily, because it provides a level of intelligence not found in most supply chain information systems. The latter focus on data and information.

In a sense, knowledge management is an intelligent process by which raw data is gathered and transformed into information elements. These information elements are assembled and organized into context-relevant structures that represent knowledge.

Knowledge management advances the supply chain beyond data warehouses, moving the entire process one step further into what may be thought of as knowledge warehouses. To use an analogy, think of a gigantic knowledge warehouse perfectly designed, equipped, and managed. All functions operate with precision and in perfect harmony. All products are categorized and optimally located, thus making accessibility easy. Customization stations allow products to be combined in ways that result in unique products for customers. In this knowledge warehouse there are intelligent agents (software objects with certain levels of intelligence) that can be dispatched to retrieve, assemble, and organize data and information (products stored in the warehouse) in any manner commanded by the warehouse manger.

This knowledge warehouse is a virtual entity; but it functions very much like its physical counterpart. It transforms data and information into knowledge.

At the lowest level the knowledge warehouse consists of raw data relevant to customer orders, receipts, inventory, procurement processes, supplier performance status, and a host of other data streams.

One level up is where information resides characterized by data streams organized into pertinent information such as customer profiles and resource capacity versus order demand.

At the next level we find knowledge that provides more sophisticated information, such as alternative actions that can be taken when demand exceeds capacity. In this instance, numerous factors need to be considered not the least of which is the impact of missed or incomplete deliveries.

As you might imagine knowledge warehouses don't operate in a vacuum. In fact they are often integrated in an emerging environment known as enterprise information portals (EIP). Next month we'll discuss how to build a knowledge warehouse.