A key mechanism to manage and retain industrial process knowledge

The heart of this blog has to do with improving knowledge management and reducing knowledge loss in the industrial sector. To begin with the development of the topic, I would like to ask three questions. The first question is, when key members in your operation retire, does the valuable process knowledge gained over time go with them? The second question is, when you integrate a new resource into your operation, is this resource given a business process guide that easily explains the key macro processes, processes and sub-processes of the operation inclusive of the key activities or is it in essence and simply put, solely an administrative onboarding?

Retaining End2End industrial process knowledge is vital, especially if you want to scale operations and productivity in a multi-site environment. According to the article “The New Knowledge Management” published by Deloitte in January 2021, “knowledge management remains one of the top three issues affecting company success.”  Yet the same article however highlights that “only nine per cent of business leaders feel ready to address” knowledge management.  My third and final question to you is, where are you in your journey to retain critical industrial process knowledge?

We believe it is time for the industrial sector to invest time, talent and treasure into building a Process Knowledge Book to mitigate the risk of knowledge loss. This digital process book becomes a key mechanism to manage and retain knowledge.  Such a mechanism should always consider five key dimensions: be explainable, be scalable, be repeatable, be digestible and be effective.

The Process Knowledge Book, in turn, should integrate these following five key elements:

1.     A governance matrix that integrates master data and business rules.

2.     A people matrix that integrates the RACI and includes subject matter expert contacts per function.

3.     A technology matrix that explains, integrates, aligns and leverages the platforms and the systems that effectively sustain and scale the processes.

4.     A process matrix that integrates content related to policies, controls, PPI’s and KPIs.

5.     A knowledge matrix that integrates procedures and all the educational material and links inclusive of the process support guides.

Managing and retaining industrial knowledge becomes, in turn, a lever to increase ROA.  How? Easy, you improve the time to value equation for any employee or business operator by simplifying the process flows, improving activity orchestration and aligning KPI fulfillment.

If you integrate these five dimensions and these five elements into your Process Knowledge Book, you will be able to manage and retain knowledge holistically and with an efficiency that has never before been seen in the industrial sector.

Mel Ramos is a Managing Partner at ENABLE. Previously, he was a software business leader for GE Digital in Latin America. He has been implementing global projects in the digital industrial space for more than two decades and is considered the thought leader behind the "Reliability as a Service" framework. He is a graduate of Pomona College in Claremont, CA and currently resides in Orlando, FL.