What is knowledge management in manufacturing?

Knowledge management in manufacturing spans the entire cycle of design, manufacturing, shipping, returns avoidance and returns processing, product use, customer support, and field service. Moreover, there are nuances across flow manufacturing and discrete manufacturing as well as across branded manufacturing (e.g., automobiles, consumer electronics, and consumer packaged goods) and industrial manufacturing (e.g., agricultural and construction equipment, aircraft). Like for other industries, knowledge for manufacturing also includes data, policies, procedures, compliance, insights, and functional expertise, among other things. Here are some examples.

Data

What are the parts needed to put together finished product X?
What is the volume discount schedule for product X?
What is the expected shipping date for my order?

Policies

What is the warranty on product X?
How do you charge for repairs post warranty expiration?
What is your returns policy?
Do you pay for international shipping costs for returns?
What is your service level policy?
For how long do you provide scheduled maintenance free of charge?

Insights

When contact centers troubleshoot with the knowledge guidance tool, unwarranted field visits fall by X%
Model #1 of Product X triggered YY% more customer support contacts than Model #2
Z% of contacts were on topics not covered by the knowledge-base for product X
X% of contacts last year were related to service issues and Y% related to new product purchases

Expertise

Service expertise
- Product stopped working. Can you help fix it?
- Why is issue X not covered by the product warranty?
- How do I do thing X with product Y?
Sales expertise/advice
- My need has changed from X to Y. What product model would you recommend, or can I simply upgrade what I already have?
- What is the volume discount for product X?

Knowledge management in manufacturing: The current state

Did you know that 47% of consumers complained about poor contact center agent knowledgeability as the #1 barrier to getting good customer service and 56% said they got different answers from different touchpoints for the same question from branded manufacturing/retail companies? Moreover, 40% of contact center agents said they have no knowledge management tool and have to fast-read long documents or ask colleagues for answers, while 27% of them said they have nothing more than simple search to find answers? That means barely 32% had modern knowledge tools available that would guide them through their service interaction, diagnostics and troubleshooting and new product recommendation processes, for example. No wonder customer experience (CX) declined in manufacturing sectors like automobiles, according to the 2022 Forrester US CX Index report.

Knowledge Hub for manufacturing

The question then is what is a Knowledge Hub? It is a one-stop platform for modern knowledge management that includes and orchestrates all the essential building blocks needed to help manufacturing companies and other organizations to take self-service automation to the next level while guiding employees to provide better service to their customers: Content management, profiled access to content, intent inference, search methods, conversational and process guidance, analytics, and integrations, informed by the best of a healthcare organization’s expertise, and powered by AI and ML.

Knowledge management in manufacturing: Success stories

eGain’s manufacturing clientele includes the who is who of manufacturing companies. Here are examples of their at-scale success, powered by the eGain Knowledge Hub™.

Goodyear, the leading tire manufacturer, provides modern digital customer service to consumers, retail stores, and OEM clients with eGain’s virtual assistance and digital-first agent desktop, all backed by modern knowledge
Virgin Mobile reduced unwarranted handset exchanges by 38% through smarter service resolution in the contact center, enabled by modern knowledge, saving money for themselves and the handset manufacturer
A-dec, the leader in dental office equipment manufacturing, elevated customer service for its channel partners, doubling dealer self-service adoption, improving contact center agent experience, and boosting sales, all powered by the eGain Knowledge Hub