Implementing Technical or Engineering “Best Practices"
Engineering and other technical disciplines call for making many design or procedural decisions, often involving the selection of the “Best Practice” choice from a group of possible options. Some of these decisions are very complex, and ideally, an expert would be consulted. But realistically, experts are not always available and decisions sometimes need to be made quickly. Exsys Corvid allows the decision-making process of the expert, or established “Best Practice” procedures, to be converted into an interactive on-line system that can provide detailed, situation-specific advice 24/7.
Engineering decisions often involve the balancing of many factors. For example, selecting a pump to use for a particular application requires consideration of pressures, temperatures, materials, distances, and other factors. There are engineering standards for these, and with enough research an answer can be found. But, unless one does this regularly, it is more likely that an expert will be asked for a recommendation. Most questions are relatively simple and straightforward to the expert, and can be easily answered. But non-experts may not be able to find the answer with adequate confidence and understanding to proceed. If the expert is not available, decisions get delayed or are made poorly. Even when experts are available, they may spend so much of their time on routine problems, that they are not able to spend time on the complex problems that actually require their talents and experience.
The solution is to field Exsys Corvid Knowledge Automation systems that capture the expert’s decision-making logic and processes, deployed via standard Web browsers. An automated on-line interactive session with the end user asks a few questions relevant to their situation, and precise custom advice is provided. It can even automate reports to include appropriate visuals, links, email, etc. This lets less experienced staff perform at a higher level, and functions as a “sanity check” for more experience staff in case some key factors might have been overlooked. The experts are freed from answering routine questions and can concentrate on new challenges requiring innovative solutions or research.
Building this type of advisory system is quite easy with Corvid’s If/Then rule syntax. If you ask the expert, “Why was this advice given”, you will likely get an explanation similar to “If.. then ...” or “When X is used, you must”, etc. These types of statements can be directly added to a Corvid system. Corvid’s Logic Block structure makes it easy to see gaps in the logic, so the developer can ask the expert “But what if X was..?” This interaction rapidly fills in the logic so that the system can handle a wide range of problems. - and as a side benefit, provides excellent, readable documentation of the expert’s process.
In cases where there are already written engineering standards, converting them into a Corvid system makes them more accessible, far easier to use and much less prone to errors. The systems can also expedite speedier training.
