{"id":11387,"date":"2026-02-17T12:27:38","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T11:27:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elicitonline.com\/why-an-excel-sheet-with-malfunctions-and-solutions-is-not-knowledge-management\/"},"modified":"2026-09-09T13:22:38","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T11:22:38","slug":"why-an-excel-sheet-with-malfunctions-and-solutions-is-not-knowledge-management","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/elicitonline.com\/en\/why-an-excel-sheet-with-malfunctions-and-solutions-is-not-knowledge-management\/","title":{"rendered":"Why an Excel sheet with malfunctions and solutions is NOT knowledge management"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Why an Excel sheet with malfunctions and solutions is NOT knowledge management<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n <\/path>\n<\/svg><\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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You have an Excel file containing malfunctions and solutions. A list that has grown over the years, supplemented every time something went wrong. It feels as if you are capturing knowledge, as if you are making your organization less vulnerable. Unfortunately, the reality is different. <\/mark><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The difference between firefighting and steering<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Let’s be honest: an Excel sheet with malfunctions documents your incidents. Every line in that file represents a moment when it was already too late. A batch that was rejected, a line that stood still. In other words: lost time and potential product loss. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what it does not <\/strong>contain: how to prevent these malfunctions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your file does not contain the machine’s signals before a problem escalates. It does not state that if the temperature rises while the pressure drops, this indicates a problem in sector X, before the machine stops. Yet this is exactly the knowledge that makes the difference between reactive firefighting and proactive steering. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Button pushers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

A malfunction list tells you what to do. \u201cIn case of malfunction X \u2192 perform action Y.\u201d But it does not tell you why. The result is that your employees remain button pushers: they carry out instructions without understanding. As soon as the situation deviates slightly from the list, they call that expert who is already so busy. And production likely comes to a standstill. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What you want is for employees to master the process. That they understand the cause-and-effect relationships and the consequences of changing a particular setting. Because only then do they have the knowledge to prevent malfunctions instead of just solving them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A malfunction list tells you what to do. \u201cIn case of malfunction X \u2192 perform action Y.\u201d But it does not tell you why. <\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
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Understanding the process at lightning speed<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

That process mastery always took years to learn. But what if it could be done much faster? What if you could capture the process knowledge of your most experienced expert and make it immediately usable for all your employees? Even those who are just starting out? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

They did this, for example, at Burg Azijn in Heerhugowaard<\/a>: the vinegar manufacturer recorded how their master brewers thought. Which process parameters do they consider essential? How are settings and product related? When do they intervene? And what are the correct steps then? Burg Azijn processed this knowledge with ELICIT into a handy knowledge model that was used directly on the shop floor. The result? \u201cWe see faster response times to process deviations and operators have more tools during malfunctions,\u201d says production manager Viljo Pos. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The difference in approach<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With Excel:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf the machine stops and there is a red light, reset the machine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a knowledge model:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPay attention to the temperature and the pressure. If the temperature rises while the pressure drops, it indicates a leak in sector B. First check the seal at measuring point X, then the valve closure at Y. If the pressure drops below 2.3 bar, adjust setting A by 10% to prevent product loss. This works because the pressure drop directly affects the mixing ratio and thus the product quality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first is an action list for known problems. The second provides an understanding of the process, so that employees not only know which action to perform, but also master their process better as a result. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Three patterns you break through proper knowledge management<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Pattern 1: Long onboarding times become shorter<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

With traditional ‘shadowing’, new employees remain dependent on experienced colleagues for a long time. This makes the learning curve long and unpredictable. No one knows exactly when a new operator can work independently. And as long as that is not the case, every new employee burdens the team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a new employee has digital access to the knowledge of that experienced colleague at any time, they can make the right decision independently much faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pattern 2: Differences between shifts disappear<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

When expertise is fragmented across different individuals, differences in production arise. The morning shift handles things differently than the night shift; they do not work from the same knowledge base. As a result, the same problems often have to be solved repeatedly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

By using a single knowledge model, like Burg Azijn, everyone makes the same (substantiated) choices. This standardizes your way of working. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pattern 3: Quality no longer varies per person<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Often one production run is stable, while another is not. This depends on who is operating. At FrieslandCampina Beilen<\/a>, for example, they regularly had problems with foaming. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now the operators follow fixed steps, which allows them to produce better. They correct deviations faster, reducing the error margin and improving quality. In every shift. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The question you must ask yourself<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you look at your Excel file with malfunctions and solutions now, ask yourself this question: are you documenting what went wrong, or are you capturing how you can prevent it from going wrong?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

With smart knowledge management, you prevent yourself from constantly firefighting and get processes under control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you curious about how this could work for your organization? Discover the possibilities of ELICIT without obligation. Simply get in touch<\/a> to tell us about your challenges. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n <\/path>\n<\/svg><\/span>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Why an Excel sheet with malfunctions and solutions is NOT knowledge management You have an Excel file containing malfunctions and solutions. A list that has grown over the years, supplemented every time something went wrong. It feels as if you are capturing knowledge, as if you are making your organization less vulnerable. Unfortunately, the reality […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11357,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[84],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11387","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogs"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/elicitonline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/elicitonline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/elicitonline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elicitonline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elicitonline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11387"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/elicitonline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11387\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11389,"href":"https:\/\/elicitonline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11387\/revisions\/11389"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elicitonline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/elicitonline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elicitonline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/elicitonline.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}