digitalNXT Search:
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digitalNXT Search for
Problems, Causes, Solutions
The customer is responsible for installing and troubleshooting equipment. It is inevitable that some equipment breaks, does not respond or perform up to standards. In these cases, the customer needs to fix any issues within the shortest time possible as downtime is usually very costly. The challenge in this scenario is threefold:
Users need to search through all available databases containing Problem-Cause-Solution (PCS) cases. The data in scope usually includes a structured component containing procedures and known issues with a step-by-step solution, and one or more unstructured components like free text descriptions of all steps taken, research notes, attempted solutions and visualizations paired with explanations. These two types of data are very different in structure, often partly represented as database (table) records and will need to be pre-processed to optimize them for Searching.
The search solution will need to bridge the gap that is created by differences in language use by different users attempting to describe the same problem. Data is in part written down manually, meaning there are mistakes and knowledge can be fragmented. When users do not find what they are looking for, they create a new item and record their process. However, it is possible that the new issue already existed in a database under a differently worded title or under a similar system; fragmenting the knowledge base. The Search solution needs to cope with this and both present the user with a complete overview and prevent/reduce future fragmentation.
The Search solution needs to be fast, accurate and offer compact results. PCS or procedure documents can be lengthy and tend to have a hierarchical structure that can be different across systems. Some systems may add/drop symptoms, step-by-step troubleshooting activities or contain multi-layered problem-cause-solution relations. The user not only needs to find relevant records, but also be presented with a correctly filtered and clear extract from all available information. Downtime and cost is measured in minutes or seconds, meaning a user will need to decide which information is most relevant/correct in the shortest time possible; not wasting any time reading lengthy instructions that turn out not to fit their situation.
To solve this use-case, a search solution is needed with the following components.
If the use-case is solved correctly the customer will reduce the time it takes to resolve problems, increase capacity, and lower costs. But it will also combine the knowledge currently fragmented across and within their systems, reduce or remove further knowledge fragmentation and gain the ability to inspect and analyze all the data extracted by the search solution. They can use this to e.g. optimize their processes, further improving the result of the search solution and their business.