Faced with increasing offshore competition, many manufacturers and distributors of durable goods have turned to "value add" as their only way to eke out a viable margin...or even to survive.

The "value" in value add usually stems from knowledge, placed at the service of one's customers. Yet, without proper knowledge management, that value can easily turn into a "cost add."

Luckily, knowledge management tools and solutions themselves are far from cost-prohibitive. In fact, they can even help control the cost of operations, while maximizing the sales force's ability to generate revenue.

The key lies in making knowledge readily accessible online:

• With current information about pricing, inventory availability, customers, competitors, and so on, your sales staff in the field gain a competitive edge that helps them sell more effectively
• Ready access to knowledge removes barriers to productivity and eliminates duplication of effort, especially between the warehouse, sales staff, shipping, and accounting
• Documenting best practices within the framework of a knowledge management solution cuts training costs and improves quality, leading to higher customer satisfaction
• Putting your company's knowledge online drastically reduces the time and costs associated with handling paper

The right tool for the right job
Perhaps your company uses an ERP (enterprise resource planning) system to run its business. Maybe your salespeople even have CRM (customer relationship management) software.

Those tools work wonders to manage current information in the form of numerical data and short-form, alphanumeric information. They also have some down sides, though. For instance:

• They don't handle all the kinds of knowledge and information needed for outstanding customer service
• Few manage historical information in a way that lets it remain readily accessible to everyone who needs it.
• They don't reduce training time and costs for new or existing employees.
• Many ERP solutions require a dedicated—and highly paid—IT staff.

Make it all happen with Enlighten.Net
Enlighten.Net provides the tools your organization needs to consolidate, share, and protect your knowledge assets. This knowledge empowerment solution makes information available for immediate use at any time, even if the most knowledgeable person on the subject leaves or is unavailable.

With Enlighten.Net, you can:

• Structure your corporate knowledge in a way that fits your business culture and processes—and will continue to do so, even as they change and grow
• Empower your staff to find and retrieve the information quickly and easily—from the familiar environment of their Microsoft Internet Explorer® browser
• Publish and change content quickly and easily—without such technical skills as HTML coding, Microsoft FrontPage®, or Macromedia Dreamweaver®
• Even incorporate links to outside systems and applications, as desired —including frequently referenced Web sites of vendors, customers, etc.
• Do all this with minimal or no IT involvement

We are so confident about the results you can achieve with an Enlighten.Net solution that we back it with a solid guarantee:

If you decide to return Enlighten.Net within the first 90 days after its shipment, we will refund the full price you paid for the software.

For more information, contact us today by calling 860-269-8005 or by clicking here.

You can also browse the following links for more information about:

• Two low-risk ways to launch your knowledge management program
• The importance of knowledge management in manufacturing and distribution
• The benefits of Enlighten.Net, including links to case studies and testimonials