Have you ever been faced with a project where it was difficult to get everybody on the same literal page? Has your design/execution team struggled to work from a common set of documentation and references? What if you could search for a tag name or service description and immediately find where an instrument is referenced by the control logic and where it is wired throughout the plant? One way to make this possible is by utilizing a knowledge base. A knowledge base is a collection of design references arranged in a way as to be common to everyone, searchable and easily distributed. I often create knowledge bases for sales and project teams from legacy DCS configuration files. I create logic drawings, a function block database, parameter listings, programming code listings and insightful analysis reports for the knowledge base. Most of the documents are created as PDF files and can be cataloged into one quick search index. Even existing drawings can be scanned as PDFs and optically character recognized to make them searchable. Any terms can be searched for across all the references and all occurrences of the term are returned. Having the search function allows for researching the smallest detail. The knowledge bases I create are packaged up into a single folder that allows for easy transfer to the end user. The knowledge base folder can reside on a file server, local pc or removable media. A knowledge base allows everyone to work off of the same set of documentation thus keeping everyone ‘on the same page’. Visit me at Exchange in the Improve & Modernize section to discuss your project documentation needs.