Knowledge Forge
Knowledge Forge is ProBeya's internal knowledge management system. It combines a knowledge article base, a graph database of interconnected entities, and expertise profiling to ensure institutional knowledge is captured, discoverable, and linked to the people who hold it.
In transformation programs, knowledge loss is a critical risk — experienced operators retire, consultants rotate off, and lessons learned evaporate. Knowledge Forge prevents this by making tribal knowledge explicit and searchable.
Overview
Knowledge Forge addresses three common problems in operational transformation:
- Knowledge silos: critical know-how trapped in individual heads with no documentation
- Expertise discovery: inability to find the right person for a specific technical question
- Context fragmentation: lessons learned, SOPs, and best practices scattered across file shares
Getting Started
- Navigate to Knowledge Forge from the workspace menu.
- Click + New Article to capture your first piece of knowledge.
- Enter a title, choose a category, add tags, and write the content.
- Save as Draft or publish immediately for team visibility.
How It Works
Knowledge Articles
Articles are the primary unit of captured knowledge. They follow a lifecycle from creation to archival.
| Status | Description |
|---|---|
| Draft | Being authored, not visible in search |
| Published | Live and searchable by all team members |
| Archived | Hidden from search, preserved for history |
Each article supports:
- Category grouping for organized browsing (e.g., "Process", "Safety", "Maintenance")
- Tags for flexible cross-cutting classification
- Full-text search across title and content
Knowledge Graph
The knowledge graph visualizes relationships between entities in your organization. Nodes represent real-world objects, and edges describe how they relate.
Node Types:
| Type | Description |
|---|---|
| Person | A team member or stakeholder |
| Asset | Equipment, machinery, or tooling |
| Product | A product or product family |
| Process | A manufacturing or business process |
| Problem | A known issue or recurring defect |
| Procedure | An SOP or work instruction |
Edge Relations:
| Relation | Meaning |
|---|---|
solved_by | A problem that was resolved by a person or procedure |
applies_to | A procedure that applies to a specific asset or process |
requires | A process that depends on a specific asset or skill |
supersedes | A newer procedure replacing an older one |
related_to | A general association between two entities |
The graph viewer displays up to 200 nodes at a time with interactive filtering by type and name search.
Expertise Profiles
Expertise profiles answer the question "who knows what?" Each profile maps a user to a domain with a score from 0 to 100.
- Domain: the area of expertise (e.g., "Lyophilization", "Batch Record Review", "HVAC Validation")
- Score: proficiency level from 0 (novice) to 100 (expert)
- Evidence: optional references to articles, training records, or certifications that justify the score
- Last Assessed: automatically updated when the score changes
Profiles are sorted by score (highest first) so the strongest areas of expertise appear at the top.
Configuration
Search
The unified search endpoint queries both articles and graph nodes simultaneously. Search is case-insensitive and matches partial strings. Results are returned in two groups: matching articles (sorted by last updated) and matching nodes (sorted by creation date).
Graph Visualization
The graph view supports filtering by node type and text search. Both nodes and their connecting edges are returned in a single query, ensuring the visual representation is consistent.
Permissions
- All Members can view published articles and search the knowledge base
- Contributors (any authenticated user) can create and edit their own articles
- Workspace Admins can manage graph nodes, edges, and expertise profiles
- Organization Admins can delete any article or node
Tips & Best Practices
After every problem-solving session (A3, 8D, PDCA), create a Knowledge Forge article documenting the root cause and countermeasure. Link it to the relevant process and asset nodes in the graph.
Keep expertise profiles current by reassessing scores quarterly. Use the evidence array to link to training completions, project contributions, and peer reviews.
Use the supersedes edge relation when updating SOPs — this preserves the revision history in the graph while making it clear which procedure is current.
Related Features
- Problem Solving — structured root cause analysis that feeds knowledge articles
- Standard Work Checklists — SOPs that can be linked as procedure nodes
- Mindsets & Behaviors — competency assessment that complements expertise profiles