Fewer "unexpected shut-downs" at Lampang's Mae Mo lignite-fired electricity plant have saved hundreds of millions of baht.

The savings are attributed to modern knowledge-management techniques used by its information, communications and technology unit.

"Until recently, unexpected shut-downs were a major headache. It meant we had to manually go through two-metre-high piles of print-out papers in the control room to see what had gone wrong," explained the unit's Pinit Nilkanha.

"Now that huge amount of data is managed far more intelligently. Virtually everything relevant to a possible unexpected shutdown is on our intranet for all engineers, officers and top management to share," he added.

The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand plant is one of three facilities being trained by the Knowledge Management Institute, a four-year-old non-profit independent body that aims to accelerate and ease Thailand's entry into the information age.

Pinit said the institute "not only helps solve organisational problems but allows those organisations to learn from the past to prevent future mistakes.

"For example, we talk to veteran or retired plant technicians to learn from their experience. We put these lessons on video to educate current staff," he said.

Institute director Professor Vicharn Panich said its objective was to transform organisations into "intelligent offices" that could adapt to environmental changes effectively and efficiently.

"Change is unavoidable for any organisation, so we focus on how to adapt to it with the least cost in the shortest possible time. We aim to make members of these organisations happy in the process, too.

"In my opinion, an intelligent organisation is like a ship that will not sink no matter how bad the weather may be."

The institute hopes to coach more organisations using real-life experience within a domestic context. It said its programme was "cheaper to implement than those based on foreign expertise".

"Forget about capital-intensive hardware investments or other high-tech gadgets. We focus more on software and human-centred knowledge management," Vicharn said.

The first priority in transforming an organisation or company is changing mind-set - encouraging people to be willing to change processes and practises.

The institute blends four factors - human resources, processes, knowledge and technology.

"We did pilots over the past four years and they showed promise. Now we want to reach a wider range of public and private organisations," Vicharn said.

Besides Mae Mo, the institute has helped Japan-based NOK Precision Components (Thailand) and a unit of the Corrections Department develop "intelligent offices".

NOK managing director Surapong Supajanya said the institute helped it grow over the past three years.

"We've expanded from a company with annual sales of Bt270 million to a Bt1.8-billion business. It's largely the result of knowledge management.

"We practice knowledge management through normal factory guidelines. We did it without saying it is knowledge management," he said.

Corrections Department staff-training director Warunee Keskarn said training with the institute boosted the efficiency of its 10,000 workers.

"What we've learned is useful. For instance, our staff has become more willing to share crucial information that allows us to improve operations.

"Now we have far better knowledge on how prisoners sneak drugs into jail and key indicators suggesting a prison break," she said, adding information was coming from sources it never used to.

Vicharn said the ability to adapt was more important than worker intelligence quotients. Knowledge management is the new challenge for organisational success, he added.

Kamol Sukin

The Nation