EData and text mining technologies help organizations by enabling the identification of hard-to-locate information as well as by bringing coherency to fragmented data. In this activity, called knowledge management (KM), enterprises get the full benefit from their corporate information when these resources are managed and mined in total. After all, the most valued asset for many organizations is not capital equipment, but rather corporate knowledge--knowledge that should reside not in the heads of its staff members, but rather in a retrievable format from searchable corporate repositories.
Many organizations have backlogs of paper files which contain much of their highly valued business data and which do not allow easy data mining. Conversion of this paper into a searchable format has been a prohibitively high-cost activity. How does an organization bring their old paper-based files into a seamless electronic system with their modern electronic data in such ways that are both searchable and enable knowledge management? The answer is ES3’s Searchable Document Repository System.
ES3’s Repository Systems house both old, scanned paper images and new “smart” digital data formats. Further, and most significantly, we enable search features for typical data and text mining functions on both the new digital data as well as the old scanned image of the paper data. Our systems understand that data is never stagnant. Our systems enable modification of data (both the old scanned data images as well as the newer digital formats). Both are further supported with real time updating of the indices that enable the data search engines. Hence, data mining is always current and always possible.
The core products for ES3’s Searchable Document Repositories are:
- RetrievalWare for the control, search, and retrieval of data, and
- Oracle for the relational database management system.
Our approach, integrates these two commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products with:
- other COTS products,
- ES3 software products, and
- the legacy systems of the specific enterprise.
The cornerstone to our approach is the customization of our already existing applications software which enables ES3 to significantly reduce the time and cost of deployment. ES3 does not start at the beginning by writing code to deliver the specific functionality you need. We have an assembled and integrated suite of COTS and ES3 software from which we begin the effort of customization to meet your knowledge management needs. In this way, ES3 can offer you complete searchable document repositories at a very competitive price, with very low risk, and rapid time to deployment.
ES3 system capabilities are best understood through an example of one of our client’s searchable document repository systems. ES3 is under contract with the US Air Force at Hill AFB for the continued development, system maintenance, and user support of their Master Folder Repository System (MFRS).
 The Master Folder was a physical file folder containing technical data regarding the procurement of Air Force spare and repair parts. Today, all of these previous paper folders have been scanned and are now available in a Searchable Document Repository System. ES3 software products and support services include intelligent data loading—where contractor or client can load large amounts of paper data that will be content searchable once in the repository.
The document repository is accessed through an easy-to-use web browser interface (shown right), which allows users to readily find information.
The format of new data added to the repository goes beyond the TIFF image format of the original scanned paper files. These data formats include Acrobat PDF, MSWord, or other intelligent data formats. To the user, the format of the data will be transparent since the repository software accommodates a multitude of commercial standards beyond just TIFF images.
 One of the greatest benefits to a repository system is that data is easily distributed through a web site or intranet and that the data—although originally paper-based—can be content searched with many search features. MFRS enables full content searches of all Master Folder data, improving part management. For example, suppose an engineer or screener at Hill AFB learns a particular supplier is defectively performing a specific manufacturing process. The engineer or screener can search all Master Folders for the company name (in the fictitious example on the right, we used “Comp A”) and the defectively performed process (in this example “MIL-STD-130”). The user can then proactively eliminate the company from the qualified bidders list for all parts requiring use of the identified process. Over time, the integrity of the Hill AFB Master Folder data has greatly improved. This demonstrates the great benefit an organization experiences when they knowledge manage their technical and business data.
The Hill AFB repository has a password secured, client-server application which enables an authorized group of screeners at Hill AFB to modify the Master Folders. Modifications include the addition of data, deletion of data, rearranging of folder contents, and the changing of data.
 All Hill AFB screeners are provided with a small, Paperport Scanner (figures at left) that enables them to add paper documents to the electronic folders in the repository without leaving their desks. The client software shown below allows the screeners to identify these scanned images and place them in the appropriate sections of the folder. The revised folder is displayed to the screener for formal approval before executing the changes in the repository database.
 
The repository at Hill AFB is web-based and as such they have made it available through the base intranet. Additionally, they have enabled limited access to the MFRS data for other select government centers. ES3 Searchable Repositories use modern object-oriented design constructs, which are well-engineered and well-documented for easy maintenance and modification.
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