Buckman Laboratories Case Study

Bob Buckman certainly had the right idea when he created and implemented the K’Netix Information System. Utilization of the knowledge bank of individuals and then sharing that information with all of the employees within the organization proved to be one of the key components that distinguished Buckman Laboratories from its competition. However, in a market where knowledge management systems are more common, Buckman Laboratories will need to find a way to remain competitive. One way to achieve this would be to expand the function of the K’Netix system. In addition to being a knowledge sharing portal between all employees within the company, the system could also keep track of the client’s inventory. It could alert the dedicated sales person for that particular client, that the client’s inventory levels were low. The sales person would then contact the client and verify what products the client indeed wanted to reorder. This action would lead to customer satisfaction and retention. Going one step further, the K’Netix system could even be interfaced with the client’s information system, and automatically re-order the products when the inventory reached a certain, pre-determined level.
If the client’s information system was linked with K’Netix, the clients would have access to the information data sheets for each chemical. They could also use the system to ask questions directly, eliminating the need for the sales person to continually be in the loop (and decrease costs). This action would allow the sales person to do what they do best: sell the product. The client would feel more empowered since they had access to a wealth of information.
K’Netix is a system that has proven itself over the years, even though the costs continue to rise. Keeping with the customer service concept that Buckman developed years ago, K’Netix can continue to be profitable, if applications are added to the system that increase its