Business2.com: At Shell, Everyone's the Answer Man: The oil giant saves hundreds of millions by fielding technical questions on a global Web bulletin board.: “…Shell has managed to parlay its $1 million investment into cost savings of more than $200 million a year.” (ShellNews.net) Posted 1 February 05

By Owen Thomas

Any engineer at Shell with a tough question can usually get an answer from some other engineer. The problem has been finding that person.

The company's exploration and production division tried setting up experts in centralized offices. But that meant pulling its best people off the line. Connecting everyone by phone and e-mail didn't solve problems either. "You can share information via telephone," says Arjan van Unnik, head of knowledge management for the group, "[only] if you happen to know someone somewhere else."

So in 1998, Shell installed a private Web bulletin board that allows employees to swap advice. But as with everything on the Web, the trick isn't building it -- it's getting them to come.

…Shell has managed to parlay its $1 million investment into cost savings of more than $200 million a year.

http://www.business2.com/b2/web/articles/0,17863,582181,00.html