8.3 The Knowledge Management Solution 181
detained “beyond the Black Stump” (Australian slang for “a remote
place” such as Kununurra in the far north) or lose the sale to a
competitor.
When preparing specifications and quotes, engineers use a variety
of specialized software to calculate HVAC loadings and make exten-
sive use of previous installations. In particular, Western Air felt that
basing a quote on the price of a previous similar installation gave a
more accurate estimation than using prices based on proprietary soft-
ware, catalogue equipment prices, and standard labor rates. However,
they were aware that they were not making use of all their past work.
They had nearly 10,000 system installation files, but most engineers
only made use of their ...