Knowledge Management | Operations
I've spent the last few months implementing ERP systems for two completely different businesses. Both of them had the same problem, and it had nothing to do with software.
The problem was that nobody had written down how anything worked.
Not properly, anyway. There were shared drives with folders from 2019. Some Word documents that contradicted each other. A few process maps pinned to a noticeboard in the warehouse that hadn't been updated since someone left two years ago. Most of the actual knowledge — how to process a return, how to set up a new vendor, what to do when a machine throws a fault code — lived entirely in people's heads.
That works until it doesn't. Someone goes on leave, quits, or gets sick, and the person covering for them has to figure it out from scratch. New staff take months to become useful because training depends on whoever happens to be around and what kind of day they're having. The business owner ends up answering the same questions over and over because they're the only person who's seen everything.
I got tired of watching this pattern repeat, so I went looking for a better way to handle it.
The platform is called Whale. I looked at a few SOP tools before landing on this one, and the thing that sold me was how low the barrier is to creating content.
Here's the workflow: someone who knows a process records themselves doing it on screen (or films it on their phone for physical tasks). They upload the recording. Whale's AI converts it into a written SOP with numbered steps, screenshots pulled from the video, and descriptions of each action. The video stays embedded at the top.
A ten-minute screen recording produces a finished SOP in about two minutes. You still need to review it — the AI gets roughly 80% right and someone needs to check the detail — but the difference between "spend two hours writing a document" and "spend ten minutes recording yourself" is the difference between it happening and it not happening.
If you want to click around the product without signing up, this interactive walkthrough lets you do that.
The recording and conversion is useful, but it's not what makes people use the system. What changes behaviour is the AI assistant that sits inside the knowledge base.
Whale lets each workspace name their assistant whatever they want. One of my clients called theirs "Lancelot." Staff type a question in plain language — "How do I mute Teams Notifications?" or "What's the address of the Christchurch warehouse?" — and the assistant searches the SOP library and gives them an answer with a link to the source document. It only answers from your content, not the internet, so it won't hand someone generic instructions that don't match your setup.
I've built this out in a live client workspace with real SOPs and real questions — not placeholder content. If you want to see it working, get in touch and I'll walk you through the demo.
The shift is subtle but real. Instead of interrupting a colleague, calling the manager, or guessing, people type a question and get a documented answer. The person who wrote the SOP doesn't need to be there.
One thing that put me off most SOP platforms initially was the per-seat pricing. In a factory or warehouse environment, you might have 40 or 50 people who need to read procedures but only a handful who create them. Paying per head for every reader kills the maths.
Whale handles this differently. Any SOP can be shared via a public link — no account required. You can generate a QR code, stick it on a piece of equipment or a workstation wall, and anyone with a phone can scan it and read the procedure. Seasonal workers, contractors, agency staff — they all get access without needing a login or a paid seat.
The team plan covers 10 content creators at roughly $170 NZD per month. Unlimited SOPs, unlimited readers through public links. For most businesses I work with, that's plenty.
If you want to see what the numbers look like for your situation, Whale has a calculator where you plug in your headcount, turnover rate, and training hours: Calculate your ROI
I'm now a Whale partner, which means I can set up workspaces for clients, transfer SOPs between organisations, and manage the configuration. The practical effect is that I build SOPs as a natural part of whatever project I'm already running.
For my ERP clients, this is particularly useful. Every process we configure in D365 — sales orders, purchase orders, production, warehouse operations, returns — gets recorded as an SOP during implementation. By the time the system goes live, the training library already exists. Staff don't need to remember what they were shown in a CRP session three months ago. They ask the AI assistant or scan a QR code.
But this isn't limited to ERP. Any process that someone knows how to do can be captured this way. IT procedures, HR onboarding, health and safety, equipment operation, month-end close — if someone can do it, they can record it, and the platform turns it into documentation that other people can actually use.
After three to six months, clients typically have 50 to 150 SOPs across their core departments. QR codes on equipment. An AI assistant that answers questions from company-specific content. Review cycles that keep things current. And new staff who get productive in days rather than weeks, because the answers are written down before they arrive.
The knowledge base becomes the reference point for how the business runs. It stops being dependent on who happens to be in the building.
There's a version of this problem that hits harder when a business changes hands.
If you're selling, a buyer is going to ask how the business runs without you. Every process that lives in someone's head is a risk they have to price in. Documented operations — searchable, version-controlled, with training built in — reduce that risk. It's one of the clearest ways to protect your multiple, because you're proving the business doesn't fall apart when the current team walks out the door.
If you've recently bought a business, you're on the other side of the same problem. You've paid for an operation that runs on knowledge you haven't captured yet. The people you inherited know how things work, but that knowledge is fragile — it leaves when they leave. Getting it documented quickly isn't a nice-to-have. It's protecting the investment you've already made.
Either way, the question a knowledge base answers is the same: "Can this business operate without depending on specific individuals?" The stronger the answer, the more the business is worth.
The free trial gives you full access with no credit card required. You can start recording and building SOPs from day one.
Once you're in, get in touch and I'll help you set up your workspace and build the first batch of SOPs. Or if you'd rather see it working first, book a time to meet and I'll walk you through a live workspace.