Semantic Search

So while ZOOMS is advertised as a “Google” for PI, it really is not a full-text search. Here’s why:

There isn’t a lot of text in PI.

Users go to PI to look at trends. Trends for troubleshooting a phenomenon in the plant. Trends for a preliminary look at experiments running in the lab. Trends for long-term data analysis to improve the process. Trends to decrease process variability. Operational Excellence objectives are vastly assisted by access to trends.

Access means usability. Usability means findability. And if you listen to the words of scientists and engineers, they do not speak “tag.” They speak alias (like “SO2 concentration” or “feed rate”). They speak unit (like “Furnace” or “blower”). They may even speak batch (like “Lot R10353″).

This means that ZOOMS must understand the semantics of how these words combine to form trends. Which is why ZOOMS is not full-text search; ZOOMS is better described by semantic search.