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    Content Delivery vs. Comprehensive Knowledge Management

    While Fluid Topics specializes in the flexible delivery of documentation, Empolis supports the entire knowledge lifecycle. This ensures that relevant knowledge is available in context at all times—even on mobile devices and offline.
    logoFluidTopics-forlightbackground

    Fluid Topics - Central Document Portal

    Core

    Content Delivery & Product Knowledge

    Services

    Dynamic bundling & delivery of existing content

    Areas

    Service, Production, Technical Documentation

    EM_Empolis_svg_400x200

    Empolis - Comprehensive Knowledge Management

    Core

    Enterprise Knowledge Management

    Capabilities

    Active decision support, AI-based knowledge generation and structuring, native app

    Areas

    Customer Support, Field Service, Technical Documentation, Production, Quality Management, After-Sales

    Empolis is the right choice for companies that want to do more than just make documents available—they want to build and leverage knowledge as a strategic resource over the long term.

    While Fluid Topics focuses primarily on delivering existing content, Empolis combines intelligent knowledge delivery and governance in a comprehensive solution. This lays the foundation for keeping knowledge up-to-date, consistent, and available company-wide over the long term. The result is a reliable knowledge base that employees, customers, service organizations, and modern AI applications can all use equally.

    Empolis is particularly well-suited for companies that want to centrally manage knowledge, streamline processes, and make their content specifically accessible to people, applications, and AI.

    Empolis offers more functionality for real value creation
    Criteria Empolis Fluid Topics
    Omnichannel Delivery ✔
    Cross-departmental
    		 Partially
    Self-service portal ✔ ✔
    iiRDS-compatible ✔ ✔
    AI chatbot ✔ ✔
    RAG approach ✔
    Native feature
    		 Module-dependent
    Agentic AI ✔ ✖
    AI-based, centralized search function & synonym recognition ✔ ✖
    Support for structured & unstructured content ✔ ✔
    Context-aware content ✔ ✖
    Role-Based Views
    For employees, customers, and partners
    		 ✔ Internal: Yes,
    externally no
    Knowledge Graph Technology ✔ ✖
    Step-by-step instructions ✔ ✔
    Checklists ✔ ✖
    Built-in translation feature ✔ ✔
    Community Knowledge
    Discussion forum for problem-specific cases
    		 ✔ ✖
    Collaborative Features ✔ ✔
    Generating knowledge from data (Data-to-Knowledge) ✔ ✖
    Generating knowledge from videos (Video-to-Knowledge) ✔ ✖
    Analytics ✔ ✔
    Integration of various data sources ✔
    Standard connectors
    		 Custom development

    From Knowledge Access to Active Decision Support

    Both platforms support access to information, but they take different approaches. Fluid Topics focuses on the efficient provision and use of existing documentation. Empolis goes a step further and transforms information into actionable knowledge that is actively integrated into work processes.

    Through the structured capture, enrichment, and interlinking of knowledge, Empolis not only helps users find information but also provides context-based recommendations and concrete guidance for action. This creates direct added value for service, support, knowledge preservation, and the use of AI.

    Empolis is the right choice for companies that want to not only provide knowledge but also actively use it to improve processes, support informed decisions, and cover a wide range of use cases throughout the entire knowledge lifecycle.

    While Fluid Topics optimizes access to existing content, Empolis enables the systematic capture, structuring, and intelligent use of knowledge. This allows for support of significantly more business processes and AI-powered use cases.

    Experience Empolis in Action

    Watch a live demo to see how AI-powered knowledge management lets you deliver information instantly and significantly accelerate service processes.

    The key question is, “How can I make my knowledge more useful and valuable?”

    A modern enterprise knowledge system can therefore do more than just make documents searchable.

    Content delivery is no substitute for knowledge management

    Focusing solely on content delivery when selecting tools limits the options available to companies that want to systematically build, secure, and further develop their knowledge.


    Fluid Topics primarily supports the delivery and use of existing content, but does not offer end-to-end support for the creation, quality assurance, and further development of new knowledge. Features for regulated approval processes, the structured processing of unstructured information, AI-supported knowledge generation, and comprehensive version management are either limited or nonexistent.

    For companies, this means that maintaining and updating knowledge remains largely a manual effort. Valuable information is not consistently transformed into usable knowledge, and opportunities for automation, increased efficiency, and AI-supported knowledge utilization remain untapped.

    Empolis, on the other hand, offers a comprehensive approach to capturing, qualifying, structuring, and continuously developing knowledge. This creates a sustainable knowledge base that reduces the workload on employees, accelerates processes, and maximizes the long-term value of existing information.

    Integrated metadata management should be a basic requirement

    The added value of knowledge management arises when content, metadata, and knowledge structures are managed together. This is the only way to organize information consistently, maintain it efficiently, and make it available company-wide.

    With Fluid Topics, however, taxonomic structures and metadata must sometimes be managed via external systems. This separates the preparation of content from its delivery. The result is additional coordination and maintenance efforts, as well as limited transparency regarding the entire knowledge base.

    This makes it more difficult for companies to consistently version knowledge, manage it centrally, and quickly integrate new insights into the existing knowledge base. Especially as the volume of information grows, media discontinuities and distributed processes can compromise the timeliness and availability of knowledge.

    Empolis combines metadata management, knowledge modeling, and content management in a single central platform. This enables consistent management of knowledge, relationships, and versions; seamless integration of new insights; and makes information accessible to employees, customers, and AI applications alike.

    Flexible in the browser, limited in enterprise use

    For many use cases, browser-based information delivery is sufficient. However, companies with complex service, knowledge, and security requirements often need greater control over access, processes, and the use of knowledge in day-to-day work.

    Fluid Topics has a browser-based architecture. As a result, features for sophisticated authorization models, deeper integration into business processes, and support for mobile service scenarios are limited. In addition, there is no native app for field service, so offline useis limited tocache-based functionality .

    This can create unnecessary limitations, particularly for field service personnel. Without a full-featured field service app and comprehensive offline capabilities, access to relevant information is limited in situations with limited or no network connectivity.

    Empolis, on the other hand, supports even demanding use cases with granular permissions, integrated mobile access via a native app, and offline availability. This allows knowledge and processes to be efficiently interconnected across departmental boundaries. This lays the foundation for bringing together technical documentation, support, field service, and other business units under a unified knowledge strategy and for optimally leveraging synergies.

    While traditional portals stop at delivery, Empolis takes it a step further in terms of AI depth, security, and scalability.
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    Standard Security vs. TISAX Standard

    If maximum data security is a must for you: Empolis is certified to ISO 27001, ISO 27017/27018, TISAX, and is fully GDPR-compliant.

    IL Data Integration - data-integration-alt

    Document Publishing vs. Data-to-Knowledge

    If you want to do more than just publish DITA/XML—if you want to generate actionable insights from unstructured data, videos, and deep system connectors.

    IL-Business-Handshake-business

    Focus on the U.S. vs. Establishing a Foothold in the DACH Region

    While global providers often remain generic, Empolis is deeply rooted in the European B2B industry and offers a scalable platform that grows with your needs.

    With Empolis, you can get more out of your company’s knowledge

    This scalable SaaS solution is the ideal foundation for meeting specific requirements in technical documentation, customer support, field service, and production. Empolis enables a new kind of digital value creation. Knowledge is captured while working with the system, processed using AI, and delivered in a context-aware manner.
    Our need for information is extremely high, especially given the current technological changes. With Empolis software, our technicians stay up to date and can easily look up information on their own—which helps us foster situational learning.
    REF_MiklosLörincziKarn
    Miklos Lörinczi-Karn Head of Training
    Thanks to artificial intelligence, BIP is the central hub where all information related to BOMAG product services converges. Information is now in one place—available anytime, anywhere.
    REF_DietmarMetz
    Dietmar Metz Head of Smart Services and Knowledge Management
    We had various data sources in different regions that weren't interconnected. The goal was to consolidate all these data sources in one place so that employees would have easy access to technical information (…) Empolis had the clearest roadmap for this, including AI capabilities.
    REF_DanielMendt
    Daniel Mendt Manager Engineering Solutions & Support

    Take the Next Step

    Schedule a no-obligation initial consultation today, during which we’ll discuss your use case and goals together.

    FAQs

    • In fact, the two products are often compared because they compete against each other in requests for proposals for “Knowledge Management” or “Enterprise Search.” From a technical standpoint, however, they belong to different product categories with some overlap in functionality.

      The biggest difference between the two platforms lies in the type of knowledge they process. Fluid Topics operates on the assumption that knowledge already exists within documents and makes these documents searchable, structured, and contextually relevant. This is particularly useful for manufacturers with extensive technical documentation, but it also entails a significant amount of manual effort in maintaining and further developing the content.

      Empolis, on the other hand, takes a solution-oriented approach: What does the user need to be optimally supported in their work ? In addition to information from documents, this approach focuses on structuring and making implicit and explicit knowledge usable. It therefore also helps to continuously update and expand the database—thanks to AI functions, but without significant manual effort.

    • Simply put, the biggest difference lies in content processing. While Fluid Topics aggregates existing technical documentation and makes it available through various channels, Empolis covers the entire knowledge lifecycle: implicit and explicit knowledge from experts, teams, and unstructured data is extracted, semantically structured, quality-assured, and made usable for service, production, business processes, machines, and AI applications.

      In short: Fluid Topics delivers content—Empolis extracts knowledge from documentation and makes it usable across all processes.

    • Yes—with a significantly broader approach. Empolis not only provides centralized access to technical documentation and makes it available to different users and channels, but also integrates technical content into a holistic knowledge management system.

      This makes Empolis particularly well-suited for companies that do not view technical documentation in isolation but want to link it to expert knowledge, service knowledge, semantic relationships, and operational processes.

    • Empolis is particularly well-suited for all use cases across the entire value chain: from product development and installation to maintenance and after-sales service. This is because Empolis not only makes knowledge available but also actively utilizes, expands, and continuously develops it within the work process.

      While Fluid Topics focuses primarily on the provision and delivery of existing documentation, Empolis takes a user-oriented approach: knowledge is made available throughout the entire work process—regardless of which department generated it. To achieve this, Empolis takes the context of use into account.

      Work in progress can also be saved and shared with colleagues; process steps are tracked, and new insights are immediately incorporated back into the knowledge base. This promotes cross-departmental collaboration and forms the foundation for a modern workplace.

    • When it comes to AI search, GenAI chatbots, translation, and text summarization, the AI capabilities of Empolis and Fluid Topics largely overlap.

      The key difference is Knowledge Forge: Empolis uses it to generate new knowledge from unstructured data or training videos and convert it into, for example, knowledge articles, decision trees, or checklists.

      In this way, Empolis uses AI not only to make existing content more accessible but also to generate new, structured, and quality-assured knowledge from data and experiential knowledge. This reduces the manual maintenance effort, keeps the knowledge base up to date, and enables its continuous expansion.

    • Instead of expensive custom development for individual interfaces, Empolis relies on standard connectors and offers a REST-enabled, open API. This allows you to quickly and easily integrate existing services or develop your own service apps for smart services, chatbots, or dialogue systems in no time—Empolis supports every requirement.

    • The time required to go live always depends on the specific use case and the scope of functionality in each individual case. Experience shows that companies with clearly defined use cases and certain prerequisites can launch a production system within a few weeks, which is then gradually expanded to include additional content, data sources, and business units. Standardized interfaces and an open API facilitate the connection of existing systems and integration into the existing IT landscape.

      The iterative approach makes it possible to generate measurable added value early on and to continuously expand the knowledge platform in parallel with ongoing operations.

    • Yes, in this case, Empolis has the edge. The software features various AI capabilities designed to transform videos or unstructured data into new, structured knowledge and make it available as service cases, instructions, or decision trees. This way, content becomes not only discoverable but also a quality-assured building block in the knowledge base.

      Fluid Topics, on the other hand, can only index multimedia formats and make them searchable.

    • Empolis has a native field service app that fully supports field employees without restrictions and has been proven to increase the first-time fix rate. The fully functional offline mode also adds significant value.

      Fluid Topics, on the other hand, has a browser-based architecture and cannot offer a native app. It has a limited offline mode that relies on network access. Offline functions are primarily cached.

    Do you need more information? Then send us an email!

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