That's where the idea of using the Internet offered a solution. In 1995, Buckman Laboratories commissioned CompuServe to create the Chemforum: an on-line meeting area where employees could post questions and receive answers within minutes. Now, an answer to a manufacturing question was minutes or seconds away instead of days or weeks. Every employee was encouraged to participate in the forum, and before long, Buckman had built a critical mass of knowledge. Nowhere was the contrast more evident than on the factory floor.