When a problem is encountered, the re-use phase is initiated to decide if the solution of the most appropriate cases can be adopted as-is, or after some minor adaptation; which may involve modifying the solution itself or the solution’s application methodology. The next phase, revision, follows the re-use phase. Once a problem has been identified and matched with a solution from past experiences, it may be necessary to evaluate the solution and repair any faults that may have been uncovered. DrillEdge software does not on its own construct new solutions - that is left to the drilling engineers and the rig crew, but this step is crucial because it is at this point that a unique new solution is created and learned by the case base.

The retain phase describes how the problem and its newly evaluated solution are prepared for integration into the case base and for subsequent extraction as needed, should a similar problem occur in the future. Importantly, the steps between problem recognition and best solution presentation take place automatically and almost instantly. In many cases, as common problem scenarios start to develop, they can trigger warning alarms that indicate a potentially dangerous situation, allowing remedial action to take place before the problem actually occurs. This feature plays a key role in trouble avoidance. During field trials in 2007 and 2008, engineers noted that:

• DrillEdge software is a continuous process of analysis, matching and weighting of
  relevant scenarios.
• The system continuously adapts to changes in activities and adjusts itself.
• Learning from experience and automatically suggesting a path toward
  optimization saves time.
• Pro-actively detecting risky scenarios allows more time to plan, react to and to
  avoid them.