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Home/Industries/Manufacturing/Ops Copilot Work Instructions

Ops Copilot: Work Instructions /Troubleshooting / SOP Assistant

A chat-based copilot that retrieves the correct work instructions and SOPsand guides troubleshooting with next-best actions — grounded only inapproved documents.

CORE PROMISE
AskRetrieveConfirm ContextGuide ActionsEscalate if NeededLog

(Faster fixes, consistent execution)

Best For:
Plant Operations
Maintenance
Production Engineering
QA/QC
Field Service
Shop-floor Supervisors

Common pain points we solve

Quality issues don't arrive neatly. They come through:

Operators waste time finding the correct SOP or work instruction version

Troubleshooting steps are scattered across manuals and PDFs

Uncertainty about safety checks and shutdown procedures

Escalations go to the wrong technician or engineer

Same questions repeated every shift ("tribal knowledge" in people, not systems)

Inconsistent execution across shifts and plants

Where this fits

Ideal starting scope for a pilot implementation

Teams Involved

  • Operations
  • Maintenance
  • Production Engineering
  • QA
  • Safety (as needed)

Channels

  • Web chat in internal portal
  • Teams / Slack
  • Kiosk terminal near the line

Ideal Pilot Scope

  • 1 plant/site or 1 line area
  • 30–100 approved documents (SOPs, work instructions, manuals, checklists)
  • 8–12 top recurring issues / guided playbooks (sensor faults, calibration steps, changeover checks)

Inputs & Outputs

What goes in and what comes out

Inputs

  • User question + machine/line context

  • Knowledge base:

    • SOPs
    • Work instructions
    • Safety procedures
    • OEM manuals

  • Optional system context:

    • CMMS tickets
    • Machine codes
    • Spare parts list
    • Shift logs

Outputs

  • Source-grounded answer with correct version reference

  • Step-by-step checklist (what to do next)

  • "Next-best action" recommendation (reset vs inspect vs stop line vs call maintenance)

  • Ticket creation & routing (optional)

  • Analytics:

    • Top issues
    • Doc gaps
    • Time-to-resolution

What it helps with (high-ROI manufacturing topics)

Troubleshooting alarms and faults

error codes, resets, inspection steps

Changeover SOP guidance

sequence, checks, signoffs

Calibration and inspection procedures

measurement steps, frequency, tolerance guidance

Quality hold actions

containment steps, who to notify, checklists

Safety procedures

lockout-tagout references, escalation triggers

Spare parts lookup

part ID, compatibility, reorder process (optional)

The Workflow

Step-by-step automation from intake to tracking

Step 1

Ask

Operator/tech asks a question ("Conveyor alarm E17—what's the fix?")

Step 2

Retrieve

Copilot fetches relevant SOP/manual sections (RAG) from approved sources.

Step 3

Confirm Context

Line, machine model, revision, safety state, last maintenance date (as available).

Step 4

Guide Actions

Provides step-by-step checklist with safety gates.

Step 5

Route

If unresolved or critical, create a ticket and route to maintenance/engineering.

Step 6

Log

Record what guidance was used, what action was taken, and outcome tags (for learning).

What ApexIQ Delivers

Approved Knowledge Base (RAG)

Ingest SOPs/WIs/manuals with version control

Guardrails

Answer-only-from-sources, confidence gating, safety-first rules

Playbook Layer

8-12 guided flows for top recurring issues

Copilot UI Integration

Portal widget or Teams/Slack integration

Action Tools (Optional)

Create CMMS ticket, notify supervisor, generate checklist export

Decision Logging

Issue type, doc used, steps followed, outcome tags

Analytics Dashboard

Frequent issues, doc usage, unresolved queries, gap detection

Governance Model

How docs get updated and re-indexed safely

Integrations & Data Sources

We integrate based on your stack

Doc systems

  • SharePoint/Drive
  • Internal QMS repositories

CMMS

  • Maintenance ticketing tools (e.g., Maximo-like systems, or your internal system)

Workflow

  • Jira/ServiceNow (if used for ops requests)

Collaboration

  • Teams/Slack notifications

Optional plant data

  • Machine code mappings
  • Parts catalogs
  • Shift logs

Accuracy & Safety Controls

Built-in safeguards and quality measures

Answers only from approved documents (no guessing)

Version control (return correct WI / SOP revision)

Safety gating (lockout/tagout and stop-line triggers when required)

Confidence thresholds (low confidence → clarify or route to human)

Role-based access (not everyone sees all manuals/processes)

Audit logging (what doc was used and when)

Honest positioning

The copilot speeds retrieval and standardizes actions.

It doesn’t replace engineers — it reduces time wasted searching and reduces mistakes.

Pilot Plan (2–4 Weeks)

A proven timeline to get you to production

W1Week 1

Scope & Document Readiness

  • Choose one line/site and top issue categories
  • Collect approved SOPs, WIs, and manuals
  • Define 8–12 playbooks and safety rules
W2Week 2

Build RAG + Copilot Flows

  • Index documents with version control
  • Build guided flows and clarification prompts
  • Implement guardrails and safe fallback
W3Week 3

Shadow Rollout

  • Release to a small ops / maintenance group
  • Capture real questions and failure patterns
  • Tune retrieval quality and playbooks
W4Week 4

Operationalize

  • Add action tools (ticketing/ notifications) if desired
  • Add analytics and runbooks
  • Expand to another area if stable

Pilot KPI Targets

Reduction in time to find correct SOP / work instruction
Reduction in downtime caused by "waiting for guidance"
Fewer repeated questions to senior staff
Playbook completion rate & ticket escalation quality
Decrease in procedural errors (where measured)
User adoption (queries per user per week)

What We Need From You

Client checklist to kick off the pilot

1
30–100 approved SOPs / work instructions / manuals (clean versions + revision IDs)
2
Top 8–12 recurring issues and current resolution steps
3
Role / permission mapping (basic)
4
One ops lead + one maintenance/QA reviewer for weekly tuning
5
Optional: CMMS / workflow integration access

Want faster troubleshooting and consistent SOP execution without tribal knowledge bottlenecks?

Book a consultation or request an assessment—we'll recommend the best first workflow to pilot.