Pilot Implementation
Pilot Implementation — Production & Technology
A four-week implementation package covering the technology department or the operator support function, from mapping production technology processes to deploying the first tools into the team's daily work.
4 weeks of work. Technology department and operator support. Staged payment with a decision point after the first week.
Who it's for
The department profile this variant fits
For the technology department, commissioning department, production department, or operator support function within a manufacturing company.
This variant is addressed to plants with a machine fleet and a commissioning decision hierarchy. The industry profile may vary, from machining plants, tool shops and injection moulding facilities, through joinery, assembly and heat-treatment shops, to process manufacturing, foundries, sheet metal forming, steel structure prefabrication, or food processing plants. The common denominator is the presence of domain knowledge distributed between experienced staff and plant documentation, knowledge whose organisation and accessibility to operators translates directly into commissioning time, first-piece quality, and the plant's resilience to staff turnover.
Technology-related material is typically scattered across network files, emails, paper notes at the machines, and the memory of experienced process engineers. Part of this knowledge exists only in operational form, in decisions made ad hoc during the commissioning of non-standard orders. With staff turnover or a change in production profile, part of this knowledge disappears from the plant. The Production & Technology variant addresses both layers: organising existing documentation and building tools that capture the plant's empirical knowledge during the team's daily work, regardless of the technology profile.
Department Discovery
Typical problem areas
A catalog of typical areas addressed by the diagnosis in the first week of the package.
- 01
Supporting process engineers in commissioning decisions
Machine parameterisation in situations where the standard process card does not cover the current order. An assistant with a plant knowledge base covering commissioning history, process parameters, and tooling documentation speeds up finding a precedent and shortens first-piece verification time.
- 02
Process documentation
Organising, indexing, and searching existing material scattered across network files, emails, and notes. The starting point is the plant's actual documentation state, not an assumption of ideal structure.
- 03
Quality deviation analysis
Patterns in production history, identification of recurring problems and their root causes. The analysis covers quality control reports, production system records, and internal complaint documentation, where such documentation exists in the plant.
- 04
First-line handling of operator questions
A voice or chat assistant available on the shop floor, based on the plant's process documentation. The operator asks a question in natural language and receives an answer with the source indicated. Decisions requiring a process engineer's judgement remain with the process engineer.
- 05
Converting technical documentation between formats
Work instructions generated from construction drawings, job cards generated from process documentation, reference materials tailored to a specific workstation. Conversion includes preserving compliance with the plant's internal documentation standards.
- 06
Operator training support
Training materials generated from the plant's knowledge base, tailored to a specific workstation. This function is useful for onboarding new employees, planned position rotation, and preparation for commissioning non-standard orders.
The catalog is a starting point, not a rigid list of package tasks. The Department Discovery phase in the first week of the package verifies which areas are actually relevant in the client's department, and identifies areas specific to the plant's profile. A client with a concrete idea of their own is not blocked by the catalog — the idea enters the scope as one of the priorities.
Course
How the package unfolds
The four weeks of work are divided into four stages, each with a defined function.
Week 1
Department Discovery
Work takes place at the company's premises, on the shop floor, and in the technology department office. Conversations with the technology manager, commissioning process engineers, and operators, observation of daily technology processes, identification of recurring commissioning and quality problems.
Week 2
Workshop with the team
Workshop sessions in which the technology department team, together with the consultant, identifies specific process problems and designs solutions. The workshop also involves shop-floor operators; the workstation perspective is essential for designing tools that will genuinely enter daily work.
Week 3
Solution design and start of build
Construction of the priority tools begins, typically a process documentation assistant, a format-conversion tool, or an operator support assistant. The selection follows from the workshop findings.
Week 4
Deployment and presentation to the management board
Deployment of the solutions in the company's working environment, training of the technology department team and shop-floor operators, support during the first days of use. The package concludes with a presentation to the management board covering the deployed solutions, a map of the department's problems, and a proposal for further cooperation.
The detailed mechanics of the package — the meeting schedule, workshop session parameters, the structure of the decision point after the first week — are provided in the offer proposal after the consultation. The mechanics are shared across all six variants of Pilot Implementation.
Results
What remains after four weeks
The Pilot Implementation in the Production & Technology variant concludes with five parallel results that remain with the company.
- 01
Working solutions in daily use
A process documentation assistant, a quality deviation analysis tool, a shop-floor operator support assistant, or a documentation format converter. Each solution comes with user documentation and training.
- 02
List of ideas submitted by the team
Solution proposals formulated by the technology department team itself and by operators during the workshop. The list reflects real, everyday problems from the shop floor and the technology office.
- 03
Map of the department's everyday problems
A document organising process problems: non-standard commissioning, quality deviations, documentation inconsistent with practice, bottlenecks in handling operator questions. A working document for the board, the technology manager, and the production department.
- 04
Descriptions of further solutions for future implementation
Ready-made descriptions of solutions prepared for further work. Each includes the objective, the target user profile (process engineer, operator, manager), the data required, and an initial assessment of technical complexity.
- 05
Plan for further cooperation
A proposal for the next step after the Pilot Implementation: scope, timeline, terms of cooperation. No obligation to continue. The decision remains with the company.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions about AI implementation in the production & technology department
Answers to the questions that most often come up before deciding on an implementation.
How does Pilot Implementation differ from a classic MES system?
An MES (Manufacturing Execution System) manages the execution of a production order, tracks the progress of operations, and collects process data. Pilot Implementation in the Production & Technology variant addresses the domain knowledge of process engineers and operators, building tools that organise documentation and support commissioning decisions based on the plant's empirical knowledge. Both layers are complementary; in plants with an MES, the implementation integrates as a decision-support layer.
How will the tool integrate with production control systems?
Assistants supporting process engineers and operators typically operate as a layer separate from PLC, SCADA, or MES control systems; they do not interfere with machine operation and rely on documentation and historical data. In plants running on Siemens, Rockwell, Beckhoff, or Mitsubishi infrastructure, integrating historical data from these systems into the plant's knowledge base is possible. The specific scope is established during the Department Discovery phase.
Will a voice assistant work in shop-floor conditions?
Operating a voice assistant on the shop floor requires solving three problems: ambient noise, operators' personal protective equipment, and the device's resilience to production conditions. Mature implementations use directional microphones, interference-resistant interfaces, and tablets or industrial panels with an adequate protection rating. The decision on the interface form (voice, chat, terminal, mobile device) is made during the solution design phase in week 3, based on the specifics of the shop floor.
What about the security of process documentation and the plant's know-how?
Process documentation and commissioning history are sensitive material; in many plants they represent a competitive advantage built over years. The architecture addresses this directly: an on-premise deployment is possible, in which process data and documentation do not leave the client's server, as are hybrid models with isolation of sensitive data. The specific architecture is established during the solution design phase in week 3.
To what extent does the package include operator training support?
The package includes two training elements: teaching materials generated by the deployed tools (workstation instructions, job cards for rotation or onboarding) and hands-on training of the technology team and operators in using the tools during week 4. The package does not include a full operator training programme; that is a matter for a longer-term engagement or a separate project.
Does deploying artificial intelligence in the technology department require ready-made process documentation?
No. The implementation starts from the plant's actual documentation state, not from an assumption of ideal structure. Part of the package covers organising and indexing material scattered across files, emails, and notes. In plants with very fragmentary documentation, the first implementations often concern tools that support capturing empirical knowledge during the team's daily work.
Pierwszy krok
Decisions about the Production & Technology variant take one conversation
A thirty-minute online consultation is enough to assess whether the package matches your department's profile and which problem areas from the catalog are relevant to your team's daily work.
Direct contact: kontakt@artechconsult.com · +48 609 065 717
Other area-specific variants