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See how Augmentir’s TWI software supercharges Training Within Industry’s four pillars with AI-driven personalization, safety, and continuous improvement.

For more than 80 years, Training Within Industry (TWI) has been a proven foundation for building skilled, capable workforces. Organizations in manufacturing, food and beverage, and other industrial sectors have relied on its structured approach to Job Instruction (JI), Job Methods (JM), Job Relations (JR), and Job Safety (JS) to ensure quality, productivity, and employee engagement.

supercharging training within industry with twi software from augmentir

At Augmentir, we’re not here to reinvent TWI. We’re here to amplify it—to give it the tools it needs to thrive in the modern, connected, data-driven world.

Recently, a food and beverage company that has followed TWI principles for over 20 years shared with us how Augmentir’s Connected Worker software is helping them unlock value they didn’t realize they were losing.

Our TWI software builds on TWI’s four pillars by combining their time-tested structure with modern digital capabilities—AI-driven personalization, real-time data capture, integrated safety workflows, and collaborative improvement tools—that close long-standing gaps, preserve the integrity of the methodology, and extend its impact across today’s fast-changing industrial landscape.

Pillar 1: Job Instruction – From Good to Great

One of our client’s first observations was that Job Instruction isn’t as simple as writing a standard operating procedure. Get the structure wrong, and the benefits of TWI start to slip away.

Their feedback? Our ability to configure job instructions exactly to their needs is helping them reclaim value that had been leaking from their process for years. Instead of rigid templates, Augmentir’s TWI software allows Job Instructions to be built and delivered in ways that match the precise structure, flow, and visual cues required for mastery.

Even better, our AI continuously assesses each worker’s knowledge and adapts the training to meet them where they are—so no one sits through irrelevant steps and no one is left behind.

Beyond personalization, our AI agents act as always-on digital trainers. Workers can ask questions in natural language at the moment of need, get step-by-step coaching during unfamiliar tasks, and receive proactive nudges when an agent detects hesitation, errors, or a deviation from the standard. The result is true on-the-job training—where Job Instruction is reinforced every shift, not just during onboarding.

Pillar 2: Job Methods – Continuous Improvement, Powered by the Frontline

In classic TWI, Job Methods is about refining the way work gets done. Our client has seen this pillar transformed with Augmentir.

By enabling workers to contribute improvement ideas at any step of work, they have seen a 20% increase in job improvement recommendations over last year. These aren’t just suggestions—they’re captured, evaluated, and acted on with a closed feedback loop, creating a living system of operational improvement.

Our AI detects variability in work execution and pinpoints where skills gaps exist, driving targeted upskilling opportunities that improve both productivity and consistency.

Pillar 3: Job Relations – Objective Insights that Build Stronger Teams

For TWI, Job Relations is about fostering trust, communication, and engagement. Augmentir’s AI agents continuously monitor skill progression, certification status, and on-the-job performance—giving leaders a real-time view of how each operator is developing, where they’re excelling, and where they need support.

This isn’t about surveillance—it’s about partnership. Supervisors can have objective, meaningful conversations with workers, backed by clear metrics and personalized development paths. Our client reported that this is improving retention, engagement, and happiness scores—and ultimately strengthening the relationship between employees, leaders, and the organization as a whole.

Pillar 4: Job Safety – The Modern Essential

While traditional TWI implies safety as a byproduct of strong training, modern operations demand more. Our client pointed out something powerful:

“Having an employee trained makes them safer. But Augmentir’s ability to tailor training to the specific knowledge of each person makes them even safer.”

With Augmentir, safety becomes a core, trackable element of daily work:

  • Safety prompts embedded directly into digital workflows.
  • Real-time hazard alerts and compliance checks.
  • Data-driven insights to proactively address risks before incidents occur.

By elevating Job Safety to a pillar of its own, organizations can make safety culture measurable, visible, and consistently reinforced.

Extending TWI Software with Custom AI Agents

Every TWI program is unique. The way one organization captures skill progression, validates certifications, or coaches new hires looks very different from the next. That’s why Augmentir’s TWI software and AI Agent Studio gives manufacturers the tools to build their own AI agents—purpose-built for their specific TWI workflows, terminology, and operating standards.

industrial ai agent studio - build custom ai agents for manufacturing

With AI Agent Studio, teams can deploy custom agents that:

  • Track operator skill progression against TWI-defined competencies and surface gaps before they affect quality or safety.
  • Coach new hires through Job Instruction breakdowns, adapting guidance to the worker’s experience level and learning pace.
  • Recertify operators on critical tasks by quizzing them in context, scheduling refreshers, and flagging expirations to supervisors.

Rather than waiting for a vendor roadmap, manufacturers can stand up agents in minutes—turning their hardest-won TWI knowledge into a system that scales across lines, plants, and shifts.

The Future of TWI Software is Connected

TWI’s principles have stood the test of time since their introduction during World War II because they work. But today’s operations are more complex, the pace of change is faster, and the demand for agility is higher than ever.

By combining TWI’s enduring framework with Augmentir’s AI-powered Connected Worker platform, companies can:

  • Deliver Job Instructions that truly fit the work and the worker.
  • Make Job Safety a measurable, proactive outcome.
  • Harness frontline input for continuous improvement at scale.
  • Use objective insights to strengthen relationships and grow talent.

This isn’t about replacing TWI—it’s about giving it the digital muscle to thrive for the next 80 years.

Ready to take TWI further? See how Augmentir’s Connected Worker platform and AI Agent Studio can amplify every pillar of your training program. Book a Demo.

 

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Augmentir welcomes Mike Carroll to our Board of Advisors! Mike is widely recognized as an industry trailblazer and visionary, with a proven track record of driving innovation, industrial transformation, and AI strategy.

We’re excited to welcome Mike Carroll to Augmentir’s Board of Advisors!

A recognized leader in industrial operations, digital innovation, and workforce strategy, Mike brings decades of experience driving transformation across manufacturing and industrial enterprises.

augmentir welcomes mike carroll to board of advisors

Widely regarded as an industry visionary, Mike most recently served as Vice President of Innovation at Georgia-Pacific, where he led transformative initiatives across the company and its parent, Koch Industries. His leadership in AI strategy, operational excellence, and workforce enablement makes him a powerful addition to Augmentir as we continue to grow our AI-powered connected worker platform — helping manufacturers tackle their most critical workforce challenges.

A Career at the Intersection of Manufacturing, Innovation, and Industrial Transformation

Mike’s career spans key leadership roles where he has helped organizations modernize operations by aligning people, process, and technology. At Georgia-Pacific, he led enterprise-wide efforts in operations, engineering, and manufacturing excellence, creating more adaptive, future-ready workforces.

His expertise extends beyond technology adoption — encompassing workplace modernization and the human side of digital transformation. These experiences make him a valuable voice in the evolving conversation about the future of work.

Why This Matters Now

Manufacturing is undergoing a seismic shift. With aging workforces, widening skills gaps, labor shortages, and increasing production complexity, manufacturers are being forced to rethink how they engage, support, and train their frontline teams.

At the same time, emerging technologies like AI, connected worker platforms, and intelligent automation are opening new opportunities — but only when implemented with real-world operational understanding.

That’s where Mike’s experience is invaluable. Having led transformation initiatives from within the industry, he brings both a strategic lens and practical wisdom to ensure that workforce transformation remains central to industrial innovation.

Mike has a unique ability to connect operational goals with frontline execution. His strategic vision and practical insight will be a tremendous asset as we continue helping manufacturers digitize their frontline operations and unlock workforce potential through AI.

We see the future of industrial work now being realized by emerging AI approaches, utilizing generative AI knowledge management, and AI factory agents collaborating alongside humans on the shop floor. Augmentir’s focus on delivering an intelligent frontline operations platform goes beyond visualizing data to actually driving action. It digitally connects people, processes, and systems, enabling proactive management through intelligent workflows, digital task management, and continuous improvement tools. With Augmentir, data isn’t just displayed—it’s used to empower smarter, faster, and more effective operations.

“Augmentir isn’t just another layer of dashboards, it’s goal is to be a unified ‘single pane of glass’ that closes the loop between training and work execution, empowering frontline teams with AI-driven insights and augmented guidance to drive continuous improvement in safety, quality, and productivity. I’m excited to join a company that doesn’t merely digitize processes but learns from every action on the shop floor and delivers in-line support, whether through generative AI assistants or remote expert collaboration, so manufacturers can onboard workers faster, optimize skills, and unlock their full potential.”

– Mike Carroll

Driving the Future of Connected Work

At Augmentir, we’re committed to helping manufacturers digitize and optimize their frontline operations with AI-powered tools for skills management, digital workflows, industrial collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Welcoming Mike Carroll to our Board of Advisors is another step forward in that journey — strengthening our ability to serve manufacturers with both cutting-edge technology and real-world operational insight.

Please join us in welcoming Mike to the team!

 

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How AI, HR, and operations come together to support frontline workers. Key insights from the HR Happy Hour podcast, featuring Chris Kuntz from Augmentir on skills, training, and connected work.

Augmentir’s VP of Marketing, Chris Kuntz, recently joined Steve Boese on the System of Record podcast from the HR Happy Hour Network to talk about a topic that doesn’t get nearly enough attention: how AI, operations, and HR come together to support the frontline workforce.

hr happy hour podcast with chris kuntz from augmentir

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While much of the AI-at-work conversation focuses on desk and knowledge workers, Chris and Steve shifted the spotlight to the 65% of the workforce who work on factory floors, in distribution centers, and out in the field—and how technology can be used to augment and empower, not replace, them.

Below are the key themes and insights from the conversation.

The Missing Link in Industrial Transformation: People

Chris shared his background in industrial and emerging technologies, including his work helping pioneer Industrial IoT at ThingWorx. After years of making machines smarter and more connected, his team recognized a critical gap in Industry 4.0 and 5.0 initiatives:

Humans were the missing piece.

Frontline workers—despite being essential to safety, quality, and productivity—have historically been underserved by technology. Post-pandemic workforce shifts have only intensified the challenge, with:

  • Shorter average tenure
  • Less experience on the job
  • Higher early attrition rates

These trends make traditional six-month onboarding models unsustainable and force organizations to rethink how they support and develop frontline talent.

Augmentir’s Focus: Closing the Skills and Experience Gap

Founded in 2018, Augmentir is an AI-native connected worker platform designed to address what Chris calls the most critical problem in manufacturing today: the combination of labor shortages, skills gaps, and experience gaps.

Rather than treating frontline technology as just digitized paperwork, Augmentir connects workers directly to the digital thread of the business, integrating:

  • Operational systems (ERP, MES, QMS)
  • Learning and training platforms
  • HR systems and skills data

This creates a single interface where workers are active participants in the digital ecosystem—while giving leaders unprecedented visibility into performance, skills, and improvement opportunities.

From Paper Procedures to Continuous Improvement

Chris described how many industrial processes have historically relied on paper instructions or tribal knowledge. By digitizing standard work and connecting workers digitally, organizations can:

  • Capture real-time performance data
  • Identify skill gaps and training needs
  • Reduce safety incidents, rework, and downtime

Augmentir applies machine learning to analyze hundreds of data points—from task duration to error rates—to surface insights such as:

  • Where individuals may need targeted training
  • Where processes or content need improvement
  • How onboarding and training programs are performing

For plant managers and operations leaders, this replaces backward-looking reports with actionable, real-time decision support.

Worker Empowerment, Not Surveillance

A key part of the discussion focused on worker trust and experience. Chris emphasized that successful connected worker initiatives are grounded in empowerment, not micromanagement.

When frontline employees are involved early in the rollout and change management process, the technology is seen as a tool that:

  • Helps them do their jobs safely and correctly
  • Reduces frustration and guesswork
  • Recognizes and rewards positive behaviors

From reporting safety issues to improving efficiency, these signals also provide valuable engagement insights for HR—bridging a gap that has long existed between HR and operations.

Bridging HR and Operations

One of the most compelling themes was the disconnect between HR systems and day-to-day operations. Skills matrices, certifications, and training data often live in HR tools that operations leaders can’t easily access.

By bringing skills and competency data directly into operational workflows, organizations can:

  • Schedule work based on real capabilities
  • Identify reskilling and upskilling needs
  • Measure the effectiveness of training programs

For HR leaders, this turns training ROI from a “black box” into something measurable and defensible.

The Rise of AI Agents on the Frontline

Chris also shared how Augmentir evolved beyond analytics into AI assistants and agents. From its generative AI factory assistant Augie to emerging agentic use cases, the vision includes:

  • Digital lean coaches
  • Training and skills agents
  • Root cause analysis (“5 Whys”) agents
  • Quality agents
  • Safety agents

Importantly, Augmentir has established clear guardrails—such as human-in-the-loop approvals and deterministic logic for safety-critical tasks—to ensure AI supports workers responsibly; these principles are codified in Augmentir’s Six Laws of Agents.

What’s Next: A Human-Centered Future of Work

Looking ahead, Chris highlighted how leading manufacturers like Colgate-Palmolive and Hershey are creating new roles that blend HR and operations, focused on people capability and performance excellence.

The most exciting trend?

Companies are using technology to make frontline work better—faster onboarding, skills development in the flow of work, higher retention, and a stronger sense of purpose for workers.

By truly aligning people, process, and technology, these organizations are redefining what frontline work can look like.

Listen to the Full Conversation

To hear the full discussion on connecting HR, operations, and AI for the frontline workforce, check out the System of Record podcast on the HR Happy Hour Network.

Request a demo to learn more about Augmentir or connect with Chris Kuntz on LinkedIn to continue the conversation.

 

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The evolution of AI in manufacturing has seen tremendous growth over the past few decades, now becoming more adaptive and collaborative, and being used to augment and directly support frontline workers.

The evolution of artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies in manufacturing has seen tremendous growth over the past few decades, with astounding leaps in technology and industry-wide transformations.

evolution of ai in manufacturing

Dating back to the 1960’s, manufacturers started using AI in robotics and basic automation. This early usage focused on automating manual, highly repetitive human tasks such as assembly, parts handling, and sorting, allowing for higher levels of production and efficiency.

Over time, this evolved with AI-enabled machine vision systems, which were used to automate visual inspections, allowing for better quality control and precision during production cycles. More recently, AI has been at the center of warehouse automation, as well as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), where physical machines and equipment are embedded with sensors and other technology for the purpose of connecting and exchanging data, which is used in predictive analytics for machine health monitoring. Manufacturers can now glean valuable insights from data collected over time about optimizing their operations for maximum efficiency without sacrificing quality.

Despite the breath of applications that AI has in the industrial setting, there is a common thread across all of the above examples – AI has largely been used to automate highly repetitive or manual tasks, or perform functions designed to replace the human worker.

These examples laid the groundwork for the adoption of AI in manufacturing and for the use of AI technologies that augment and directly support frontline workers today.

Read below for more information on how the use of AI and GenAI is evolving in manufacturing, and being used to augment the human worker, transforming productivity and efficiency at a time when workforce optimization is needed most.

Using AI to Augment, not Replace the Workers in our Factories

Today, AI technologies in manufacturing have evolved to encompass a diverse range of applications. According to Deloitte, 86% of surveyed manufacturing executives believe that AI-based factory solutions will be the primary drivers of competitiveness in the next five years. Robotics and automation have become more adaptive and collaborative, working alongside and augmenting human workers to streamline production processes and increase efficiency – rather than simply trying to replace them.

As computing power and algorithmic capabilities improved, AI in manufacturing has become more advanced and widespread. The emergence of Industry 4.0, characterized by the convergence of digital technologies, further accelerated AI’s role in manufacturing. By leveraging tools like connected worker solutions to gather frontline data, manufacturing organizations can now capitalize on AI’s extraordinary computing power to analyze that data and derive actionable insights, improved processes, and more.

Much like the industry has learned to optimize equipment from the 1.7 Petabytes of connected machine data that is being collected yearly, we are now able to optimize frontline work processes and people from highly granular connected worker data, with one major caveat: In order to leverage this incredibly noisy data, a system has to be designed with an AI-native strategy, where the streaming and processing of this data is intrinsic to the platform – not added as an afterthought.

The potential for AI to help augment the human worker is there, but why now?

Because for today’s manufacturers, time is not on your side.

The workforce crisis in manufacturing is accelerating, and at the forefront of the minds of Operations and HR leaders. Job quitting is up, tenure rates are down, and manufacturers struggle daily to find the skilled staff necessary to meet production and quality goals. The threat is huge – with significant impacts to safety, quality, and productivity.

AI-based connected worker solutions allow industrial companies to digitize and optimize processes that support frontline workers from “hire to retire”. These solutions leverage data from your connected workforce to optimize training investments and proactively support workers on the job, across a range of manufacturing use cases.

 

paperless factory

Furthermore, solutions that leverage Generative AI and proprietary fit-for-purpose, pre-trained Large Language Models (LLMs) can enhance operational efficiency, problem-solving, and decision-making for today’s less experienced frontline industrial workers. Generative AI assistants can leverage enterprise-wide data, provides instant access to relevant information, closes skills gaps with personalized support, offers insights into standard work and skills inventory, and identifies opportunities for continuous improvement.

Augmentir’s AI-Native Journey

At Augmentir, since the beginning, we pioneered an AI-native approach toward manufacturing and connected frontline worker support. 

augmentir ai-native journey

Many manufacturing solutions incorporated AI technology as an add-on or afterthought as the technology gained more advanced capabilities and popularity. We, however, have been championing and building a suite of solutions using AI as a foundation. Our platform was designed from the bottom up with AI capabilities in mind, placing us as a leader in the connected frontline worker field. 

  • 2019 – Augmentir launched the world’s first AI-native connected platform for manufacturing work empowering frontline workers to perform their jobs with higher quality and increased productivity while driving continuous improvement across the organization. This marked the start of our AI-native journey, giving industrial organizations the ability to digitize human-centric work processes into fully augmented procedures, providing interactive guidance, on-demand training, and remote expert support to improve productivity and quality.
  • 2020 – Augmentir unveiled True Opportunity™, the first AI-based workforce metric designed to help improve operational outcomes and frontline worker productivity through our proprietary machine learning algorithms. These algorithms take in frontline worker data, then combine it with other Augmentir and enterprise data to uncover and rank the largest capturable opportunities and then predict the effort required to capture them.
  • 2021 – Building on user feedback and field data, Augmentir reveals True Opportunity 2.0™, with improved and enhanced capabilities surrounding workforce development, quantification of work processes, benchmarking, and proficiency. By Leveraging anonymized data from millions of job executions to significantly improve and expand the platform’s ability and automatically deliver in-app AI insights we were able to increase benefits and returns for Augmentir customers.
  • 2022 – Augmentir announces the release of True Productivity™ and True Performance™. True Productivity allows industrial organizations to stack rank their largest productivity opportunities across all work processes to focus continuous improvement teams at the highest ROI and True Performance determines the proficiency of every worker at every task or skill enabling truly personalized workforce development investments.
  • 2023 – Augmentir launches Augie™ – the GenAI-powered assistant for industrial work. By incorporating the foundational technology underpinning generative AI tools like ChatGPT, we enhanced our already robust offering of AI insights and analytics. Augie adds to this, improving operational efficiency and supporting today’s less experienced frontline workforce through faster problem-solving, proactive insights, and enhanced decision-making.
  • 2024 – As this year progresses, we have already continued to refine our AI-native solutions and apply user feedback and additional features to best support frontline industrial activities and workers everywhere.
  • 2025 –First to market with industrial AI Agents and a no-code AI Agent Studio purpose-built for frontline operations.
  • 2026 and beyond – Advancing to Agentic Automation, expanding our AI Agent Library and introducing Augie Command Center, Casual AI, and autonomous execution across the platform.

We are deeply involved in applying AI and emerging technologies to manufacturing activities to augment frontline workers, not replace them. Providing enhanced support, access to key knowledge (when and where it does the most good), and improving overall operational efficiency and productivity.

The Future of AI in Manufacturing – The Journey Forward

As we press onward into the future, we at Augmentir are determined to champion the application of AI and smart manufacturing to augment and enhance frontline workers and industrial processes. We will continue to evolve our application of AI and its use cases in manufacturing to help frontline teams and workforces, reinforcing our AI-native pedigree.

The addition of Augie to our existing AI-powered connected worker solution is an important step forward. Augie is a Generative AI assistant that uses enterprise-wide data, provides instant access to relevant information, closes skills gaps with personalized support, offers insights into standard work and skills inventory, and identifies opportunities for continuous improvement. Augie is a result of our dedication to empowering frontline workers, leveraging AI to support manufacturing operations, and giving manufacturing workers better tools to do their jobs safely and more efficiently.

With patented AI-driven insights that digitize and optimize manufacturing workflows, training and development, workforce allocation, and operational excellence, Augmentir is trusted by manufacturing leaders as a industrial transformation partner delivering measurable results across operations. Schedule a live demo today to learn more.

 

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You may have noticed that our website and brand look a little different. Augmentir has a new look, but under the hood, its the same powerful AI that is helping to transform the industrial workforce of the future.

You may have noticed that our website and brand look a little different. Well, that’s because behind the scenes for the past few months, we’ve been under construction (no pun intended).

Augmentir was founded in 2018 with the vision to use AI to empower the industrial frontline workforce to perform at their best. This was a continuation of our rich history – our founding team has been at the forefront of three of the most important of these software technology revolutions in manufacturing over the past three decades – Wonderware Software in 1987, Lighthammer in 1997, and ThingWorx in 2008.

A lot has changed since then. The world we live in today is not the same as it was 4 years ago. And in the last two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has altered the stability of the workforce and drastically magnified some of the industry’s top workforce challenges, which stem from the unprecedented levels of dynamism in the areas of skills diversity, reduced tenure, and increased churn from the “Great Resignation”. Unlike the stable and predictable workforce of the recent past, today companies have to live in the new normal where workers are hard to find, hard to engage, and hard to keep.

These top challenges of today have only reinforced the need for an AI-powered, data-driven approach to empowering frontline workers.

This data-driven era we’re entering into is one of continuous learning and development with tools like remote collaboration and digitized work processes truly integrating frontline workers into the fabric of the business from a collaboration standpoint whereas they may have been overlooked before.

Augmentir’s AI-powered connected worker platform provides the tools to not only survive in this new normal but to thrive.

You can’t build a truly modern, connected workforce without AI

The term “connected worker” has become a recent buzzword in the manufacturing world, and is now considered a tool that the new generation of workers expect to work with. But true connected work means using AI to allow frontline workers to have access to internal and external resources that are appropriate for when and how they need them.

Augmentir isn’t your typical connected worker platform. Our platform was built from the ground up on an AI foundation. AI algorithms are ideal for analyzing large amounts of data collected from a connected workforce. AI can detect patterns, find outliers, cleanse data and find correlations and patterns that can be used to identify opportunities for improvement and create a data-driven environment that supports continuous learning and performance support. Our connected worker platform utilizes AI to help train, guide, and support today’s frontline workers in a dynamic workforce by combining digital work instructions, remote collaboration, continuous development and advanced on-the-job training capabilities.

This approach aligns perfectly with the dynamic, changing nature of today’s workforce, and is ideally suited to achieve and sustain effective on-the-job performance.

As the world’s only AI-powered connected worker platform, we decided it was time to refresh our brand identity to accentuate our strongest feature and the thing that makes Augmentir unique – AI. We’re still the same AI-native connected worker platform that you know – just with a new look.

Learn how connected worker technology can help you standardize and digitize layered process audits for improved accuracy and better quality results.

Digitized Layered Process Audits (LPAs) are important in manufacturing for establishing and enhancing process standardization, quality management, multi-level workforce engagement, risk mitigation, and quality standards compliance. The primary function of a Layered Process Audit is to focus on observing and validating how products are made to ensure process and product quality. This effectively protects manufacturers and frontline manufacturing personnel from defects and process issues before they can do any damage.

digital layered process audits

Many crucial manufacturing processes are still carried out using outdated pen-and-paper methods; and as the industry continues to evolve, digitization is essential to remain competitive and maintain proper quality and safety standards. Layered Process Audits are no exception, with digitized layered process audits now a necessity, rather than a luxury, for organizations looking to keep pace, elevate their audit processes, and meet the demands of the evolving industry.

Learn more about how to streamline LPAs with connected worker technology, implement digital LPAs, and the benefits of AI-powered analytics for digitized LPAs and overall quality management excellence in manufacturing below.

Benefits of a Digitized Layered Process Audit

Connected worker platforms allow manufacturers to replace paper-based audit forms (like a layered process audit) with digital checklists that can be accessed and completed on mobile devices, allowing for:

  • Standardized audit formats and best practices across audit layers
  • Real-time data collection and improved audit tracking
  • Mobile access to information and knowledge including relevant documents, procedures, and historical data
  • Automated audit scheduling and notifications for consistent audit frequency across layers and reduced administrative burden
  • Real-time issue reporting and escalation for faster response and issue resolution
  • Improved data analytics and reporting to generate and apply insights as well as identify recurring issues and root causes
  • Overall system integrations with things like ERP, MES, and CMMS

These abilities offer a significant boost to manufacturers in terms of operational efficiency, risk mitigation, workforce development, and cost reduction.

Implementing Digital Layered Process Audits

Manufacturers can digitize LPAs and streamline their quality management processes through AI-powered connected worker technologies, improving data quality and driving faster, more effective quality improvements across the organization.

layered process audit framework

Implementing digital Layered Process Audits (LPAs) involves several steps, from selecting the right platform to engaging the team and ensuring proper integration with existing systems. Below is a step-by-step guide to implementing digital LPAs effectively:

1. Choose the right Digital LPA Platform

Research and select a digital LPA platform that meets your organization’s needs. Consider factors like:

  • Ease of use (especially for mobile devices)
  • Customizability (to fit your audit checklist and process requirements)
  • Integration with existing systems (e.g., ERP, quality management systems)
  • Reporting and analytics capabilities
  • Scalability for future needs

2. Develop and Digitize Audit Checklists

  • Standardize Audit Checklists: Create or review the audit checklists for each layer of the audit process. Ensure they are aligned with your goals, operational requirements, and industry standards (e.g., ISO, IATF).
  • Digitize the Checklists: Input these checklists into the digital platform. Ensure that they are tailored to different levels of the audit process, from shop floor employees to higher-level management.
  • Customize Alerts and Criteria: Set up criteria for success/failure and alerts for non-conformance. This can include conditional triggers where a failed audit automatically prompts corrective actions.

digitized layered process audit LPA with augmentir quality control checklist

3. Integrate with Other Systems

  • Link to Quality Management Systems (QMS): Integrate the LPA platform with your existing QMS, ERP, or other relevant systems to streamline data sharing and analysis.
  • Automate Corrective Action Processes: Ensure that non-conformance findings in the audit automatically trigger corrective action workflows, and link them to task management or follow-up procedures.

4. Monitor, Analyze, and Improve

  • Track Real-time Results: Use the platform’s dashboards and analytics features to monitor performance metrics, such as audit completion rates, non-conformance trends, and the time taken to close corrective actions.
  • Conduct Regular Reviews: Hold periodic review meetings with the audit team and management to discuss audit findings and trends. Use this information to drive continuous improvement in processes.
  • Make Adjustments: Based on the insights from the audits, adjust the audit checklists, procedures, and corrective action plans as needed.

5. Foster a Culture of Continuous Improvement

  • Encourage Engagement: Foster a culture where employees see the value in LPAs and actively participate in the process. Offer incentives or recognition for high levels of engagement or process improvements resulting from audits.
  • Regularly Update the System: Keep the digital platform and audit processes updated to reflect changes in standards, regulations, or internal processes.
  • Leverage Advanced Analytics: Over time, use advanced analytics and machine learning (if available) to predict potential non-conformance areas and further streamline corrective actions.

By following these steps, you can effectively implement a digital Layered Process Audit system that enhances visibility, accountability, and process control across your organization.

Driving Continuous Quality Improvement with Digitized LPAs

Excellence in quality management drives success in manufacturing. Digitizing and updating old processes with AI, connected worker platforms, and even simple digital layered process audit software allows manufacturing organizations to better identify and prevent defects at their source and protect against rework, customer complaints, costly product recalls, and reputational damage.

Recent innovations in AI technology and applications caused an explosion of growth all across the world and in various industries. Manufacturing is uniquely situated to adopt these technologies for massive growth. One valuable use case is the use of AI to optimize quality management, specifically to optimize audit processes like LPAs for drastically improved results and insights that simply weren’t possible previously.

AI analytics combined with connected worker technologies digitize and streamline layered process audits allowing manufacturers to capitalize on shop floor data data capture for:

  • Trend analysis across different audit layers, departments, and locations
  • Automated population of audit forms with relevant data
  • Seamless creation of digital work instructions from audit findings
  • Application of cobots, generative AI assistants, or AI copilot technologies to support auditors and workers alike.

But this does not stop there, according to a study by McKinsey & Company, companies that prioritize quality management achieve higher levels of employee engagement. Engaged employees are more likely to be committed to producing high-quality products, resulting in increased productivity and customer satisfaction. The addition of AI to capitalize on connected worker data and feedback to generate insights, support enhanced decision-making, and create better processes offers manufacturers a path forward into the future with a better-equipped and supported frontline workforce.

Interested in learning more?

If you’d like to learn more about how Augmentir streamlines and optimizes quality management processes like digital layered process audits and more, schedule a demo with one of our produce experts.

 

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Discover how Augmentir’s Gen AI Suite and Augie transforms how manufacturers support frontline activities and personnel.

We recently unveiled a watershed moment in connected worker technology history with updates and expansions to Augie, our generative AI assistant for industrial work. This expansion drastically improves the breadth and reach of Augie’s capabilities, enhancing the already powerful tool even more and creating a generative AI suite of tools and assistants for frontline industrial work. This first-of-its-kind Augie GenAI Suite, redefines the future of manufacturing, empowering frontline workers everywhere with unmatched AI-driven tools.

But what does this mean for manufacturers and industrial organizations looking to improve their operations and how can Augie help you?

augie industrial generative ai assistant manufacturing

Basically, this suite of generative AI assistants includes dedicated capabilities for companies to enhance their Troubleshooting, Operations, Data Insights, and Content Creation; and even introduces a GenAI-as-a-Service option. This expands on Augie’s existing capabilities for advanced troubleshooting and real-time digital assistance to frontline workers and adds further abilities for advanced safety/risk mitigation, worker compliance, workforce development, knowledge management and training, quality management, and more.

Read below to learn more about the new Augie GenAI Suite, what it can do, what it means for the future of manufacturing work, and how it can help you.

Augie’s Expanded Suite of GenAI Assistants

The Augie suite transforms frontline manufacturing like never before – giving teams instant access to expert knowledge, next-level data insights, and seamless operational support. From troubleshooting to operations and content creation, the possibilities are endless.

Introducing a first-of-its-kind GenAI Suite for industrial work:

Augie Industrial Assistant 2.0

Enhancements include support for dozens of new content types, the addition of patented-pending prompt enrichment, and superior prioritization, resulting in increased accuracy and actionability.

Augie Content Assistant

Automatically convert existing digital content (Word Excel, PDF, etc.) into native Augmentir Work instructions, SOPs, OPLs, CILs, Checklists, etc., accelerating deployment. Generate Training, Checklists, and Quizzes from a wide range of source types including images, manuals, free-form tests, etc., to streamline worker training and onboarding.

Augie Data Assistant

Augie provides insights from any source of operational data, including standard data sets such as Skills, Standard Work, Safety, and Work Execution, as well as customer-specific datasets generated through Augmentir’s report configurator. Augie eliminates/reduces the need for “report writing” and, through its conversational interface, answers questions, performs math, and generates graphical reports, increasing responsiveness.

Augie Extensibility Assistant

The Extensibility Assistant increases the productivity of developers building new and supporting existing user-defined functions in Augmentir’s extensibility framework. Augmentir’s unique Platform-as-a-Service capabilities enable customers and partners to create unique capabilities to solve important business problems, a capability not available elsewhere in the market

Augie Industrial GenAI-as-a-Service

As an industry first, Augie exposes its GenAI capabilities as APIs in Augmentir’s extensibility framework, enabling companies and partners to utilize Industrial genAI within innovative, company or vertical-specific use cases. Commonly used APIs include translateText enabling on-the-fly translation of dynamic content, and imageQA, enabling direct comparison or summarization of images, supporting critical applications in Quality, Safety, and Operations.

This is a true game-changer for frontline manufacturing personnel, equipping them with expert knowledge, advanced tools, and intuitive support like nothing has before. But more than that, these are not just simple upgrades, this is the future of manufacturing, right at the fingertips of those who matter most – frontline personnel.

Advantages of Generative AI Assistants in Manufacturing

Generative AI assistants in manufacturing streamline production by automating repetitive tasks, reducing human error, and optimizing workflows. They enhance decision-making through real-time data analysis, leading to increased efficiency and cost savings. Augie is unique among other smart manufacturing assistants in that it leverages proprietary fit-for-purpose, pre-trained LLMs and generative AI, coupled with robust security and permissions, to help factory managers, operators, and engineers improve efficiency, resolve issues faster, and prevent downtime.

Through Augie, manufacturers can instantly:

  • Close skills and experience gaps with personalized support
  • Gain insights into Leader Standard Work
  • Gain new insights into skills inventories
  • Convert Tribal Knowledge into Digital Corporate Assets
  • Identify opportunities for continuous improvement
  • Forecast potential operational issues

The expansion of the Augie tool kit further enhances these capabilities, allowing for more advanced and adaptable functions such as those described above. With the Augie GenAI suite by your side, the potential for improved frontline support, optimized manufacturing operations, and the empowerment of frontline industrial workforces is limitless.

Supporting Frontline Workers with GenAI Assistants

Augmentir introduced Augie in early 2023, becoming the first software provider in the manufacturing sector to offer a generative AI solution focused on the industrial frontline workforce.

Since its launch, Augie has seen massive support from leading manufacturing organizations. It has been applied by these global leaders across all manufacturing and production types, helping prevent safety and quality issues at the point of work, driving operational efficiency, and giving frontline workers the tools, guidance, and support they need to do their best work.

Augie’s generative AI capabilities are built into the core of the Augmentir platform, so users can quickly and securely leverage the latest AI advances within the framework of digital collaboration, skills management, and work execution. This allows frontline users and other manufacturing personnel to leverage existing data, documents, applications, and their existing tribal knowledge, increasing their ROI.

Interested in learning more?

To learn more about Augie and how it has the potential to transform and augment your frontline workers and activities with patented AI-driven insights and to learn why Augmentir is trusted by leading manufacturers as a reliable digital transformation partner – schedule a demo with one of our product experts.

 

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The latest Frost & Sullivan Radar report recognizes Augmentir as the Leading Augmented Connected Worker Platform.

Augmented Connected Worker (ACW) solutions revolutionize manufacturing and industrial operations and Augmentir is leading the way!

The recent Frost & Sullivan Radar report recognized Augmentir as the Leading ACW Solution with our AI-powered connected worker platform. AWC is a concept that combines the methodologies behind connected worker and augmented worker initiatives to provide a clearer, more accurate picture of what the future of manufacturing work looks like.

augmentir named the leader in frost radar for augmented connected worker platforms 2024

Read below to learn more about Augmentir in the Frost Radar report and how ACW technologies benefit both manufacturers and their workers alike.

The Frost & Sullivan Augmented Connected Worker Radar Report 2024

The Frost & Sullivan Radar Report, or Frost Radar™, is an analytical tool that benchmarks the future growth of leading organizations across multiple industries. Through careful selection and research across criteria that encompasses 2 major indices and 10 evaluation criteria, analysts select organizations that will be able to successfully support users into the future.

This edition of the Frost Radar, ranked Augmentir #1 out of all the ACW vendors. Augmentir empowers organizations to embrace Augmented Connected Worker initiatives through a comprehensive platform that combines connected worker and AI technologies to connect and support frontline workers like never before.

frost radar augmented connected worker platforms

As manufacturing workers become more interconnected, they can use AI tools in conjunction with smart connected worker solutions to gain insights that pinpoint areas with significant potential for improvement, this allows them to truly augment their workforces equipping them with the knowledge and abilities to complete their work safely and competently.

For more information on the Frost Radar, and the evaluation methodology used by Frost & Sullivan, click here.

Augmentir Ranked #1 Connected Worker Platform, Most Complete Solution on the Market

Frost & Sullivan has identified nine functionalities that are essential for a complete ACW solution.

  1. Knowledge and data management. The solution serves as a repository of knowledge.
  2. Work assistance and productivity. It provides digital tools to enhance frontline workers’ tasks, such as digital work instructions, digital Kanban boards, and navigation guidance.
  3. Seamless experience. The solution must be easily accessible from available devices (phones, tablets, wearables) to integrate seamlessly into everyday operations.
  4. Skills management. This serves as an extension for learning management systems (LMS) and provides supervisors and plant managers the necessary tools to upskill the workforce.
  5. Channel for communication. The solution offers native features to enable collaboration across operations, such as remote assistance, multi-site or multi-team workflows, and news feeds.
  6. Reporting and analytics. This refers to pre-built dashboards with workforce and task execution data. The ACW platform can also provide tools for configuring custom dashboards and integrating data from other systems.
  7. Integrations. The solution comes with a variety of pre-built connectors and tools to easily build new integrations to common systems.
  8. Platform capabilities. NC and LC development environments allow the building of digital procedures, workflows, training programs, and dashboards. Standard templates are available to accelerate time to value and the default deployment option is cloud-based.
  9. Integrated AI. The solution leverages AI in one or more ways. AI-enabled features include predictive maintenance, automatic creation of workflows/digital work instructions/troubleshooting procedures based on video or worker input, automatic analysis and optimization recommendations for processes, AI-powered search engines, copilots, live translations, and more.

Frost & Sullivan ranked Augmentir as a Leader in both innovation and growth within the ACW solution landscape.

According to Frost & Sullivan:

Augmentir offers one of the most comprehensive ACW solutions in the market. Its new AI copilot sets it apart from most other products in the market by covering a variety of use cases. The company’s plans to leverage engagement data from the workforce is a unique initiative in the current market. All these factors contribute to making Augmentir the leader in the Frost Radar Innovation Index.

Augmenting Frontline Workers with an AI Platform for Connected Work

Manufacturing is uniquely situated as an industry to benefit from Augmented Connected Worker solutions leveraging AI-powered connected worker technology for process improvements, quality, management, enhanced training, and more. ACW initiatives facilitate faster onboarding, increased workforce flexibility, and the retention of essential knowledge.

augmentir connected worker platform

AI – including generative AI tools, software, and assistants – plays a crucial role in ACW initiatives, addressing overarching trends like skills variability and the loss of tribal knowledge within the workforce. It serves as the cornerstone for implementing data-driven improvements in operational performance and continuous enhancement.

At Augmentir, we believe that a connected worker platform’s purpose goes beyond just delivering instructions and remote support; it should continually optimize the entire connected worker ecosystem and augment the capabilities of frontline workers. With this in mind, we introduced Augie™ – our generative AI assistant for industrial work, in early 2023.

With Augie, manufacturers can unlock previously untapped potential in their frontline personnel and operations. Our recent expansion and enhancements now offer the first-ever suite of dedicated GenAI assistants for manufacturing enterprises covering anything from Troubleshooting, Operations, and Data Insights, to Content Creation and even GenAI-as-a-Service.

Interested in learning more?

If you’d like to learn more about Augmentir and see how our AI-powered connected worker platform enables Augmented Connected Worker initiatives to improve safety, quality, and productivity across your workforce, schedule a demo with one of our product experts.

 

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Get in Touch for a Personalized Demo