What are Digital Work Instructions?

Digital work instructions are electronic versions of work instructions, quality manuals, or SOPs that provide necessary visual aids and real-time contextual information to help guide workers through complex tasks. Digital work instructions are typically used on a computer, mobile device, or wearable, and include step-by-step instructions combined with visual aids, contextual information aggregated from external sources, and augmented reality (AR) or mixed reality (MR) experiences.

The combination of digital work instructions and artificial intelligence (AI) based connected worker platforms not only increases quality, reduces errors, and improves safety and efficiency, but also helps operations managers better understand the utilization and efficiency of their workforce and identify opportunities for improvement.

Digital work instructions are used across a wide range of industrial and manufacturing use cases, and help companies:

Move away from paper-based instructions to electronic versions of work instructions and standard operating procedures (SOPs)
Standardize on the work being done
Improve quality and efficiency
Improve audit and traceability
Guide workers with inline training
Optimize complex manufacturing processes and field operations
Deliver effective training, foster collaboration and knowledge sharing
Gain insight into, and improve the performance of their workforce

How do you create Digital Work Instructions?

Digital work instructions can be created quickly and easily with drag-and-drop content authoring tools that provide utilities for creating instructions and more complex workflows. When creating digital versions of work instructions that were previously provided on paper, companies should take time to identify ideal target use cases:

Inspections and QA procedures are optimal because they are simple and repeatable
Maintenance procedures are ideal because they represent a great opportunity to benefit from standardization and error reduction
Identify the users who will be involved and prepare to inform them of expectations and readiness for viewing the instructions on their devices

Digital work instructions can be created from scratch, or by using a template as a starting point. Using the right authoring tool, content creators can choose from a variety of elements to design and build their procedures – simple text instructions, checklists, rich media (including photos and videos), data entry, media capture, digital signatures, or picker controls. The combination of these visual elements allows work instructions to be created with the optimal information and guidance for workers.

Pro Tip

The Augmentir platform provides the ability to import existing PDF, Word, or Excel documents directly into Augmentir and create digital work instructions and checklists using Augie™, a Generative AI content creation tool from Augmentir. Learn more about Augie - your industrial Generative AI Assistant.

When work instructions are created to support a broader manufacturing workflow, content managers should incorporate advanced workflow features such as branching, escalations, and notifications, etc.

digital workflow builder from augmentir

Creating digital work instructions to run on any device

Work instructions should be created with the end-user in mind and should target the most appropriate device for the job – AR-enabled smart glasses, iOS and Android enabled smart phones and tablets, or desktop computers. Augmentir’s author once, run anywhere environment allows digital work instructions to be delivered to users through any mobile device or wearable technology. Procedures are written once and optimized for each device’s capabilities.

Common Use Cases for Digital Work Instructions

Digital work instructions are commonly used by industrial companies to connect, support, and optimize frontline processes for a wide range of use cases. These may include:

Safety
Quality
Maintenance
Operations
Training & Workforce Development
Employee Engagement
Continuous Improvement

Companies across a range of industries, including food & beverage, consumer goods, oil & gas, construction, energy, utilities, and industrial equipment manufacturing are adopting these digital tools to help address some of the biggest challenges in the industry today:

the widening skills gap
the loss of tribal knowledge due to the rapidly retiring workforce
hiring and retention challenges
an increasingly hybrid and distributed workforce

Deliver Personalized Guidance and Support with AI

Digitizing work instructions is a great start to helping the skilled workers issue but alone, it won’t help completely solve the some of the biggest workforce challenges listed above.

This new workforce is changing in real-time – who shows up, what their skills are, what jobs they need to do, is a constantly moving target. The traditional “one size fits all” approach to guidance, and on-the-job performance support is fundamentally incapable of enabling today’s workers to function at their individual peak of safety, quality, and productivity.

It’s not enough to simply move from paper-based to digital work instructions. We must go a step further to overcome the lack of a skilled and qualified manufacturing workforce.

For example, Augmentir’s connected worker platform provides complete digital workflow authoring tools that allow you to not only quickly convert your paper-based processes to digital work instructions, but also uses AI to dynamically personalize them to the needs of your individual workers.

Digital work instructions, augmented with visual aids, contextual information, and AR/MR experiences, help intelligently guide workers through complex jobs
Complete workflows allow you to digitize complex business processes
Embedded AI dynamically optimizes work procedures and workflows to deliver in-situ training and support

AI-based Performance Support Designed for the Individual Worker

With AI and connected worker technology, companies can drive further efficiency by converting paper-based processes to digital work instructions and use AI to dynamically personalize those instructions to the needs of your individual workers.

Connected operator for autonomous maintenance

AI allows companies to deliver personalized guidance & support to each worker based on factors including proficiency, recency, and certifications. Remote collaboration tools provide remote access to subject matter experts at the time of need.

Furthermore, workers that require additional support can benefit from AI bots that autonomously deliver a rich set of digital work instructions to that worker so that they can be guided to resolve issues independently and complete jobs safely and correctly … and provide AI-based decision support to help workers perform like your best SME

AI-based Connected Worker Platforms are Transforming the Future of Industrial Work

Today’s frontline workers represent a large portion of the global workforce, and now for the first time, these workers are becoming an integral part of digital transformation in the industrial sector. Connected Worker solutions that utilize artificial intelligence and incorporate digital work instructions and collaboration tools can help deliver workforce development insights and continuous improvement ideas. This technology provides a much-needed solution to the new normal in the industrial sector, resulting in productivity, safety, and quality gains.

Interested in learning how Augmentir can help make your workforce a connected workforce? Get in touch with us for a free demo.