How to turn shop-floor notes into an SOP with AI

Your best setter knows how to set up the fixture on the VMC. It is in their head, or on a page in their notebook. When they are on leave, the job waits.

You want it written as an SOP that any operator can follow. AI can do that. But AI also likes to make a document look complete. It may add a torque value, a tool or a safety rule that nobody on your floor wrote. On the shop floor, a wrong number is worse than a missing one.

Here is how to get an SOP that keeps your notes and marks what is missing.

What to give the AI

Ask the setter to tell you the steps while they do the job. Write them down just as they say them. Don't tidy them up. For example:

switch off spindle, machine in setting mode. clean table and fixture base with cloth. place fixture on T-slots, locate on the 2 dowels. fit 4 clamps, tighten clamp bolts. dial the locating face, within 0.02 mm. touch off tool 1 and tool 3. run first piece on single block. first piece to QA for bore size and hole position. note fixture no. in the setting sheet.

Add the process name and the department.

What to ask

Copy this into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. Put your own details in the brackets.

Turn my shop-floor notes into a standard operating procedure (SOP).

Process: [for example, Fixture setup on VMC 1]
Department: [for example, Machine shop]
Notes: [paste your notes here]

Rules:
- Sections: title, department, Purpose (one sentence), Safety, Steps (numbered), Checks after. End with: Prepared by: [CHECK]   Approved by: [CHECK]   Date: [CHECK]
- Use every step and every value in my notes, in the same order.
- Each step is a short sentence that starts with a verb, in words an operator uses.
- Never add a step, a setting, a torque, a tool or a safety rule that isn't in my notes. Where a value is clearly needed and missing, write [CHECK: what is missing] on that step.

What to check

With the notes above, step 4 comes back as "Fit the 4 clamps and tighten the clamp bolts. [CHECK: tightening torque]". The notes don't give a torque. So the AI marks it and doesn't make one up.

Now check these things:

1. Every value. 2 dowels, 4 clamps, 0.02 mm, tool 1 and tool 3. Each one should be in the SOP, unchanged.
2. Order. The steps should be in the same order as your notes. The order on the floor matters.
3. Nothing new. Look for any tool, setting or step you didn't write. Remove it, or ask the setter if it belongs.
4. Safety. The notes give only two safety points: spindle off, and setting mode. If your shop needs more, you write them in. Don't let the AI choose them.
5. Every [CHECK]. Get the torque from the fixture drawing or the setter. Fill in who prepared and approved it.

Why this works

The notes are the only source. The AI only rewrites them as numbered steps, in short sentences.

"Never add a setting or a torque" is the rule that matters. A torque that looks right but is wrong can damage a fixture or hurt someone. A [CHECK] makes the gap easy to see, so someone who knows fills it in.

Once it is checked, read the SOP to the setter. If they say "that's how I do it", it is ready to print.