Retrain and move on
The supervisor walks the operator through the sheet again and closes the finding. Nothing on the document changed, so the same finding is back next month, and the plant keeps working the operator instead of the standard.
SOPs with no owner
An SOP with no owner is just a suggestion
The binder at the line holds three versions of the same document and not one of them has a name on it. Give every document an owner, a review date and one live version, and the standard starts holding.
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- Add an owner to that SOP, and an expiration to it as well, or any document for that matter
- Always, for the entire factory, the latest version of any document is available
- Create a schedule, assign it to an operator role, and they can simply sign off on it
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The same finding
Why SOP compliance slips, week after week
Fix the document itself
If they want to upload something new for that, it will create a version two of the same document, so always, for the entire factory, the latest version of any document is available. It will make sure that if any document is coming to an expiration, it needs to get reapproved or get taken out of the circulation system so that nobody is able to get access to it because it is obsolete.
Sound familiar?
Three versions of the same SOP, none of them owned
Ask why SOP compliance slips and the honest answer is that the sheet at the line is older than the job. Someone changed a step, printed a fresh copy and left the laminated one on the wall. When an operator finds a step that is wrong, there is no name on the document to take it to. So they run it the way they were shown, and the binder becomes decoration.
Documents with no name
Three versions on the floor
Nobody can say which sheet at the station is the current one.
Nowhere to take a wrong step
The operator spots an error in the instruction and there is no owner to send it to.
Audit week scramble
When the audit is coming, everybody is running around.
Documents under control
An owner on every document
I can add an owner to this, and I can add an expiration to this as well, or to any document for that matter.
Only the latest version opens
It will stay there with the signature that the owner signed off on it and this is the latest version. If they want to upload something new for that, it will create a version two of the same document.
Sign-off on the dashboard
I can submit this and assign it to that individual or to a role, it will automatically show up on their dashboard that they need to do this today, and they can simply just sign off on it.
Before the software
What plants try first, and why it fades
A big SOP rewrite project
Everything gets updated in one push and the floor looks great for a quarter. Then the next process change lands and nobody is named to carry it into the document.
Laminate and post at the line
The sheet on the wall looks official, but it carries no revision and no owner. When it changes there is no way to pull the old one back off the wall.
A shared drive and naming rules
The folders hold the files, but nothing tells anyone a document is due for review. The old file still opens, and people cannot tell it from the new one.
How it works
One library. One owner. One live version.
Users have a way to build a hierarchical structure similar to what we get on Google Drive or SharePoint. You can add an expiration to that SOP, add an owner for that SOP, or any document for that matter. Then you can take that and assign those to people with certain schedules as well, so that you can watch the compliance.
- Bring every document into one place
- Put a name and a date on it
- Send it to the shift, not the wall
- Make the steps worth reading
Step 1
Bring every document into one place
You can build your repository of all those manuals, all the SOPs, all the OPLs in one place. Users have a way to build a hierarchical structure similar to what we get on Google Drive or SharePoint. And we can attach any documentation that is out there on the factory floor today, so you do not have to enter anything manually.
Step 2
Put a name and a date on it
I can add an owner to this, and I can add an expiration to this as well. Then it will help me to manage before that expiration is coming, to build the escalation plan in place, who should be approving this document. It will help send out notifications when the document is coming to expiration, and it needs to get reapproved or get taken out of the circulation system.
Step 3
Send it to the shift, not the wall
If I save and publish this, I can now assign it to whoever needs to see this. I can click on Create Schedule and assign it to an operator role, because we can create as many roles and add people to them, but we can individually assign this as well. It will automatically show up on their dashboard that they need to do this today, and they can simply just sign off on it.
Step 4
Make the steps worth reading
You can actually upload a video and it will analyze that video for you, and it created that SOP. It highlights the PPE, the tool requirement, and it breaks it down into step by step. What it also does is that it puts certain questions in between, so if you assign this SOP to somebody to sign off on, it will make sure to ask certain questions that are relevant to certain steps. So it is making sure that the person actually understood the SOP.
If nothing changes
How a good SOP quietly stops being a standard
- Day one
The sheet is written
Someone documents the job properly and prints a clean copy for the station.
- A month in
Two versions at the line
A step changes, a new copy goes up, and the old laminated sheet stays where it was.
- Six months in
Operators stop looking
People run the job from memory because the sheet has been wrong before and nobody fixed it.
- Audit week
The hunt begins
You spend the week proving which documents are current and who approved them.
From our co-founder
“The biggest issue is there are multiple documents floating around that don't have any owners, that shouldn't be there because they're expired.”
Where to go next
Fix the document before you chase the owner
An unowned SOP is usually also an unreadable or out-of-date one, so the writing and the format are part of the same problem. These three pages cover how the instructions get written, how the forms around them get built, and how the steps reach the operator at the line.
Write the SOP faster
Turn what people already know about the process into clear, structured instructions instead of a sheet someone typed once and laminated. Writing them faster means a wrong step can be rewritten rather than worked around.
See how it works →
Build your own digital forms
Build custom digital forms yourself, without code, instead of retyping paper into a spreadsheet later. If the paperwork around the SOP is digital, there is less manual data entry between the line and the record.
See how it works →
Give operators step-by-step instructions
Create and manage digital work instructions so the operator sees the same steps every run, not the version they were shown by the last person on the job. Clear step-by-step guidance is what keeps errors down when the binder is not being read.
See how it works →Training is one piece. Making sure that they have signed off on it is another piece. If this document is something that needs to be updated every 24 months, this person is the owner, they get notified and it is being done right on time, versus when the audit is coming and everybody is running around. And you can take that and assign those to people with certain schedules as well, so that you can watch the compliance.
There is an AI feature implemented where we can attach any documentation that is out there on the factory floor today. Let's say if they already have a checklist built, like a 5S audit or a Gemba walk audit, factories can attach that to Lean Creator and Lean Creator can build a digital version of that without them having to enter anything manually. You could also feed it a video to build an SOP that is specific to your space. And you can build your repository of all those manuals, all the SOPs, all the OPLs in one place, and actually have an owner assigned to them, have an expiration assigned to it.
It will help send out notifications when the document is coming to expiration, and the system takes care of all the escalations for you. Let's say if they say, no, this is the right version, I do not need to change anything, it will stay there with the signature that the owner signed off on it and this is the latest version. But if they want to upload something new for that, it will create a version two of the same document. And it will make sure that if any document is coming to an expiration, it needs to get reapproved or get taken out of the circulation system so that nobody is able to get access to it because it is obsolete.
They can be given access by employee ID, so no corporate email address is needed. Licensing is per facility with no user limit, so everyone in the plant can be on it, on web, Android or iOS. Plants run it on shared tablets, kiosks or personal phones.
See one of your own SOPs under control
Bring a document you use today and we will show it with an owner, a review date, version control and a sign-off from the floor.