Optimize Your Manufacturing: How AI Enhances Troubleshooting on the Shop Floor

In the dynamic environment of modern manufacturing, fast and effective troubleshooting is critical to maintaining productivity and minimizing downtime. Manufacturers today are leveraging AI to innovate and drive economic competitiveness. According to the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), 72% of surveyed manufacturers report reduced costs and improved operational efficiency after implementing AI in their operations.

Tulip AI provides a native AI solution that enables operators and engineers to solve problems quickly and efficiently, without the need for code, accelerating your time to value with AI.

Anyone building in Tulip can create their own custom AI chatbot using Frontline Copilot. Frontline Copilot is designed to support operators and end users of Tulip apps by providing them with real-time, contextual assistance. Operators can interact with the AI to access information from SOPs, manuals and historical data, enabling them to solve problems without leaving their workflow. From training new team members to finding tricky answers to error codes, no-code AI chatbots can enhance your operator support, streamline decision-making, and accelerate problem resolution on the line.

• Reduced Downtime: Immediate access to solutions minimizes equipment idle time.

• Empowered Workforce: Operators gain autonomy in resolving issues, leading to increased confidence and job satisfaction.

• Consistent Quality: Standardized responses ensure uniformity in troubleshooting procedures.

Outset Medical, a manufacturer of next-generation dialysis machines, has taken a composable, human-centric approach to its manufacturing execution system (MES) with Tulip to drive continuous improvement across its operations. To help their operators more efficiently maintain and repair machines, the team developed a console troubleshooting app without code, using Tulip AI and Frontline Copilot.

Outset Medical's AI apps are powered by AWS and combine operational context from Tulip with powerful LLMs. The AI-driven solution is trained on a repository of over 2,500 historical repair cases, enabling it to provide operators and technicians with tailored recommendations based on specific console alarms. Outset Medical team members can simply ask a question in plain text and instantly receive an answer and a reference to where to find more information. By incorporating AI copilots into its equipment maintenance workflow, Outset Medical has achieved a 50% reduction in repair times, improving operational efficiency and minimizing equipment downtime.

Hear how Outset Medical is getting regulated products to market faster with Tulip AI and a Composable MES from their presentation at Operations Calling →

DMG MORI, a global manufacturer of high-precision machines, is using Tulip AI to reinvent machine troubleshooting for operators around the world. Tulip apps run natively on DMG MORI's machine interfaces, making it even faster to find answers and troubleshoot machines right where the work is being done. By training Tulip on machine maintenance manuals, operators can ask questions in over 20 languages and receive generated answers and references.

“In addition to our partnership with Tulip on machines, DMG MORI has also used Tulip extensively for years in our own manufacturing processes,” said Tommy Kuhn, Managing Director at DMG MORI Digital. “We are excited to work with Tulip AI to make operational excellence and worker augmentation more achievable for the machining industry.”

See how DMG MORI is augmenting frontline operations with generative AI copilots in Tulip →

1. Identify Common Issues – Begin by analyzing recurring problems that cause delays or require frequent intervention. Understanding these pain points will help you identify the best places for AI to provide relevant solutions, and what context you will need to train it on.

2. Train the AI Copilot – Upload existing documentation, such as SOPs, maintenance logs, and troubleshooting guides, into Tulip Tables to securely train Frontline Copilot. This ensures the AI has access to only relevant, accurate, and comprehensive information.

3. Integrate into Daily Operations – Embed the AI chatbot into the daily workflow by incorporating it into operator interfaces. This allows workers to query the AI seamlessly during their tasks, fostering a more responsive and informed workforce.

Tulip AI, Frontline Copilot, and other AI capabilities are the easiest way to use AI in operations. Without having to manage another AI subscription or vendor, Tulip gives every app builder secure access to the latest AI advances. By integrating AI into your troubleshooting processes, you can transform your operations into a more agile and efficient environment.

Ready to see what the hype is about? Get in touch.