Agentic AI for the plant floor's paperworkagentic AI
The line already runs itself. What doesn't is the paperwork around it — batch records, CoAs, deviations, supplier follow-ups. We deploy agents in the supervisory and record layer that do that work, traceably, while the PLC and your engineers keep control of the process.
- Batch & device-history records
- Quality, NCR & CAPA support
- Supplier & PO coordination
- ISO 9001 / Part 11 traceability
The machines are fast. The records are slow.
Modern lines hum along under PLC and SCADA control. The bottleneck has moved off the floor and into the documentation, quality, and supply functions that wrap around it.
A single batch can generate a master batch record, in-process checks, environmental logs, equipment calibration references, a certificate of analysis, and a stack of supplier CoAs that all have to agree before a qualified person can release product. Today a human collects those, reconciles the numbers, chases the missing signature, and types it all into the QMS — which is slow, error-prone, and exactly the work that delays shipment.
Quality is the same story. An out-of-spec result triggers a nonconformance, which triggers an investigation, which triggers a CAPA, each with its own forms, deadlines, and links to the affected lots. The judgment in that chain is small; the paperwork around it is enormous. Auditors from a customer, a notified body, or the FDA then expect every one of those links to be intact and traceable on demand.
This is the right shape of work for agents: high-volume, document-heavy, rule-bound, and bottlenecked on retrieval and assembly rather than on the engineering or release decision at the end. We automate the legwork in the record layer and leave control of the process — and disposition of product — exactly where it belongs.
Where agents earn their keep
Concrete jobs across production records, quality, and supply — each one observable, cited, and human-gated where it counts.
Batch & device-history records
Assemble the batch or device-history record from MES, historian, and LIMS data; reconcile in-process checks against the master record and flag gaps before a qualified person signs.
Deviation & NCR support
Open or enrich nonconformances with the out-of-spec result, affected lots, and genealogy attached, then route to the right quality owner — disposition stays a human call.
CoA & spec verification
Read incoming supplier certificates of analysis and your finished-goods CoAs, check them against the controlling spec and customer requirements, and surface mismatches with citations.
Supplier & PO coordination
Chase open POs, expedite at-risk components, and reconcile ASNs and invoices against receipts so a planner sees exceptions, not a full inbox.
Calibration & maintenance records
Track instrument calibration due dates and preventive-maintenance schedules, draft the work records, and flag any equipment used past its calibration window.
Customer & audit response
Pull the genealogy, records, and CoAs behind a customer complaint or audit request, and assemble a cited response packet for the quality team to review and send.
A batch, from run to release
The agent compresses the gather-and-reconcile work; the qualified person keeps the signature.
Collect
As the run completes, the agent pulls process data from the historian and MES, in-process results from LIMS, and supplier CoAs from the document store.
Reconcile
It checks every value against the master batch record and controlling specs, flags deviations, and confirms the right document revisions were in force.
Assemble
A complete, cited batch record is built — every data point traceable to its source and to the revision of the procedure that governed it.
Release
A qualified person reviews the assembled record and exceptions, then applies the electronic signature. The agent never releases product on its own.
Agents in the record layer, never on the controller
The fastest way to lose a plant's trust — and to create real safety risk — is to let a language model write to a setpoint. We don't. Agents sit firmly on the IT and record side of the OT boundary. They read machine and historian data, draft records, and raise flags, but the PLC, SCADA, and the engineers who own them keep exclusive control of the process.
Everything the agent does is built for the auditor: a Part 11-style trail of who or what acted, when, against which controlling document revision, and why. Electronic signatures stay with named, authenticated humans on anything that releases product or dispositions a nonconformance. Process recipes, yields, and customer specs stay inside your perimeter.
- No writes to PLC, SCADA, or setpoints — ever
- Part 11-style audit trail on every record action
- E-signatures stay with qualified humans
- Runs in your VPC, on-prem, or air-gapped
Manual quality ops vs. an Automatic.co agent
Why an action-taking agent beats another dashboard for record-bound, audited work.
| Manual / staff-driven | An Automatic.co agent | |
|---|---|---|
| Batch records | Hand-assembled, days to close | Assembled and reconciled as the run ends |
| Deviations | Found at review, after the fact | Flagged with evidence in real time |
| CoA checks | Spot-checked when there's time | Every certificate, against the spec |
| Traceability | Rebuilt under audit pressure | Logged automatically, link by link |
| Process control | Engineers and PLC | Engineers and PLC — unchanged |
Frequently asked questions
Do your agents touch the PLC, SCADA, or the line itself?
No — and that boundary is deliberate. Agents live in the supervisory and record layer: MES, QMS, ERP, LIMS, and the document store. They read machine and historian data, draft records, and flag deviations, but they never write a setpoint or command a controller. Real-time control stays with your PLC/SCADA and the engineers who own it.
How do you stay compliant with ISO 9001 and 21 CFR Part 11?
Every agent action produces a Part 11-style record: who (or what) did it, when, against which controlling document revision, and why. Electronic signatures stay with named, authenticated humans on anything that releases product or closes a deviation. The agent assembles the batch record and cites the evidence; a qualified person signs. Nothing is auto-released.
Can agents run inside our plant network and OT environment?
Yes. Deployments run in your VPC, on-prem, or air-gapped alongside the plant network, reading from the MES and historian through governed connectors. Process recipes, yields, supplier pricing, and customer specs never leave your perimeter, and OT segmentation stays intact — agents sit on the IT/record side of the boundary.
What happens when an agent finds a quality problem?
It doesn't decide disposition. The agent opens or enriches a nonconformance with the linked evidence — the out-of-spec result, the affected lots, the genealogy — and routes it to the right quality owner. Disposition, CAPA effectiveness, and batch release stay human decisions with a full audit trail behind them.
Bring your slowest record. We'll map the agent.
One working session on the batch release, deviation, or supplier workflow that's eating your quality team — and the traceable, human-gated agent that can run the legwork.