How Abbott Automated Kitting Process Monitoring with AI-Powered SOP Compliance

Using Jidoka’s AI-powered Nagare platform, Abbott is automating real-time kitting process monitoring across 18 stations, ensuring SOP compliance, preventing errors and supporting up to 12 product variants per station.

Use Case

Kitting SOP Compliance Assisstance

Result 1

Real-time AI-powered SOP compliance and error prevention

Deployments

Nagare – AI-Powered Process Monitoring & Video Analytics System

Result 2

18 Stations Monitored with 100-Cycle Validation

Overview

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Abbott operates manual medical product kitting processes in Central America where consistent execution of every packing step is critical to product quality and regulatory compliance. Operators perform multiple activities including material picking, barcode scanning, component insertion, box verification and sealing.

The process previously relied heavily on operator vigilance to maintain sequence accuracy and compliance. Even with trained teams, missed scans, sequence errors and packing deviations could introduce quality and compliance risks. Abbott required a non-intrusive solution that could continuously monitor the workflow, identify deviations in real time and support corrective action without disrupting the existing production layout.

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The Opportunity

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Abbott’s manual kitting process presented several challenges:

Operator-dependent execution created the possibility of missed steps, sequence errors and packing deviations.
Multiple product variants required operators to follow the correct SOP for each configuration.
Barcode and label scanning needed to occur at the correct points in the process.
Deviations needed to be identified at the source, rather than discovered through downstream inspection.
Abbott required process monitoring without major changes to the existing line layout.
Quality teams needed real-time visibility into process adherence, errors and production performance

Abbott needed an intelligent monitoring system that could turn the existing manual workflow into a continuously monitored, SOP-driven process.

Jidoka’s Approach

AI-Powered Video Process Monitoring

Jidoka deployed Nagare, an AI video analytics platform designed to continuously observe operator activities and compare them against the approved manufacturing workflow. An RTSP-enabled 5 MP camera provides the live video input at each monitoring station. Nagare's deep-learning engine analyzes the operator's actions and determines whether each activity is being performed in the required sequence. The system supports up to 20 individual monitored activities per product variant, allowing the monitoring framework to scale as process requirements evolve.

Real-Time SOP Compliance

Nagare converts Abbott’s approved kitting SOP into a sequence of AI-monitorable activities, continuously verifying operator actions, material handling, barcode scans, packaging and sealing against the defined process. The system detects missed steps, incorrect sequences and process deviations in real time, providing immediate audio and visual alerts so operators can correct errors before the kit moves forward. This creates a digital layer of SOP compliance across the manual kitting process without disrupting the existing workflow.

Real-Time Error Prevention

When Nagare detects a deviation from the approved process sequence, the system immediately classifies the activity as NOK.

The system provides:

Audio alerts to the operator
Visual indications on the monitoring dashboard
Real-timeprocess status
PLC communication for each step
Corrective-action hold before the workflow resumes

This enables Abbott to address process deviations at the point where they occur, rather than relying solely on downstream quality checks.

Centralized Monitoring Across 18 Stations

The solution is designed to monitor 18kitting stations using a distributed processing architecture, with four inspection stations connected to a single processing computer. Each computer analyzes the video feeds from its four assigned stations and sends the respective inspection output independently to each station, while each station is equipped with its own camera, operator display and visual alert system.

An industrial computer processes and manages data from multiple stations, while each station is equipped with its own camera, operator display and visual alert system.

The centralized architecture provides:

Real-time monitoring across all stations
Controlled system access
Centralized parameter management
Consolidated process data
Consistent monitoring across production areas

Operator faces are masked during process monitoring to support privacy requirements.

Production Intelligence & Traceability

Nagare provides supervisors and quality teams with real-time visibility into the kitting operation.

The web-based dashboard displays:

Live process compliance status
Activity timestamps
Time spent on individual steps
Error and deviation alerts
Batch and shift reports
Production trends across stations

Reports can be used to analyze process performance and identify recurring deviations.

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Big Wins for Abbott

Standardizing kitting quality with AI-driven monitoring, rapid deployment, and proactive error prevention.

Real-Time SOP Compliance

Nagare continuously verifies operator activities against the approved process sequence, helping identify missed steps, sequence deviations and packing non-conformances as they occur.

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18 Stations Under AI Monitoring

The architecture is designed to extend AI-powered process monitoring across 18 kitting stations, creating a standardized monitoring layer across the operation.

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Scalable Across Product Variants

The system supports up to 12 product variants per station, with the ability to accommodate additional variants as an optional expansion.

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From Detection to Prevention

Instead of discovering errors after the kit is completed, Nagare provides immediate feedback when a process deviation occurs, enabling corrective action before the activity proceeds.

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With Jidoka’s Nagare platform, Abbott is transforming manual kitting from an operator-dependent process into an AI-monitored, SOP-driven workflow. Real-time activity recognition, sequence verification, immediate alerts and centralized production intelligence provide a continuous layer of process assurance across 18 stations. With deployment planned in 6–8 weeks and validation based on 100 consecutive production cycles or 3 days of production, Nagare provides Abbott with a scalable foundation for improving process compliance, consistency and operational visibility.