Your AI Manufacturing Assistant

The AI Manufacturing Assistant in Threaded is your personal process analyst and engineer, designed to help you understand and optimize your manufacturing operations. Think of it as having an expert industrial engineer available 24/7 to analyze your data, identify improvement opportunities, and guide you through best practices.

#Key Capabilities

Data Analysis: Get insights from value stream maps, key stats, and operational data
Process Optimization: Identify constraints, bottlenecks, and improvement opportunities
Knowledge Base: Learn about lean principles, process optimization, and industry best practices
Digital Agent: Automate and accelerate digital tasks - create and monitor actions, update processes, generate reports, process data
Expert Guidance: Get answers to manufacturing challenges and Threaded feature questions

#Threaded Platform Integration

The AI Assistant is natively integrated across your Threaded workspace, becoming more powerful as you centralize more of your manufacturing data and processes within the platform.

By leveraging real-time data from your value stream and operations, the AI delivers increasingly accurate insights and targeted recommendations.

The more integrated your system becomes, the deeper the AI’s understanding of your operations, enabling it to identify nuanced improvement opportunities and optimization strategies that drive measurable performance gains across your organization.

#Getting Started

#Accessing the Assistant

Click the AI Assistant icon in the top navigation bar to open the chat sidebar

#Starting a Conversation

Choose a prompt from the window or ask your own question.
When asking your own question, be specific about your problem, goals, or challenges, and include specific context you want to make sure the AI considers.
Add context by attaching external media files.
Use the @ button and @mention features to reference specific data, nodes, or processes for analysis.

#When to Start a New Conversation

Start a new conversation when:

Completing a new analysis
Shifting focus to a different topic
Working with new or updated data
Analyzing a different production line
Your context or goals change significantly

#Adding Context

#Context is Key!

Context provides an AI with situational data to provide relevant, accurate, and useful responses to users. If you are having trouble getting a good response, adding more context will help you get the most out of AI.

#Automatic Context

The Threaded platform automatically provides basic context about your project and organization to the AI Assistant. The AI agent also has access to Tools that can help it gather more detailed information about your project based on your question.

#Manual Context Addition

The more relevant context the AI has the more tailored its response can be to the users question. There are times when it can be valuable to add additional context to your chat. There are a few ways you can do this in Threaded.

Page Navigation
- The AI agent can see what page you are viewing and includes this information as context for your chat.
- This can be particularly useful for value stream-specific questions, just navigate to the value stream you have questions about.
@ Button
- Use the @ button above the chat window to attach a specific project version or a summary of a previous AI conversation.
In-line @mention
- Type ”@” in the chat window to reference specific users, action items, nodes, tools, or parts in your chat.
File Upload
- Attach external files by clicking the paperclip icon below the chat window.
Type into the Chat Window
- Add detail and description in natural language as part of your prompt.

#Model Selection

The Threaded team regularly tests and updates the app with the latest and best performing AI models from flagship providers and have set the default model to be the model that has on average, performed best in our internal testing. .

However, some AI models perform better on certain types of tasks. And sometimes, it can be be nice to ask the same question to multiple models. Think of it like asking the same question to a panel of experts, to get a well-rounded response.

To select which model is used to process your request, use the AI Model dropdown menu below the chat box.

#Best Practices for Using the Threaded AI Assistant

#Effective Communication

To get the most value from the AI Assistant, follow these communication guidelines:

Clearly state your specific situation and goals
Provide relevant data points and challenges upfront
Reference specific data in your project using @mentions and attached files
Frame focused, targeted questions
Be transparent about constraints and limitations

#What to Do When the AI Makes a Mistake

Sometimes, the AI may give you an answer that doesn’t quite make sense—the logic or math might seem incorrect, or the response might contain unfamiliar terms and concepts. You can usually work with the AI to get the response you’re looking for. Here are some helpful strategies:

Point out any clear errors you notice
Ask the AI to explain its reasoning
Ask “why?” questions to understand the response (“5 Whys” is a universal technique!)
Provide additional context

#Understanding AI Responses

The AI Assistant provides four types of responses to help you optimize your manufacturing operations:

#1. Data-Driven Analysis

Comprehensive analysis of your operational data
Clear explanation of assumptions and limitations
Detailed review of key metrics and performance indicators

#2. Actionable Solutions

Step-by-step implementation guidance
Clear expectations for outcomes
Specific resource and time requirements

#3. Expert Knowledge

Application of lean manufacturing principles
Industry-standard engineering practices
Modern manufacturing methodologies

#4. Platform Integration

Specific Threaded feature recommendations
Action item creation and tracking
Process documentation updates

#Maximizing Value from the AI Assistant

#Continuous Improvement Cycle

Maintain momentum through:

Regular progress reviews and assessments
Analysis of implementation results
Strategic adjustments based on outcomes
Ongoing knowledge development

#Learning and Development

Deepen your manufacturing expertise by:

Asking “why” questions to understand root causes
Requesting additional resources and references
Exploring complex manufacturing topics
Building your knowledge of industry best practices

The AI Manufacturing Assistant transforms your manufacturing data into actionable insights, driving continuous improvement in your operations.