The Factory That Remembers

Your most valuable asset isn't on the balance sheet.

It's the decades of expertise inside your operators, technicians, and engineers — and most of them are about to retire. NeoFabrik Brain captures it before it walks out the door.

See It In ActionRead the Thesis

00. Capture Method

We capture expertise through smart glasses — on the line, in the moment.

Experts wear lightweight smart glasses during a normal shift. The glasses capture point-of-view video, gaze, hand and tool motion, and voice narration. NeoFabrik Brain distills that signal into executable skill files. No clipboards, no after-the-fact interviews, no dead wikis.

👓
First-person view
What the expert actually looks at
✋
Hand + tool motion
Micro-adjustments words can't describe
🎙
Voice narration
The reasoning, in their own words

The transcript below is the voice layer of a smart-glasses session on Line 4.

01. Input Source

glasses-session · Line 4 · 06:42

Frank (40yr): CNC-7 spindle was screaming on grade-B aluminum again. Don't trust the temp sensor — it lies under 800 RPM. Pull the coolant filter first, then check the bearing preload. If you skip the filter you'll chase ghosts for an hour.
Frank: If preload > 12 µm, page Marco. Don't touch it.

02. Extracted Skill

SK_07

CNC-7 Spindle Triage

EXECUTABLE_PROCEDURE
Preconditions

Machine: CNC-7 · Material: Grade-B Al · Ignore temp sensor < 800 RPM

Steps
  • 01Pull and inspect coolant filter
  • 02Measure spindle bearing preload (µm)
  • 03If preload > 12 µm → escalate to Marco
Tribal SourceFrank (40yr Op)
ProvenanceShift handover · Line 4
Ready for agent or apprentice
Knowledge graph of factory operational skills

The missing layer of the smart factory

01

Models commoditized. Context is the new moat.

Generic AI gives generic answers. AI connected to a Company Brain understands your machines, your tolerances, your maintenance history, and your operational realities. That's where real value is created.

02

The silver tsunami is real.

Over the next decade, thousands of experienced technicians, operators, and engineers will retire. The challenge isn't replacing workers — it's preserving the intelligence that lives only in their heads.

03

Documents answer. Skills execute.

A PDF tells you what a machine is. A skills file tells an AI agent — or a Tuesday-morning apprentice — exactly how to triage it, with preconditions, decision branches, and safe escalation paths.

04

The brain has to be alive.

Most plant wikis are dead within 90 days. Fresh smart-glasses sessions continuously feed the reconciliation loop — alongside work orders, shift logs, MES events, and SCADA alerts — so procedures keep matching what people actually do.

Use Cases

One capture method. Every corner of the plant.

Anywhere a veteran does something a newcomer can't yet — that's a smart-glasses session waiting to happen. Tap a use case to see what the glasses capture and the executable procedure it produces.

01
Maintenance · Safety

Lockout / Tagout (LOTO) on Press-3

Isolating all hazardous energy on a 400-ton press before a die change — electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic, and stored gravitational energy.

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Isolating all hazardous energy on a 400-ton press before a die change — electrical, hydraulic, pneumatic, and stored gravitational energy.

Glasses capture
  • ›Which disconnects the expert touches, in what order
  • ›Padlock and tag placement, serial numbers, who signs
  • ›Residual-pressure bleed sequence and gauge reads
  • ›Verbal try-start verification at the HMI
Extracted procedure
  1. 01
    Notify affected personnel
    Line lead + adjacent cell operators acknowledged on radio.
  2. 02
    Shut down via normal stop sequence
    End-of-cycle, not E-stop, unless unsafe.
  3. 03
    Isolate all energy sources
    Main electrical disconnect, hydraulic pump breaker, pneumatic ball valve, ram safety block inserted.
  4. 04
    Apply personal lock + tag at each isolation point
    One lock per worker. Tag fields: name, date, reason.
  5. 05
    Release / bleed stored energy
    Hydraulic accumulator to 0 bar, pneumatic header vented, capacitors discharged per drive manual.
  6. 06
    Verify zero energy state
    Attempt normal start at HMI; meter test on motor leads; confirm ram cannot drop.
Decision branches
  • ⎇If any gauge reads > 0 after 60s → stop, call maintenance lead.
  • ⎇If a lock is already on a disconnect → add yours, do not remove the other.
  • ⎇If task crosses shifts → outgoing worker's lock stays until incoming worker applies theirs.
Skill outputLOTO_Press-3_DieChange
02
Machinist

CNC spindle triage

Diagnosing vibration and thermal anomalies on grade-B aluminum before the part scraps.

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Diagnosing vibration and thermal anomalies on grade-B aluminum before the part scraps.

Glasses capture
  • ›Gaze pattern on chip color and shape
  • ›Hand path to coolant filter and bearing housing
  • ›Spoken preload thresholds and RPM ranges
Extracted procedure
  1. 01
    Pull and inspect coolant filter
    Look for fines; replace if loading > 30%.
  2. 02
    Re-run trial cut at 600 RPM
    Listen for harmonic; temp sensor is unreliable below 800 RPM.
  3. 03
    Measure spindle bearing preload (µm)
    Use Frank's dial-gauge fixture, not the OEM jig.
Decision branches
  • ⎇If preload > 12 µm → escalate to Marco; do not adjust.
  • ⎇If chips turn blue → stop, coolant flow is insufficient.
Skill outputCNC-7_Spindle_Triage
03
Setter

Injection mold changeover (SMED)

Sub-15-minute changeover on Mold #214 including torque sequence, color purge, and first-shot validation.

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Sub-15-minute changeover on Mold #214 including torque sequence, color purge, and first-shot validation.

Glasses capture
  • ›Tool order and grip on the cart
  • ›Torque-wrench reads at each clamp bolt
  • ›Purge color call-outs and shot counts
Extracted procedure
  1. 01
    Stage new mold + heated manifold
    Pre-heat to 65°C while old mold finishes cycle.
  2. 02
    Release clamps in star pattern
    Reverse of tightening order to avoid plate warp.
  3. 03
    Swap mold halves via overhead crane
    Two-person lift; verify eye-bolt torque first.
  4. 04
    Torque clamp bolts to 95 Nm in star pattern
    Two passes: 50%, then 100%.
  5. 05
    Purge barrel until color is clean for 3 consecutive shots
  6. 06
    Run first-article and dimensional check
Skill outputMold_214_Changeover
04
Automation tech

Robot cell recovery after E-stop

Safe re-home and fault clearing on welding Cell-B after an emergency stop, without violating the safety interlock.

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Safe re-home and fault clearing on welding Cell-B after an emergency stop, without violating the safety interlock.

Glasses capture
  • ›Which HMI screens the expert opens, in order
  • ›Jog directions, speeds, and end-effector pose
  • ›Safety-gate reset sequence
Extracted procedure
  1. 01
    Confirm cell is clear of personnel and parts
  2. 02
    Acknowledge active faults on the safety PLC HMI
  3. 03
    Switch teach pendant to T1 (slow) mode
  4. 04
    Jog robot off the part and clear of fixtures
  5. 05
    Re-home using saved 'safe approach' macro, not the OEM home
  6. 06
    Re-arm safety gate and switch back to AUTO
Decision branches
  • ⎇If torch is fouled → run wire-brush macro before homing.
  • ⎇If a servo fault persists after 2 resets → page Marco; do not power-cycle.
Skill outputCell-B_EStop_Recovery
See all 8 use cases