Find out in 3 minutes whether your plants can support AI
AI works on what your plants already capture. If your records live in binders, your checks vary by shift, and someone re-keys numbers between systems, a new tool has little to work with. This AI readiness scorecard rates your data, process, governance, and technology, then tells you what to fix first.
Know where you stand
You answer 12 short questions about how your plant runs today. Pick the answer that matches a normal Tuesday, whatever your SOPs say. Add up your four section subtotals and you have a score out of 48, a maturity tier, and a short list of next moves.
What you get when you finish the scorecard
- Your readiness score: a total out of 48, built from four section subtotals of 3 to 12 each.
- Your maturity tier: Exploring, Piloting, Operational, or Scaling, based on where your total lands.
- Your focus dimension: your lowest section, which is where your next move belongs even if the total looks healthy.
- Tier-specific next moves: three concrete actions matched to where your plant stands today.
- A 90-day starter plan: one move, one owner, one check date, and a way to prove it worked.
Four dimensions decide whether AI has anything to work with
The scorecard has four sections of three questions each. Every answer runs from 1 (manual) to 4 (verified), so you see where your plant is strongest and where people still bridge the gaps by hand.
- Data: can you find last month's record fast and trust it without rechecking?
- Process: do the same checks run the same way across your shifts and sites?
- Governance: can you prove who signed off, and does someone own the response when data flags a problem?
- Technology: do your systems pass data to each other, or does someone still re-key it by hand?
Why your data and process come before AI
If finding last month's COA or corrective action means searching paper files or hunting across systems, a new AI tool starts with the same problem. Readiness comes down to context: whether your data and processes are solid enough to trust with a decision. The scorecard shows you what yours look like today.
Four tiers, and every one is a working plant
Your total maps to one tier, and the tier tells you which move comes next. You get three next moves for the tier you land in.
- Exploring (12 to 21): your plant runs on manual effort and disconnected records. Get core records onto one connected, governed system.
- Piloting (22 to 30): you have digital footing in places. Extend it so quality, production, and supplier data live together.
- Operational (31 to 39): your data is dependable enough to act on. Standardize across every site and tighten governance.
- Scaling (40 to 48): you have connected data, standard process, and clear ownership. Benchmark across sites, then scope where AI adds value.
Built on the Frame & Flight executive roundtable framework
This scorecard is built on the executive roundtable framework from Frame & Flight, a strategy and technology consulting firm for food and beverage manufacturers, in partnership with SafetyChain. It puts that thinking into a self-assessment you can finish in three minutes.
Take your score into your next operations meeting
Write down the three moves from your tier, pick the one that touches your lowest section, and put a name and a date against it. That's the whole plan for the next 90 days.
