How Plant Advisor works.
Everyone at the plant shares one assistant. What each person can do is set by their role, so operators get a simple, safe view while managers and admins have more configuration ability.
Ask your plant
Plant Advisor connects to the SCADA database you already run and lets your team ask questions and get specific, data-driven answers in seconds, instead of writing SQL or digging through historian screens.
- Answers questions about live plant data: temperatures, levels, flow rates, alarms, equipment status.
- Runs live, read-only queries against your database for you. Nobody needs to write SQL.
- Saves the reports you repeat as Topics, re-run with one click.
- Remembers site-specific facts and reference documents for future conversations.
- Tracks maintenance intervals and warns when equipment is overdue for service.
- Watches for alarm conditions and can run a report automatically when they occur.
Three roles, one assistant.
Access builds up in layers. Each role can do everything the one before it can, and a little more. This keeps the operator view simple and puts configuration in the right hands.
The chat interface. Ask questions, read answers, and get shift-handover summaries.
- Ask any question in natural language
- Read answers drawn from live data
- Save personal knowledge facts
Everything an operator can do, plus the tools that shape what the whole site sees.
- Build, edit and delete Topics
- Attach and save reference documents
- Save site-wide knowledge facts
- Set up Golden Batch, triggers and maintenance
- Star and delete conversations
Everything a manager can do, plus setup and control of the whole system.
- Settings: database, AI key, licence
- Add users and assign their roles
- Switch the active plant
- View the audit log
Who can do what.
Access is enforced by role. If a control is greyed out or missing for someone, that is the role system doing its job, not a fault.
| Capability | Operator | Manager | Admin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chat: ask questions | |||
| Attach documents to chat | |||
| Star or delete conversations | |||
| View the Topics page | |||
| Build, edit or delete Topics | |||
| Save a personal knowledge fact | |||
| Save a site-wide knowledge fact | |||
| Set up Golden Batch, triggers, maintenance | |||
| Settings: database, AI, licence, users | |||
| Switch the active plant |
Roles are assigned by an admin when your account is created.
The features, by who runs them.
The same features, grouped by the role that owns them, so it is clear what an operator touches day to day and what a manager or admin sets up.
Everyday use
Asking questions
Type a question in the box and press Enter. Plant Advisor queries your live database, reads the result, and answers in natural language. Open the query details under any answer to see exactly what it pulled.
Personal knowledge facts
Tell it something to remember just for you, like a note about a setpoint. It is kept to your own conversations. Site-wide facts need a manager.
Set up and manage
Topics
Build a report once and re-run it with one click. Ask in chat and let Plant Advisor draft it, or build it by hand. The numbers are pulled fresh each time and laid out the same way, so runs are comparable.
Reference documents
Attach a P&ID, wiring diagram or manual and save it to a per-site library. Plant Advisor consults it in later conversations, not only the moment you attach it.
Knowledge facts
Record site-specific facts the database does not hold. Every fact notes who saved it and when, and is cited when used, so it traces back to source.
Golden Batch
Learn what a good run looks like from your own history, then grade every later run against that standard and flag deviations.
Accord sitesEvent triggers
Watch for an alarm or a Golden Batch breach and run an action automatically: run the engine, run a Topic, or take a query snapshot. Off until an admin enables it.
Accord sitesPreventative maintenance
Track running hours or start counts against a service interval and get told when a machine is due. Mark it serviced and the count resets.
Automatic on Accord, tag-confirmed elsewhereInstall and control
Settings and connection
Point Plant Advisor at your SCADA database, paste the AI key and choose a model, and apply your licence. Test Connection checks each before saving.
Users and licence
Add accounts and assign each a role. A 30-day trial starts on install; a permanent key is tied to the machine.
Server engine schedule
Run the background engine on a schedule so recommendations, forecasts and the Risks Now feed are ready before anyone asks.
Audit log
The last 20 questions across all users, with who asked, when, how many queries ran and the licence status. Exportable for compliance review.
Works across SCADA platforms.
Plant Advisor runs on several platform types. Most features work everywhere; a few depend on what your platform records. Your admin can confirm which type your site uses.
| Feature | Accord | MWCS | Generic / tag-based |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chat and live queries | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Reference documents | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Knowledge facts | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Topics: view and run saved | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Topics: full builder | Yes | Limited | Trend / Report |
| Golden Batch | Yes | No | No |
| Event triggers | Yes | No | No |
| Preventative maintenance | Automatic | Tag confirmed | Tag confirmed |
| Risks Now feed | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Built with security in mind.
Plant Advisor sits on the plant network and is careful with your data and your control system.
Read-only
It only ever reads from your database. It never inserts, updates, or deletes production data.
Your data stays local
Only your question and the plant context needed to answer it are sent to the AI. Raw SCADA records stay on your network.
Role-based access
Every capability is gated by role, so operators cannot change configuration, users, or saved reports.
Forced password change
The default admin password must be changed on first login before the rest of the application can be used.
Sessions expire
A session times out after 8 hours of inactivity and returns you to the sign-in page.
Audit trail
Recent queries are logged with who, when and what, and can be exported for compliance review.