Smarter Procedures in Action: How PRIDE Uses OCR + Critical Instructions to Improve Accuracy and Compliance

In industrial and high-risk environments, even the smallest oversight in data entry or identification can create costly, dangerous, or non-compliant outcomes. That’s why PRIDE Automation continues to lead with purpose-built features like Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and Critical Instruction enforcement—two technologies that work together to ensure accuracy, safety, and real-time validation across operations.

Here are some examples of how these features are already making an impact.

Built-In OCR for Accurate Identification

In PRIDE 9.1.0 and beyond, OCR functionality is embedded directly into your digital procedures. It allows users to capture text from images—such as railcar numbers, asset tags, or batch IDs—using standard mobile devices.

This functionality is especially valuable in industries like chemical manufacturing, transportation, energy, and logistics, where confirming the right asset before performing work is non-negotiable.

Real-World Application: Railcar Verification

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Here’s a real example from a customer site:

• In Step 2.1 of a digital procedure, PRIDE instructs the operator to take a photo of a railcar.
• Using Critical Instruction enforcement, PRIDE ensures this step must be completed before the user can proceed—creating a digital checkpoint for safety and data integrity.
• That image is then sent to an AI-powered OCR API (such as Microsoft Azure Cognitive Services), which extracts the railcar ID from the image.
• PRIDE automatically compares that ID:
  
  • Against a manually entered value, or
  • Against a system-generated value from platforms like SAP

This seamless matching confirms the correct railcar is being accessed and processed—without requiring extra steps or manual double-checks.

The Results: Confidence in Every Step

By combining AI automation, OCR, and procedural logic, PRIDE delivers:

• Real-time validation of assets
• Reduced human error
• Enhanced compliance with regulatory standards
• Fully digital, auditable workflows

This level of automation makes it easier for health& safety managers, quality teams, and operations leads to enforce SOPs, improve accountability, and eliminate guesswork—especially in environments that rely on digital work instructions, electronic procedures, or regulatory compliance automation.