Parsable makes sure the procedure was followed. FieldPal helps when there isn't one.
Enforced step sequences are exactly right for work that should be identical every time. Fault diagnosis isn't that work, and forcing it into a step-through procedure is how the detail gets lost.
Who this is for
Industrial operations (particularly oil and gas, chemicals and manufacturing) digitising standard operating procedures and needing evidence that they were executed correctly.
What Parsable does well
Rigour. Parsable turns a paper procedure binder into an interactive sequence with real conditional logic: record a failed check and the safety warning appears, and the next step changes. Every action is timestamped and attributable, producing traceability that regulators and internal audit actually accept. Parsable is now owned by CAI Software.
What FieldPal does instead
FieldPal takes what the technician says about the job, in their own words, in whatever order the work actually happened, and assembles the structured record from it. There is no authored path to follow and no content estate to maintain, so coverage starts on day one rather than after a programme.
Head to head
Where compliance to a defined procedure is the requirement, and deviation is a defect rather than initiative, Parsable's design is exactly right. We aren't going to argue otherwise.
| Capability | FieldPal Capture | Parsable |
|---|---|---|
| Primary input method | Speak naturally | Tap and type |
| Hands-free operation | Yes | No |
| Head-mounted devices (RealWear) | Yes | No |
| Record built from free, unscripted speech | Yes | No |
| Procedure authoring required before use | No | Yes |
| Enforced step sequence and conditional logic | Simpler | Extensive |
| Step-level traceability and attribution | Yes | Extensive |
| Handles work nobody anticipated | Yes | No |
The argument
A fault diagnosis has no correct sequence
A permit-to-work walkdown, a changeover, a batch record: these have a right order, and enforcing it is the entire value of the software. Structured steps are the point.
Fault diagnosis is the opposite. The technician follows the evidence, and the evidence goes where it goes. Force that into a step-through procedure and you get one of two outcomes: the detail is lost because it didn’t fit the fields, or the procedure is abandoned halfway and completed from memory in the office.
The authoring arithmetic
Every SOP digitisation programme runs into the same maths. The procedures that matter most are the complex ones. Complex procedures take longest to author. And the estate needs maintaining as the work changes.
Organisations with the discipline and the headcount to sustain that get real value from Parsable. Organisations without it end up with forty digitised procedures out of four hundred and a licence renewal conversation nobody enjoys.
No authoring dependency
FieldPal has no authoring dependency, because it doesn’t lead the technician down a path. That is a genuine trade: you give up enforced sequence in exchange for coverage of everything, immediately.
When the procedure runs out
FieldPal Find gives voice access to the manuals, service bulletins and repair history your organisation already holds.
Parsable tells the operator what to do next inside a defined procedure. Find answers the question that arises when the procedure runs out. On most sites, that is the question that costs the most time.
Which one is right for you
Choose Parsable if
- Enforced procedural compliance is the requirement
- You need step-level audit evidence for a regulator
- Your work is repeatable and the sequence genuinely matters
- You have the resource to author and maintain a procedure estate
Choose FieldPal if
- The work varies and can't be reduced to a defined sequence
- Your technicians are mid-task and can't operate a tablet
- You want coverage of all your work now, rather than some of it after a programme
- Knowledge access matters as much as procedural capture
Start with the work no procedure covers
Pick the jobs your SOP programme hasn't reached: the diagnostics, the callouts, the one-offs. That is where we'll show you FieldPal working.