SOP Examples: Real-World Standard Operating Procedures for 5 Industries

What Makes a Good SOP Example

Most SOP examples you find online are either too generic to be useful or stripped of the specific detail that makes procedures actually work. This guide takes a different approach: we're going to walk through real SOP examples from five different industries, annotate what makes each one effective, and show you how to adapt the structure for your own processes.

A few things these examples have in common before we start. Every effective SOP, regardless of industry:

• Has a clearly defined start and end point — the reader knows exactly when to begin and when they're done
• Uses numbered, imperative steps ("Verify the temperature" not "Temperature should be verified")
• Specifies who does each step, not just what the step is
• Documents what records get created, where they're stored, and for how long
• Was reviewed by the people who actually do the work

With that baseline established, let's look at five industry examples.

Manufacturing SOP Example: Incoming Materials Inspection

This is one of the most common SOPs in any ISO 9001-certified manufacturing environment. The purpose is to ensure that raw materials and components meet specifications before they enter production — catching defects at the door rather than downstream.

Sample Structure (Abbreviated)

SOP-QC-001: Incoming Materials Inspection

Purpose: To establish a standardized procedure for receiving, inspecting, and releasing or rejecting incoming raw materials, components, and purchased goods prior to use in production.

Scope: All incoming materials received at the main receiving dock. Excludes office supplies, maintenance materials, and direct-ship orders (see SOP-QC-007).

Roles:

• Receiving Technician — performs initial count and condition check
• QC Inspector — performs specification verification and disposition
• QC Supervisor — approves conditional releases and disposition of nonconforming material

Procedure Steps:

1. Upon receipt of shipment, locate the corresponding purchase order in the ERP system. If no matching PO exists, place shipment in the "Hold" staging area and notify the Purchasing Manager.
2. Count all received units and compare against the packing slip and purchase order quantity. Record any discrepancy on Form QC-101 (Receiving Discrepancy Report).
3. Inspect the outer packaging of all units for damage, moisture, or compromise. Flag any damaged units with a yellow "Hold" tag and segregate from accepted materials.
4. Pull a sample per the Sampling Plan (see Table 1 in Appendix A) and compare against the applicable material specification in the QMS document library.
5. If sample passes: Apply green "Accepted" tag, enter release in ERP system, and move materials to the designated stock location.
6. If sample fails: Apply red "Rejected" tag, complete Form QC-102 (Nonconformance Report), move materials to the quarantine area, and notify the QC Supervisor within two hours.

Records: Form QC-101 (Receiving Discrepancy), Form QC-102 (Nonconformance Report), ERP receiving transaction — retained 5 years.

What Makes This Work

Notice that every step has a decision point or a specific action — there's no ambiguity about what "good" looks like. The procedure specifies exact forms, references an appendix for the sampling plan (rather than embedding it in the steps), and gives clear escalation criteria. The records section maps each form to a retention period, which is what auditors look for.

Food Safety SOP Example: Allergen Sanitation Between Production Runs

Allergen control is one of the highest-stakes areas of food manufacturing SOPs. The FDA's Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) requires written procedures for allergen management, and gaps here can trigger recalls or serious regulatory action.

Sample Structure (Abbreviated)

SOP-FS-014: Allergen Line Changeover Sanitation

Purpose: To prevent cross-contact allergen contamination when switching production from allergen-containing to allergen-free (or different allergen) products on shared equipment.

Scope: All production lines processing products containing the Big 9 allergens (milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat, soybeans, sesame). Applies to all shifts.

Procedure Steps:

1. Before beginning changeover: Confirm the outgoing and incoming product allergen profiles using the Allergen Matrix (see Appendix B). If no allergen change is occurring, standard sanitation SOP-FS-002 applies instead.
2. Stop production. Remove all in-process product from the line and segregate from allergen-free areas.
3. Disassemble all contact surfaces: conveyors, hoppers, filler heads, slicers. Place disassembled parts in labeled bins — do not mix allergen-containing and allergen-free parts during cleaning.
4. Apply foam cleaner at the concentration specified on the MSDS to all contact and near-contact surfaces. Allow 5-minute dwell time.
5. Rinse all surfaces with potable water at minimum 120°F until no visible residue remains.
6. Perform ATP swab test on the three critical control surfaces identified in the Allergen CCP Plan. Record swab results on Form FS-044. If any surface reads above 500 RLU, repeat cleaning from Step 4. Do not proceed until all surfaces pass.
7. Allow equipment to air-dry or dry with clean, allergen-specific towels (identify by color code per SOP-FS-015).
8. QA Supervisor or Allergen Control Specialist signs off on Form FS-044 before production resumes.

Records: Form FS-044 (Allergen Changeover Log) — retained 2 years minimum, or the shelf life of the product plus 6 months, whichever is longer.

What Makes This Work

The decision tree at Step 1 — "does this changeover involve an allergen change?" — prevents the procedure from being triggered unnecessarily and reduces compliance fatigue. The ATP swab requirement at Step 6 creates an objective pass/fail criterion, not a subjective visual assessment. The color-coded towel reference to another SOP shows a properly integrated documentation system.

Healthcare SOP Example: Medication Administration Verification

Healthcare SOPs exist in an environment where deviations from procedure can cause direct patient harm. The Joint Commission requires written policies for medication management, and most hospitals have hundreds of individual medication SOPs. This example shows a common verification step used across inpatient nursing units.

Sample Structure (Abbreviated)

Policy-MED-007: Five Rights Verification Before Medication Administration

Purpose: To standardize the pre-administration medication verification process to prevent medication errors, including wrong-patient, wrong-drug, wrong-dose, wrong-route, and wrong-time errors.

Scope: All licensed nursing staff administering medications in inpatient units, the ED, and same-day surgery. Excludes pharmacy preparation procedures (see Policy-PHARM-001 through 012).

Definitions:

• MAR: Medication Administration Record — the documented record of all medications administered to a patient during a care encounter
• Smart pump library: The medication library programmed into infusion pumps with pre-set dose limits and alerts

Procedure Steps:

1. Before leaving the medication room: Verify the prepared medication against the MAR for the correct patient name, MRN, drug name, dose, and route.
2. At the patient bedside: Scan the patient wristband using the bedside barcode scanner. Confirm the patient verbally: "Can you tell me your name and date of birth?" Do not accept a yes/no response — require the patient to state their own information.
3. Scan the medication barcode. Verify the system confirms a match for the five rights. If the system generates an alert, do not override without contacting the charge nurse and documenting the override reason in the MAR.
4. Verify the administration time against the order. If administering more than 30 minutes before or after the scheduled time, document the reason in the MAR and notify the charge nurse if more than 60 minutes variance.
5. Administer the medication using the correct route. For IV medications via smart pump: use the facility drug library — do not program manually unless the drug is absent from the library (escalate to pharmacy).
6. Document administration in the MAR within 10 minutes of administration — not before. Record the actual time administered, dose given, route, and your employee ID.

What Makes This Work

The explicit requirement in Step 2 — "Do not accept a yes/no response" — addresses the most common error in patient identification: a nurse asking "Is this John Smith?" and an elderly or confused patient nodding yes. That single line of specificity prevents a class of error. The smart pump library requirement in Step 5 creates a system safeguard rather than relying on individual calculation. Both are examples of procedures designed by people who understand where the failure modes actually are.

Pharmaceutical SOP Example: Equipment Cleaning Validation Log

In pharmaceutical manufacturing, GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) regulations — specifically FDA 21 CFR Parts 210/211 and the EU GMP guidelines — require that all production equipment cleaning be documented and validated. This SOP covers the documentation side: the actual cleaning procedure itself would be referenced, not embedded.

Sample Structure (Abbreviated)

SOP-MFG-033: Equipment Cleaning Log Documentation (GMP)

Purpose: To establish requirements for documenting equipment cleaning activities to ensure compliance with 21 CFR 211.67 (Equipment Cleaning and Maintenance) and demonstrating cleaning validation protocol adherence.

Regulatory References: 21 CFR 211.67, 211.68; EU GMP Annex 15 (Qualification and Validation); ICH Q7 Section 12.7

Procedure Steps:

1. Upon completion of cleaning, the operator performing the cleaning shall complete Equipment Cleaning Log Form MFG-044 immediately — not at the end of the shift.
2. Enter the equipment ID number (from the equipment tag, not from memory), date and time cleaning was completed, cleaning agent used (trade name and lot number), concentration prepared, and contact time achieved.
3. Record the batch number of the last product manufactured on this equipment before cleaning.
4. If rinse water testing is required per the Equipment-Specific Cleaning Validation Protocol, record the TOC and conductivity results from the final rinse on the same form. Do not enter limits — the QC system will compare against validated limits separately.
5. Sign the log using your full employee ID. Do not use initials only — this equipment is 21 CFR Part 11 documented and requires the unique identifier.
6. QA review of cleaning logs occurs within 24 hours of cleaning completion. QA Reviewer initials the form in the designated QA column. Any discrepancy or out-of-limit result triggers Form MFG-045 (Deviation Report) before the equipment is released for next use.

What Makes This Work

The regulatory citations at the top are not decorative — they tell the QA auditor exactly which requirements this procedure satisfies. The prohibition on entering limits in Step 4 (deferring to the QC system) is a data integrity design choice: it prevents transcription errors from creating false passing results. The 24-hour QA review requirement at Step 6 creates a defined review cycle rather than "whenever QA gets to it," which is undefendable in an FDA inspection.

Small Business SOP Example: New Client Onboarding

SOPs aren't only for regulated industries. Any business where consistency matters — which is every business — benefits from written procedures. This example is from a small professional services firm, showing how SOP structure scales down to a 10-person company without becoming bureaucratic.

Sample Structure (Abbreviated)

SOP-OPS-002: New Client Onboarding

Purpose: To ensure every new client receives a consistent, professional onboarding experience and has all required documentation and access in place before their first project kickoff.

Trigger: Signed contract received from a new client.

Procedure Steps:

1. Within 24 hours of receiving signed contract: Send the New Client Welcome Email (template in Google Drive: Operations/Templates/Welcome Email). Customize the three [bracketed] fields — do not send the unedited template.
2. Create a client folder in the project management system using the naming format: [ClientName-YYYY-ProjectType]. Copy the Standard Client Project Template into the new folder.
3. Send the Client Intake Form (link in Google Drive: Operations/Forms). Set a 3-business-day deadline in the reminder system.
4. Upon receipt of completed intake form: Schedule the 30-minute kickoff call using the Calendly link. Include the kickoff agenda (template in Google Drive) in the invite.
5. Add client to the monthly reporting distribution list. Confirm billing information is entered in the accounting system with the correct billing cycle from the contract.
6. After kickoff call: Send a follow-up email within the same business day summarizing agreed next steps, deadlines, and your primary contact information.

Records: Completed intake form — filed in client folder. Kickoff call notes — filed in client folder within 24 hours.

What Makes This Work

The small business version keeps the same discipline as the pharmaceutical example — specific timing requirements, exact document names and locations, defined triggers — but without the regulatory scaffolding that doesn't apply. The "customize the three bracketed fields" instruction in Step 1 is the kind of small detail that prevents the embarrassing reality of clients receiving templates with [CLIENT NAME HERE] still in the body. These are the details you only know to write down after someone misses them.

How to Adapt These Examples for Your Organization

None of these examples should be copied verbatim. An SOP that describes how someone else does something is not useful — what you need is a procedure that describes how your process works, at your facility, with your equipment and your roles.

Use these examples for structure and format, not content. Here's how to adapt them:

1. Start with the process, not the document

Before writing anything, map out what actually happens. Talk to the people who do the work. Walk through the process yourself. You'll find that the real procedure and the intended procedure often diverge — and the SOP needs to document what should happen, informed by what does happen.

2. Replace generic roles with your actual roles

These examples use generic titles like "QC Inspector" and "Receiving Technician." Replace those with the actual role titles used in your organization, and specify what happens when that person is absent. SOPs that don't account for absence create real compliance gaps.

3. Add your actual forms and systems

Where these examples say "Form QC-101," substitute your actual form numbers or system references. If you use a digital QMS, reference the module or record type. Specificity is what transforms a general procedure into a working one.

4. Calibrate detail to risk

The pharmaceutical and food safety examples are highly detailed because deviations have serious consequences. The small business onboarding SOP is less detailed because missing a step is recoverable. Match your level of detail to the actual risk profile of the process.

5. Have SMEs review before you approve

Subject matter experts — the people who actually do the work — should read every SOP before it's approved. They'll find the things you missed: the machine that always needs to warm up before the check in Step 3, the supplier whose packaging requires a different inspection approach, the edge case that makes Step 5 fail one time in twenty. Capturing that knowledge is the whole point.

Industry-Specific SOP Considerations

ISO 9001 Manufacturing

ISO 9001 doesn't prescribe specific SOP formats — it requires that your procedures are documented and followed. The standard does specify requirements for document control (version tracking, approval, distribution) and records. Your SOPs need to be part of a controlled document system with revision history, not just files in a shared drive.

FDA-Regulated Environments (Food, Pharma, Medical Devices)

FDA regulations are the most procedurally demanding. 21 CFR Part 11 requirements for electronic records mean that if your SOPs are managed digitally, the system itself must meet audit requirements. SOPs should cite the specific regulatory clause they satisfy — this is both good practice and what FDA inspectors look for during Form 483 reviews.

OSHA Safety Procedures

OSHA doesn't generally require SOPs per se, but many OSHA standards — lockout/tagout (29 CFR 1910.147), hazard communication (29 CFR 1910.1200), respiratory protection — require written programs and procedures. Safety SOPs should front-load hazard information: PPE requirements and safety warnings belong near the top, not buried in an appendix.

Healthcare (Joint Commission)

The Joint Commission uses the term "policy and procedure" rather than SOP, but the structure is the same. Their standards require that policies and procedures be reviewed and approved at defined intervals (typically annually), and that staff training on updated procedures be documented. Version control and training records are non-negotiable in accredited healthcare environments.

A Note on AI-Assisted SOP Writing

Each of the examples above took time to write because they embed process-specific detail — the three bracketed fields in the welcome email template, the 500 RLU threshold for ATP swabs, the 24-hour QA review requirement. That specificity has to come from subject matter expertise, not from a generic template.

Where AI tools genuinely help is in the structure and scaffolding: building the 11-section document, drafting purpose and scope language, populating definitions sections, writing the regulatory reference citations. If you provide the process-specific inputs — your roles, your forms, your steps — AI can handle the surrounding architecture and formatting work that makes an SOP complete.

The risk is tools that generate SOPs from scratch without those inputs, producing documents that look complete but contain invented details. An SOP with a plausible-sounding but incorrect regulatory citation is worse than no SOP at all — it creates false compliance confidence.