Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
Standard operating procedures (SOPs) are written, step-by-step instructions that define how to perform a specific laboratory task safely, reproducibly, and in compliance with regulatory or quality requirements. As a hard skill it requires writing SOPs clearly enough for a trained but unfamiliar operator to follow without ambiguity, incorporating safety precautions and equipment-specific details, and maintaining version control as procedures evolve. Battery R&D labs apply SOPs to instrument operation, sample preparation, and cell assembly, ensuring that experimental results are comparable across operators and time and that safety-critical steps — such as lithium metal handling and high-voltage cell formation — are never improvised.
