Standard work represents the best, safest, and easiest way to do a job

A document centred upon human motion that combines the elements of a job into the most effective sequence with minimal waste to achieve the most efficient level of production possible under current conditions.

Standard work allows an organization to:

Create consistency and predictability Preserve know-how and expertise (i.e. Organization learning’s ) Prevent recurrence of errors. Improve team satisfaction and productivity.

Creating standard work requires three components:

1. A Work rate (Takt time) = Available production time / shift

Customer demand / shift

2. A Work Sequence.

3. Adequate resources for a smooth workflow (i.e. avoiding frequent stops and starts).

Before a standard is implemented, it needs to be identified, confirmed as reasonable and fair by all involved in the process, needs to be understood and needs commitment by the organisation to maintain this standard. Once this standard work has been implemented, it is important to continuously monitor its effectiveness and incrementally improve on this standard.

TOOLS FOR STANDARD WORK There are five main tools for developing standardised work. These are:

1. Time Observation record 2. Equipment process capacity Table 3. Standardised Work/walk combination Table. 4. Standardised Work map. 5. Standardised Work Instruction Sheet

These tools rely on each other and the final Goal is producing with standardised way..

TIME OBSERVATION RECORD

Capturing process time is critical. This time forms the basis for the standard work and so needs to be accurate. To help ensure cycle times are accurate, a simple record can be created and used in subsequent tools. This record can also be used to compare process speeds before improvements and after improvements.

A time observation record does not need to be complicated, just enough to record useful data for analysis. There are two key factors to learn from this table. 1) What is the lowest cycling time and 2) What is the average cycling time.

There are the questions needed for continuous improvement. What are the differences between the average and lowest cycle time?

What was done differently in the lowest cycle time? Can it be done again?

EQUIPMENT PROCESS CAPACITY TABLE

A critical component to standard work is to understand the capacity of equipment linked to a process. This helps to calculate the true process capacity, identify bottlenecks and where it is possible to improve the capacity.

Once the time observation record has recorded down critical times, an equipment process capacity sheet can be generated. This capacity table records both the equipment time and direct operation interaction excluding walk time.

STANDARD WORK/WALK COMBINATION Table

A standard work combination table combines manual work time, walk time and machine processing time for one operator in a task. This provides an overview on the exact time required for a process and this can be represented graphically. Once this standard work combination table has been created, it allows the work to be recombined to maximise efficiencies.

This standard work combination table provides a visual management guide so operators understand how long a process should take, and what the steps are in the work flow. This also provides a visual management aid to leaders to ensure the process is being undertaken appropriately by operators.

STANDARD WORK MAP

A standard work map shows operator movement and material location in relation to machinery and the process layout. The form needs to show the four components that make up the standardised work. These are:

1. Takt time

2. Cycle time

3. Sequence of the work

4. Required standard Work In Process (WIP) stock

These standard work charts need to be displayed at workstations as a visual tool to provides a guide for the most economical way to undertake a task.

STANDARD WORK INSTRUCTION SHEET

As mentioned earlier, these above three sheets are summarised into a single Standard Work Instruction Sheet. (Time observation sheet provides data for both the ‘Work/walk combination’ sheet and the ‘equipment process capacity’ sheet. These two sheets with the ‘Work map’ make up the ‘work instruction sheet’. )

This single sheet provides the best visual management tool for both operators and leaders to ensure the process is being undertaken to standard, and as a source for continuous improvement.

It also provides an opportunity for all staff to improve the current work flow and increase efficiency.

WORK IN PROCESS CALCULATION ( for Line Balancing & Stable Flow )

As mentioned earlier, part of a ‘standard’ workflow includes 3 core elements

1. Takt time

2. A work sequence

3. Required standard Work In Process (WIP) stock

The basic Work In Process (WIPC) Calculation follows the following calculation:

Work in Process = Manual cycle time + Automatic cycle time

Takt time

If the WIPC = 1 , this indicates the Total cycle time ( Manual Cycle time + Auto Cycle time ) is matched to the require production rate (or takt time) from the customer.

If the WIPC is greater than 1, this would indicate that this process is a bottleneck and not producing goods at a rate fast enough for the next customer. This may require additional staff to decrease the manual cycle to keep up with demand, or a full review of the standard work to reduce cycle times.

If the WIPC was less than one, this would indicate that the process is operating at a rate faster than the required rate. This too can be problematic as it then requires storage of goods while the next process catches up to the backlog.

As can be seen, for a smooth process flow, the ideal WIPC should be close to 1.

STANDARD WORK PREREQUISITES

There are some pre-requisites for creating standard work:

1. A stable process: Standard work requires a stable process. By stable process we are referring to Stable material, equipment and workforce.

2. Leadership prerequisites: Standardised work requires that four leadership prerequisites be met before standard work can be implemented.

» The organisation needs to adopt a blame free culture. This doesn’t mean being accountability-free, but it does mean suspending all judgement and focusing on problems with the process , before looking at the person. Creating an environment where team feel empowered to make decisions and are confident to contribute to the working environment is key for implementing standard work.

» The organisation requires a commitment to continuous improvement. This needs to be led from the highest level of leadership.

» Leaders need to be out on the floor to understand how the business is performing. The use of visual management controls can help leaders understand business performance.

» Leaders and staff need to quickly respond to issues and not be delayed in raising these issues.

Undertaking these leadership styles ensures standard work has the most chance of succeeding and achieving Objective / Challenge.