Back to: Standard Continuous Improvement Certification
Learn about the second fundamental of CI, standard work.
As you may recall, the lean system of continuous improvement is designed to help you achieve the three goals below:
- Highest Quality
- Shortest Lead Time
- Lowest Cost
The foundation of achieving these goals is in creating stability in e work flow of your process. Stability is best achieved first through the utilization of standard work
What is standard work?
In simple terms, standard work is the documented steps one needs to take in order to complete a process. If you do not have the right process steps in place, then it will be difficult to deliver high quality on a consistent basis. Standard work helps to create habits and routine which bring stability to the process. It also becomes a first place to look for the root causes of defects and repair them. Lastly, the standard work enables improvements to be made with confidence. In many cases the standard work will be an Excel or Word document outlining the work flow of the process, but there are many different ways to document it. Some examples are given below.
Medical instructions are an important form of standard work.
Here is a familiar form of standard work- Lego instructions.
This pre-flight checklist is a very common form of standard work. in the airline industry.
Here is a different type of standard work called a combination table. It outlines the steps of the process, the sequence, how long each step should take, manual vs machine steps, and walking time. Not only does this help the operator know what to do, it also makes it easier to see improvement opportunities in the process.
Here is an example of visual standard work you might see at Disneyland. Visual signs clearly indicate to park goers how long the ride wait time is and when to return if you are getting a fastpass. Sometimes standard work is more than just process documentation and procedures.
Here are standard work instruction you might have seen on an airplane for inflating the escape slide.
Many sports like football are only possible through the use of standard work- rules, procedures, plays, side lines, yard lines, referees… you get the point.
How to create standard work
Standard work should be created and maintained by those who actually do the work. It should also be simple- easy to create and update. This means it also needs to be easy to find when it is needed. It doesn’t necessarily matter what it looks like or what program you use to create it, so long as it is easy to use. If the standard work is too complicated or takes too long to update, no one will use it. Creating standard work is a simple four step process:
- Create the content (what are the steps of the process?)
- Determine the sequence (in what order should the steps be performed?)
- Figure out the timing (how long do the steps of the process take?)
- Define the expected outcome (what does good look like?)
A more detailed explanation of the each of these four steps is given below. Do you have standard work for your processes?
Step one- Create the content
The first step in creating standard work is to identify and document the steps of the process. In some cases this will be relatively simple such as when there is one clear way to do something. When you are creating standard work for your own process, this is usually a matter of just documenting how you do it. In other cases it may be more difficult. For example when everyone has a different way of doing the process. In this type of scenario when you are creating standard work for a team, you should find a way to involve everyone and come to consensus on what the standard work should be. Whether it’s simple or complicated, you must establish what steps will be the “best practice” or will create the most stable quality result.
Step two- Determine the sequence
Once the steps of the process are established, the second step is to determine the sequence. This simply means to put the steps in the order that they should happen. As you determine the order take into consideration what will create the best customer experience and also what sequence will minimize waste.
Step three- Figure out the timing
The third step of creating standard work is to determine the timing of the process. This includes establishing how long each step of the process should take as well as the total time (under normal, un-rushed circumstances). This is often referred to in lean as the cycle time- the total time from beginning to end of the process. The best way to determine this is to time the process as it happens.
There are two other aspects of timing that are often utilized in manufacturing standard work, but aren’t utilized as often in a service industries and office environments. They are mentioned briefly here for your reference, but in most cases In our example to the right, we put the steps of the process order and numbered them on the standard work document. In our example, the timing was added to the standard work document using the green arrows. will not be a part of your standard work for the office. The first of these two is called takt time- which is the pace at which a product or service must be produced in order to keep up with demand. The second is standard work in process (or SWIP)- which is how much inventory should be present at each step of the process. Since most processes in office environments don’t include physical inventory, this is not typically part of office standard work.
Step four- Define the expected outcome
The last part of creating standard work is to define the expected outcome of the process steps. This is to help everyone know what good looks like and to make it clearer when a quality defect has occurred. This definition could consist of an explanation in words or even a picture. It should basically answer the question “How do I know if I am doing a good job”?
If you would like more help creating standard work, Five S is another lean methodology that is great to use when creating a new standard work.
How to use standard work
Once standard work is created, it goes through somewhat of a lifecycle as illustrated below. In the beginning the standard work is very handy to train someone new to the process and as a daily reference guide. Sometimes at this stage it helps to have a copy of the standard work in front of you for easy reference. Once a person has learned the process well enough to do it consistently from memory, the standard work is usually stored somewhere out of sight yet easy to access if needed. At this stage, standard work is simply used for review. Lastly, the standard work will be referenced and used frequently if a problem occurs or if other improvements are being made. In this case the standard work is used to study and understand how the process works currently and what will be changed to make an improvement. When improvements to the process are made, the standard work is updated the cycle begins again.
Rare or complex processes may have a slightly different life cycle. When a process happens infrequently, the standard work may be needed every time as a reminder of how to do the process. This is also true when a process is so complex it is not reasonable for someone to memorize all of the steps. In this case, it is also useful to use the standard work every time to ensure no steps are missed. Checklists are often used in this manner.
Benefits of standard work
Using standard work has many benefits including the following:
- Makes it easy to train new people
- Helps you understand what process will result in a consistent outcome
- Make it clear and easy to know if you are doing a good job
- Makes it easier to fix problems and defects that occur
- Makes it easier to eliminate waste and make improvements to the process
Don’t use standard work for evil
Although standard work can be very helpful, it can also be used improperly in ways that can negatively affect people. Be careful of the following as you use standard work:
- Don’t go overboard and make standard work for every little thing. For example, you probably don’t need standard work for how to open and read an email or answer the phone. Use your judgement to pick the right processes for which standard work will be useful. Typically it is most useful for processes that are very rare (so you need a reminder), occur frequently or repeat often, must be performed a specific way to achieve desired results or have dire consequences if not done correctly.
- Don’t use standard work to force people to do something in a disengaging way. Remember standard work should be collaborative and built by those that do the work.
- Don’t use standard work to keep people from innovating and improving. Standard work should make innovation and improvement easier not harder.
- Don’t punish people for deviating from the standard work. Especially if they are trying to find a better way.
- Don’t make the standard work overly detailed or complicated. If it’s too long and doesn’t add value, it won’t get used.
Where there is no standard, there can be no kaizen
Some people think that standard work takes away freedom, creativity, and entrepreneurism. This only occurs when it is used by people improperly. When used appropriately, standard work is essential for making improvements- or kaizen. Taiichi Ohno, the father of the Toyota Production System, is often quoted as saying “Where there is no standard, there can be no kaizen”. Standard work makes continuous improvement so much easier. It makes it easier to find the root causes of your problems within your process so they can be improved. It gives you a baseline for comparison to know if a change that you made to the process made the process better. Establishing standard work for your processes will put you on the path to truly living the idea of continuous improvement.