The Standard
Write, post at the workstation and keep alive a one-page standard that sets the best known way to run an operation, serves to train a newcomer and turns every observed deviation into a problem to solve.
This course is aimed at team leaders, methods technicians and continuous improvement facilitators who notice that the same workstation is run three different ways depending on the shift, and that defects and cycle times follow suit. It requires no prior Lean training.
By the end, you will be able to distinguish a standard from a quality procedure, observe a workstation with its operators to retain the best known way and quantify it, write a one-page visual standard with its safety and quality key points, train a newcomer with this document while measuring their time to autonomy, conduct a compliance audit that treats the deviation as a problem and not as a fault, then update the standard after each improvement by tracking two simple indicators.
What you will be able to do
- State what a standard describes (sequence, key points, time) and what sets it apart from a quality procedure.
- Observe a workstation with the operators and retain the best known way, quantified by cycle time and error rate.
- Write a one-page visual standard: steps, safety and quality key points, photos, reference time.
- Post the standard at the workstation and train a newcomer with it, measuring the time to autonomy.
- Conduct a standard compliance audit that treats the gap between prescribed and actual as a problem to solve, not as a fault.
- Update the standard after each improvement and track its effect with two simple indicators.
The path
- What a standard describes, and what it is not 4 min
- Observing the station and retaining the best known way 5 min
- Writing the one-page visual standard 5 min
- Place the standard at the workstation and train a newcomer 4 min
- Auditing adherence to the standard without looking for someone to blame 4 min
- Evolving the standard and tracking its effect 4 min
Prerequisites
No Lean prerequisites. You need to know a repetitive workstation in your shop, be able to spend an hour observing it with the operators, and have a stopwatch, a camera (a phone is enough) and access to the workstation's defect records.
The closing quiz
The topic ends with a 7-question quiz, and a certificate is issued on success.