“Without standardization their can be no kaizen” – Taiichi Ohno
Standardization will reduce variation and variation is the enemy of any process
Toyota Georgetown Ky. Presented “The three levels of standardized work” Anyone working on standardization of work?
How did you proceed? Mgrs & Engineers developed the standardized work and told the operators how to do it.
Was this process successful? No
Toyota discovered that (many, many years ago) and has operators develop standardized work, with a champion for each standardization being selected among the operators.
Do you have problems maintaining standardized work at Toyota Georgetown? Yes, it’s a constant battle, even though our culture supports standardized work.
Definitions
Standardized work is A TOOL FOR MAINTAINING PRODUCTIVITY, QUALITY, AND SAFETY at high levels
“Standardized work is defined as work in which the sequence of job elements has been efficiently organized and is repeatedly followed by a team member” – Pascal Dennis
“Standardized work is a process whose goal is kaizen. If standardized work doesn’t change, we are regressing”
Why standardized work?
- Provides a basis for employee training
- Establishes process stability
- Reveals clear stop and start points for each process
- Assists audit and problem solving
- Creates baseline for kaizen
- Enables effective employee involvement and poka-yoke (mistake proofing)
- Maintains organizational knowledge
Elements of Standardized Work
Takt Time and Cycle Time
- Takt Time = Daily operating time / Required quantity per day
- Cycle Time = Actual time for process
- Goal is to synchronize takt time and cycle time
Work Sequence
- The order in which the work is done in a given process
- Can be a powerful tool to define safety and ergonomic issues
Work-In-Process
Minimum number of unfinished work pieces required for the operator to complete the process
Documenting Standardized Work
Cycle Time Study Worksheet, which includes:
- Major steps
- Work sequence
- Operation takt time
- Average time for each step, including:
- Machine time
- Value-added work time
- Non-value-added work time
Standardized Work Chart, which includes:
- Visual of layout and parts flow
- Work sequence
- WIP
- Quality and safety check points
- Bottleneck processes
- Walk time and crossover time
Standardized Work Combination Table, which includes:
- Takt time
- Cycle time
- Walk time
- Wait time
- Work while walking time
- “in TPS managed organizations the design of nearly all work activities, connections among people, and pathways of connected activities over which products, services, and information take form are specified-in-their-design, tested-with-their-every-use, and improved close in time, place, and person to the occurrence of every problem.”
Steven Spear “Problem Solving” Q&A regarding the Toyota Production System
In addition thanks to:
MIT esd Jessica Dolak & Ben Lathrop, with considerable input from “Competing” friend Pascal Dennis
Caribbean Business Services Limited
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