(Lean Enterprise Institute: Cambridge, MA) -- Standardized work is one of the most powerful but least used lean tools. By documenting the current best practice, standardized work forms the baseline for kaizen or continuous improvement. As the standard is improved, the new standard becomes the baseline for further improvements. Join the Lean Enterprise Institute on April 6 at the Hyatt Regency, in San Antonio, Texas, for "The Foundation for Kaizen” and create a sound baseline for further improvements.

Basically, standardized work consists of three elements:

1. Takt time, which is the rate at which products must be made in a process to meet customer demand
2. The precise work sequence in which an operator performs tasks within takt time 
3. The standard inventory, including units in machines, required to keep the process operating smoothly

Establishing standardized work relies on collecting and recording data on a few forms. These forms are used by engineers and front-line supervisors to design the process and by operators to make improvements in their own jobs. In this workshop you’ll learn how to use these forms and why it will be difficult to make your lean implementations “stick” without standardized work.

Benefits

The benefits of standardized work include documentation of the current process for all shifts, reductions in variability, easier training of new operators, reductions in injuries and strain, and a baseline for improvement activities.

Standardizing the work adds discipline to the culture, an element that is frequently neglected but essential for lean to take root. Standardized work is also a learning tool that supports audits, promotes problem solving, and involves team members in developing poka-yokes.

Course outline

This workshop is based on a “hear-see-do format, so you’ll learn the key concepts through instruction, discussion, simulation, and small-group exercise.
You’ll learn:

• Standardized work basic concepts and examples from various industries
• The difference between work standardization and standardized work
• The three elements of standardized work: takt time, work sequence, standard in-process inventory
• The three documents for establishing standardized work: production capacity sheet, combination table, work chart
• The three requirements for standardized work: work, equipment and line, quality
• Standardization techniques: poka-yoke, visual management, SWIS, checking and auditing
• How to choose the standardization techniques suitable for your environment so that you can effectively ensure your process is consistent and your results are predictable
• The Toyota approach to kaizen
• How to observe work before you standardize it 

Learning objectives

At the end of this workshop, you will be able to:

• Understand the fundamentals of standardization and its importance in the foundation of a lean system
• Prepare standardized work forms
• Introduce standardization techniques to improveb training, waste elimination, sustainability of improvement, and predictability of results 

Who should attend

Those who would benefit from this workshop include:

• Operators—to understand the importance of following standardized work rigorously and how they can make improvements through kaizen.
• Line supervisors—to learn how to observe people’s cycle times, movements, and process steps
• Engineers and lean leaders—to understand how to introduce, support, and teach standardization
• Managers—to understand how to audit for adherence
• Organizations at any stage in a lean transformation that are struggling with failures to sustain the results from past kaizen events
• Problems training new employees
• Inability to work within takt time or consistent cycle times