Problem Solving & Quality · Sustain

Standard Work

Write the current best way to do the task — sequence, key points, reasons, timing — so the fix becomes the new normal and the next improvement has a baseline.

Time1 h 30
FormatSmall group
StageSustain

Standard Work: what it is and why it works

Standard work documents the current best way to perform a task: the sequence of major steps, the key points that make the difference for quality, safety and ease, the reason behind each key point, and, where cycle time matters, the timing of each step. It is written with the operators who do the task well, kept to a page with photos or sketches, and posted where the work happens. It is taught using a structured method: show the task, have the learner do it, correct, and check again until the task is done right consistently.

Without a standard, the result of a process depends on who is on shift, and every improvement fades as people drift back to old habits. Standard work turns a successful fix into the new normal and provides the baseline for the next improvement: if you do not know how the work is done today, you cannot tell whether a change helped. It is not meant to be fixed forever; when someone finds a better method, the standard is updated and people are retrained. It builds on 5S, which makes the workplace stable enough to standardize; it often incorporates poka-yoke devices; and it is the Act step of a PDCA cycle.

What you need

The task to standardize and the problem or variation it causes today
Operators who perform the task well and are willing to share their method
Observation and timing of the current practice
Relevant safety requirements, specifications and equipment manuals

What you get

A one-page standard with major steps, key points and reasons
Photos or sketches posted at the workplace
Operators trained and checked on the standard
A baseline for measuring and improving the task

When to use it

When the correction depends on who is on shift.

How to do it, step by step

Observe the best current practice with the operators who perform it well, and time the steps.
Write the sequence of major steps, the key points for quality, safety and ease, and the reason for each key point.
Add photos or sketches at the workstation, one page, readable at arm’s length.
Train each operator with the standard: show, let them do it, correct, check again.
Treat the standard as the baseline for the next improvement: when someone finds a better way, update it and retrain.

Worked example: Flange bolting after a refinery turnaround

Illustrative scenario — figures are realistic but not from a real company.

A refinery found that flange leaks after turnarounds varied sharply by contractor crew: some crews had almost no leaks at startup, others had several on the same types of joints. Each leak required a hot bolting repair or a unit slowdown. Crews followed a general procedure, but each had its own way of tightening.

The mechanical integrity engineer observed the crews with the best records and timed their work on typical 6-inch and 12-inch joints. The key difference was the tightening sequence and number of passes, plus how carefully flange faces and gaskets were inspected.
The standard listed the major steps: inspect faces, check the gasket and bolts, lubricate, fit, tighten in a star pattern in multiple passes and final check pass. Each step had key points and reasons, for example "star pattern in passes, because tightening one side first cocks the flange and crushes the gasket unevenly".
The standard fit on one laminated page with photos and a torque table for common sizes, attached to each work package.
Supervisors trained each crew using the show, do, correct and check method on a practice flange before the next turnaround, and signed off each fitter.

Result. At the next turnaround, startup flange leaks fell from 23 to 4, and all four were traced to damaged flange faces rather than bolting practice. Face inspection was then strengthened in the standard. The engineer noted that the standard gained acceptance because it was built from the best crews' practice rather than written in an office.

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Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

Writing the standard in an office from the ideal procedure, without watching the work.Observe and time the best current practice with the people who do it, then write it down.
Listing every detail in long text, so nobody reads it.Keep it to one page of major steps, key points and reasons, with photos.
Leaving out the reasons for key points.Write why each key point matters; people follow rules they understand and adapt them sensibly when conditions change.
Treating the standard as permanent and punishing deviations.Investigate why a standard is not followed, and update it when someone finds a better way.

Frequently asked questions

What are the three elements of standard work?

In the Toyota Production System, standardized work has three elements: takt time, the rate at which products must be completed to meet demand; the work sequence, the order in which an operator performs tasks; and standard in-process stock, the minimum inventory needed to keep the process flowing. For non-repetitive tasks such as maintenance, the sequence, key points and reasons are the central elements.

What is the difference between standard work and a work instruction?

A work instruction describes how to perform a task, often in detail, and may be written by engineering. Standard work captures the best current method as practiced by skilled operators, including key points and their reasons, and is explicitly the baseline for improvement. In practice, good work instructions look like standard work: short, visual, built with operators and regularly updated.

What is TWI Job Instruction?

Job Instruction is one of the Training Within Industry programs developed in the United States in the 1940s. It teaches supervisors to break a job into important steps, key points and reasons, then train people in four steps: prepare the worker, present the operation, try out performance and follow up. It remains a practical way to write and teach standard work.

Origin

Standardized work — Toyota Production System (Taiichi Ohno); key points and reasons from Training Within Industry Job Instruction, USA, 1940s.

Used in these playbooks

One-page improvement cycle 3 weeks

Three weeks for a local problem owned by a team leader: see it on site, tell it on one A3, choose the countermeasure openly, pilot it and make it the new standard.

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Verify the result, lock it into standards and spread the lesson so it never comes back.