How Standardized Work

Integrates People with Process

John Shook explains why he thinks “the Toyota Way is a socio-technical system on steroids” that brings
together people (social) and processes (technical) to bear on purpose — and how standardized work
demonstrates this integration.

By John Shook
Lean Enterprise Institute How Standardized Work Integrates People with Process

Table of Contents
How Standardized Work Integrates People with Process 3

5 Fundamental Misunderstandings about Standardized Work 4

Understanding Standardized Work 4
1. D
 on’t confuse standardized work with work standards 5
Takt Time and Cycle Time 6
2. D
 on’t confuse standardization with commonization 7
Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA) 7
3. D
 on’t impose standardized work without providing a structured improvement
process — clearly defined, unambiguous means of improving it (kaizen). 8
Kaizen 8
4. Practice, Practice, Practice 9
5. Don’t Forget the Critical Role of the Leader/Manager 10
Training Within Industry (TWI) 10
More on Leaders 12
Standardizing Non-Standard Work 12
Standardized Work is the Basis for Kaizen 13
Team Leader 13
Standardized Work at-a-Glance 14
Purpose, Process, People 14
The Standardized Work Equation 14

Illustrating the Socio-Technical Components of Standardized Work 15

Templates
Standardardized Work Process Study Sheet 16
Standardized Work Process Capacity Sheet 17
Standardized Work Combination Table 18
Standardardized Work Chart 19
Standardized Work Job Instruction Sheet 20

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Lean Enterprise Institute How Standardized Work Integrates People with Process

How Standardized Work

Integrates People with Process
This quote summarizes a critical point in
understanding the “why” of the lean practice
“I like to say that the Toyota of standardized work. This eBook, based on a
Way is a socio-technical system three-part series in the Lean Post, expands on
this thinking, drilling down into the meaning of
on steroids. A test for all our
standardized work and how it embodies both the
lean systems is the question of technical and social dimensions of work at the

how well we integrate people micro-level at all times.

with process (the social with In part one, Shook explains the fundamentals

of standardized work by sharing and expanding
the technical). Nowhere does on the five elements that organizations most
that come together more than often misunderstand when implementing
standardized work.
in the form of standardized
1. Don’t confuse standardized work
work and kaizen.” with work standards.
— John Shook 2. Don’t confuse standardization
with commonization.
3. Don’t impose standardized work without
providing a structured improvement process
— a clearly defined, unambiguous means
of improving it (kaizen).
4. Practice, practice, practice.
5. Don’t forget the critical role
of the leader/manager.

In part two, he shares an at-a-glance outline of

standardized work, showing how it serves — or
should serve your lean thinking and practice, as
viewed through the lens of LEI’s Three P framework
of Purpose, Process, and People.

In part three, he offers an illustrated example

of how standardized work integrates the social
(people) and the technical (process).

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Lean Enterprise Institute How Standardized Work Integrates People with Process

5 Fundamental Misunderstandings
about Standardized Work
So, how is your standardized work implementation going? dimensions of work. I am talking about how work design
simultaneously embodies both dimensions at the micro-
Responses to that question usually paint an ugly picture.
level. When a worker bolts in the seat belt in the factory
Here’s what I frequently hear:
or an office staffer processes a requisition in the office, the
“We just don’t have the discipline Toyota work will be driven by both the technical and social aspects
has to make standardized work work.” of the job design.

“We put it in place, but the people don’t follow it.” Leaders, be warned: You cannot simply dictate this from
“We have trouble transferring good standardized work from one on high. You are in trouble as soon as you find yourself
worksite to another.” chasing compliance in pursuit of standardized work. You
are chasing your tail, and you’ll never catch it. Rather than
 “We are good at determining the One Best Way,
controlling compliance details, examine why the worker
but people always insist on doing it their way.”
does not follow the standardized work. Ask, “Why can’t
“People just don’t want to follow it. you follow the standardized work?” The answer to that
They like to do their own thing.” question — asked not accusingly but in a spirit of pure
“We put in an audit process, inquiry — will invariably lead you to unexpected places,
but the auditors don’t follow the audit process.” usually quite far from the employee.

I like to say that the Toyota Way is a socio-technical system Understanding Standardized Work
on steroids. A test for all our lean systems is how well we
First, I’ll present five neglected, misunderstood,
integrate people with process (the social with the technical).
or forgotten aspects of standardized work. Then, we’ll
Nowhere does that come together more than in the form of
explore how to think about standardized work for non-
standardized work and kaizen.
standard work, things like service industries, knowledge
workers, creative work, and management. Finally, I’ll
“Leaders, be warned: You provide a kind of “outline” that might help as a guide for
you to think about establishing standardized work in your
cannot simply dictate this from
organization, centered around these five neglected aspects
on high. You are in trouble of standardized work:
as soon as you find yourself
1. Don’t confuse standardized work with work standards.
chasing compliance in pursuit 2. Don’t confuse standardization with commonization.
of standardized work.” 3. Don’t impose standardized work without providing a
structured improvement process — a clearly defined,
By that, I’m saying much more than just pointing out that unambiguous means of improving it (kaizen).
our corporate-level lean initiatives should involve both
4. Practice, practice, practice.
Engineering and Human Resources departments, each
5. Don’t forget the critical role of the leader/manager.
initiating programs to elevate the technical and the social

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Lean Enterprise Institute How Standardized Work Integrates People with Process

1 Don’t confuse standardized work 1. T

 akt time and cycle time (TT vs. C/T): In
with work standards other words, timing — the timing demanded by
your customer and the timing constraints of your
As a practical matter of getting started with standardized
processing capability
work, you must first clarify your work standards. Never
confuse work standards with standardized work. Other 2. Sequence (including layout and man-machine
terminology often used for “work standards” includes combination with process capacity sheets and standard
“quality standards,” “specifications,” “engineering work combination table): In other words, determining
specifications,” or “quality specifications.” the optimum order of producing the product or service
— first do A, then B, then C
Work standards are established during product and
process development. They comprise the work that 3. S
 -WIP: In other words, the amount of in-process
must be accomplished for the product to be produced to “stuff” that is required, no more, no less. That stuff
achieve the product’s or service’s design intent. Changes may be material, parts, or information.
to work standards require an engineering design review,
so manufacturing companies usually have an “Engineering With those standards established, the operator has
Change Request” process in place. (And, by the way, it’s the essential elements to make it possible (with
also a process that is often full of problems and waste, and training, practice, and support) to complete the work
so is a good process to choose for one of your first efforts at successfully. From there, the operator can easily learn
business process kaizen). So, in standardized work, Toyota to identify problems. And from there — with proper
usually calls work standards “Quality Standards.” training and support — can solve problems and make
improvements. Finally, with the standardized work in
Some examples include: place, now the operator can do plan-do-check-act (PDCA)
problem-solving.
• Assembly – apply xx pounds of torque

• Processing – heat treat at xxx degrees for x hours “Before you can begin with
• Healthcare – provide xx medication at xx dose standardized work, you must
• Coffee – xx seconds for an espresso shot clarify your work standards.”
• Journalism – a weekly column of xxx words Toyota’s “Mr. Standardized Work,” Mr. Isao Kato, has
hammered this point for many years: “Before you can
For each of the above, kaizen (improvement) is also begin with standardized work, you must clarify your work
possible, but through a different process than the typically standards.” Too often, this edict has fallen on deaf or not-
incremental improvements of standardized work and ready-to-listen ears. This distinction is fully institutionalized
a suggestion system. Those are work standards. in Toyota production operations, so Toyota operations
people hardly even need to concern themselves with it.
Toyota-style standardized work for the frontline
At your company, you will probably need to do a lot of
production operator is a matter of three basic elements:
detailed work to make the distinctions clear, and you may
(1) timing, (2) sequence, and (3) a standard amount of
need to add “required output” to the list for a fourth basic
stuff that is in process at any given time.
element of work standards.

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Lean Enterprise Institute How Standardized Work Integrates People with Process

Takt Time Cycle Time

The time required to produce a part or complete a
process, as timed by actual measurement.

How often a part or product actually is

completed by a process, as timed by
observation. Also, the time it takes an operator
to go through all work elements before
repeating them.

Time of those work elements that actually

transform the product in a way that the
customer is willing to pay for.

The available production time divided by customer

demand.

For example, if a widget factory operates 480

minutes per day and customers demand 240
widgets per day, takt time is two minutes. Similarly,
if customers want two new products per month,
takt time is two weeks.
The time it takes one piece to move all the
The purpose of takt time is to precisely match way through a process or a value stream,
production with demand. It provides the heartbeat from start to finish. Envision timing a
of a lean production system. marked part as it moves from beginning
to end.

Source: Lean Lexicon, Fifth Edition

Usually: VCT < CT < PLT

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Lean Enterprise Institute How Standardized Work Integrates People with Process

2 Don’t confuse standardization Many companies allow this concern to become an excuse
with commonization for not turning their employees loose with kaizen and not
charging them with making suggestions to improve their
Standardization means a given operation has a standard
own work. Instead, such managers choose to worry about
practice or routine that must be followed and serves as
keeping track of and communicating “best practices.”
the baseline of comparison that the individual doing the
work can use to discern normal from abnormal. With that My bet is that if you do unleash the creativity of your
baseline, a foundation for PDCA is established, making people, you will quickly stop worrying about the fact that
improvement possible. worker A in plant B may perform the operation a little less
efficiently than worker B in plant A.
Commonization, on the other hand, means that a given
operation is done the same way everywhere, which is where
concern with “best practice” and seeking “one best way” Plan, Do, Check, Act
comes in. Toyota refers to it as yokoten. For example, an
assembly job that entails bolting in a seat belt or the process
for communicating a scheduling change in a dentist’s office
— commonization is doing those jobs exactly the same
in every location by every worker. (See my “Teachable
Moment” column.)

Our aim with standardized work is the former: the

establishment of a baseline of operation from which
improvement is possible. There are, of course, many
occasions when commonization is also desirable. But,
the real prize here is getting each person to follow their
standardized work so that every time they do the job,
they do it in the same way. Then with that baseline, they
can observe the process for correctness, easily identify A Common Version of the PDCA Wheel
abnormalities, and readily generate improvements.
An improvement cycle based on the scientific method
of proposing a change in a process, implementing the
“Our aim with standardized change, measuring the results, and taking appropriate
action (see illustration). It also is known as the Deming
work is to establish a baseline Cycle or Deming Wheel after W. Edwards Deming, who

of operation from which introduced the concept in Japan in the 1950s.

improvement is possible.” The PDCA cycle has four stages:

Plan: Determine goals for a process and needed

As a leader, if you can achieve this in all your operations, changes to achieve them.
you should be very happy. Of course, then, you may
Do: Implement the changes.
also wish to pursue commonization as needed. But, my
wager is that once you have each worker engaged in Check: Evaluate the results in terms of performance.
pursuing improvements in his or her own standard work,
Act: Standardize and stabilize the change or begin
you will find your dissatisfaction that different workers
the cycle again, depending on the results.
may do similar jobs a little differently to be much less
Source: Lean Lexicon, Fifth Edition
of a concern.

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Lean Enterprise Institute How Standardized Work Integrates People with Process

3 D
 on’t impose standardized work MANAGEMENT
without providing a structured
improvement process — clearly defined,
unambiguous means of improving
it (kaizen).
You will have no or limited success with standardized work SOCIAL TECHNICAL
unless you also institute a process (whether or not labeled
formally as a “suggestion system”) that gives individuals
doing the standardized work a way to make suggestions
PURPOSE
in how to improve the work — kaizen. The essence of
These two sets of problems bring us back to the thesis I’ve
kaizen comes down to the people who do the work making
been hammering in this space for months: The technical/
suggestions on how to improve it. In other words, you can’t
process and the socio/people sides of the standard work
do standardized work without kaizen, and you can’t do
equation are equally important. Separate them and expect
kaizen without standardized work.
to find trouble.

“You can’t do standardized Kaizen

work without kaizen, and
you can’t do kaizen without
standardized work.” . SYSTEM or FLOW KAIZEN

Standardized work and kaizen are two sides of the same

PROCESS KAIZEN
coin — if you try to have one without the other, you
will encounter one of two types of serious problems.
To explain and explore:
Standardized work without kaizen:
• Employee motivation is killed, Continuous improvement of an entire value stream
human creativity wasted or an individual process to create more value with
less waste.
• Problems repeat, unidentified, unsolved, and unabated
• Employees don’t take the initiative, There are two levels of kaizen (Rother, Mike, and
so improvement stops Shook, John. 2018. Learning to See, 20th Anniversary
Edition. Boston: Lean Enterprise Institute):
• Operations — like economies, like companies, like
cultures, like species — either progress or decline. 1. System or flow kaizen focusing on the overall
value stream. This is kaizen for management.
Kaizen without standardized work:
2. Process kaizen focusing on individual processes.
• Chaotic change, the saw-tooth effect
This is kaizen for work teams and team leaders.
of progress and regress
• Problems repeat, PDCA not followed, Value-stream mapping is an excellent tool for
no root cause analysis identifying an entire value stream and determining
• Progress that is impossible to identify, where flow and process kaizen are appropriate.
improvement stops
• Kaizen, an expression of the scientific method, Source: Lean Lexicon, Fifth Edition
requires a baseline of comparison.
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4 Practice, Practice, Practice • Michael Jordan may have been about the most talented
player of all time. Still, every observer and Michael
For some reason, most of the time, most of us come to see
himself emphasizes that the real distinguishing factor
our day-to-day work as mundane. I guess it’s because we do
was that he practiced harder than anyone else and was
it every day.
the most prepared.
But is that necessary? Craftsmen do their work every day. • Sonny Rollins, after (that would be AFTER) achieving
Artists paint or sculpt every day. Athletes run or swim every stardom as one of the very top saxophone players in
day. Musicians play every day. But we choose to put our the jazz world, took three years off from performing
daily work in a different, lesser category. The focus that to take his playing to a new level. Practicing alone
lean thinking puts on frontline work changes our attitude every day on the Williamsburg Bridge in New York
toward work. It elevates it to a higher level of visibility City, he blended his notes with the passing traffic, so
and importance. For example, in my recent column about no one heard his new sound until he felt it was ready.
Starbucks, I suggested, “…think of the best bartender or As a result, his song and album “The Bridge” were
waiter/waitress you’ve ever seen. Remember marveling instant classics.
at how he or she could handle orders coming from all
There is a saying in Japanese, “Three years on a rock,”
directions without missing a beat.”
meaning that it takes about three years to deeply learn any
Mastery of any skill requires diligent practice. When I subject of substance.
was there, Toyota typically followed a sequence whereby
• When I was at Toyota, there was a saying that one could
workers would first master one job, then move to the
understand the basic concepts of TPS in three hours,
preceding and following jobs, eventually mastering each
learn to “explain” the basic concepts of TPS in three
job of the team. When I was at the Takaoka Plant, the
days, and be proficient in “actualizing the concepts” of
process of learning each of the five or so jobs in a team took
TPS in three years.
several years.
• In Toyota’s engineering and R&D world (entirely
“The focus that lean thinking independent from the rest of the company, with even
its own separate Human Resource Development
puts on frontline work changes Department!), it was commonly stated that “it takes
our attitude toward work. ten years to make an engineer.”

It elevates it to a higher level of • For quick reference, Gladwell’s 10,000 hours would
ordinarily translate into about four years of essentially
visibility and importance.” full-time effort, or longer if pursued at a more
leisurely pace.
In the book Outliers, author Malcolm Gladwell offers
evidence to support the argument that mastery of any
skill requires about 10,000 hours of practice. Musicians,
athletes, artisans, artists, professionals of any discipline Goal: Highest Quality, Lowest Cost, Shortest Lead Time

can all be observed as requiring this 10,000-hours hurdle. Just-in-Time Jidoka

Gladwell provides several examples that reminded me of Continuous Flow Stop and notify
of abnormalities
some of my own favorites: Takt Time
Pull System Separate human
work and
machine work

• Tiger Woods, working with a coach to rebuild his

swing from the ground up following his first Master’s Heijunka Standardized Kaizen
Work
win, possibly the greatest victory ever in golf.
Stability

Toyota
Toyota Production System“House.”
Production System “House”

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Of course, while the specific numbers that Toyota (or

Malcolm Gladwell) puts on these things is interesting, it’s Training Within Industry (TWI)
not exactly the point. The point is: what do you think? A series of training programs developed during
What fundamental thinking regarding skill development WWII enabling U.S. companies to hire and train
informs your organization’s approach, system, and methods huge numbers of new workers to replace those who
of developing your people? had gone to war.

(Toyota’s training, especially for employees who work on or TWI had three main training programs, collectively
around the front lines, is heavily informed by the Training referred to as “J” programs:

Within Industry (TWI) program they learned from the • Job Instruction taught supervisors and
United States following the Second World War. I’ll offer a experienced workers how to teach people how
little more information about TWI in the next section, but to do work with reduced defects, less scrap
if you don’t know about TWI, learn it!) and rework, fewer accidents and less tool and
equipment damage.
5 Don’t Forget the Critical Role of the • Job Methods taught workers to make
Leader/Manager improvements methodically by making the

When I encounter managers struggling with getting best use of people, machines, and materials to
produce greater quantities of quality products in
standardized work firmly established, their questions and
less time.
concerns always center around the worker, around how to
get the worker to follow the standardized work. Usually, • Job Relations taught supervisors how to
however, bigger problems are always found well before handle people problems effectively and fairly
by gathering facts, weighing them, making a
getting to the worker, often beginning with the role of the
decision, taking action, and checking results.
leader, especially the immediate frontline supervisor.
While TWI concepts were forgotten in the U.S.
Frontline supervisors won’t change their behavior from amidst post-war prosperity, struggling Japanese
compliance officer to support for success unless (1) the new companies, including Toyota, adopted them. In
expectations are made clear, (2) the requisite training is fact, TWI’s Job Instruction program is still the
provided, and — last but not least — (3) time allocation is primary training tool used by Toyota’s team leaders
provided. What that adds up to, of course, is standardized worldwide. In recent years, a TWI revival movement
work for the supervisor. has appeared in the U.S. and other countries.
Source: Lean Lexicon, Fifth Edition
My first encounter with standardized work was in January
1984 at Toyota’s Takaoka Plant. I was fortunate to be
provided the experience of six learning-packed weeks
Japan would ordinarily have placed me in other jobs rather
working production jobs in each of the major auto
than getting in and out of a Corolla 500 times a day. But,
processes: stamping, body welding, paint, final assembly
they made an exception in my case since I was to perform
(followed by time in the production control office learning
that particular job for only one week, and the job was among
kanban calculations, observing training, and learning other
those that were being readied for trainees from NUMMI
similar support operations). All my leader/mentors were
who would begin arriving a few months later.
outstanding, patiently (mostly patiently) teaching me each
job. It was in final assembly that I had my most intense In addition to being relatively tall, my legs are long for
experience with standardized work and the role of the my height. So, I found it hard to do the job exactly as
team leader. instructed, which was to enter and exit the vehicle in the
highly specified proven, safe, and effective manner —
I was too tall for the job I was assigned on Toyota’s Corolla
butt first. So, I quickly found my workaround, which was
assembly line. I’m six feet tall, and Toyota’s guidelines in
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Lean Enterprise Institute How Standardized Work Integrates People with Process

John Shook working the assembly line at Toyota’s Takaoka plant.

to enter right-leg-first. Entering right-leg-first was no enough, I found it very hard to perform the work that way.
problem in and of itself, but it meant that my legs would So, I explained that I would really have to go back to doing
get stuck in an awkward position. Nevertheless, it seemed it my way. He said, OK, for now, again clearly unconvinced,
OK to me and was “easier” or preferable to me than doing with concern on his face, and again stood there observing me
it the prescribed way. as I did the job.

(This all falls under the heading of “knack.” When Toyota Then, as I did the job as he continued to observe, I began to
teaches standardized work, in addition to stipulating the feel his observation, and my awkward work slowly attracted
sequence of work elements — as noted previously under a crowd. Before long, the group leader (my team leader’s
the three elements of standard work ­— they teach each boss), some adjacent team leaders, and others I didn’t know
work element using the TWI Job Instruction methodology. were all standing there, watching me work. I didn’t have
However, many elements of the job require a certain time to worry much about it. My takt time and cycle times
“knack” to accomplish satisfactorily. People generally were about 56 seconds, and I usually had no extra time to
assume “knack” to be an individual thing that can’t be chat or divert my attention as I did my job. (On average,
specified. But, the TWI and standard work approach vehicles would pass through that had different option
stress that “knack” can and should be standardized and can content, so some would require well over 56 seconds, some
therefore be improved.) less — the cars were arranged in a sequence, a heijunka
sequence that assured that two high-content vehicles never
My team leader observed what I was doing. He watched for
succeeded each other. There would always be a lower
a while, his brow steadily furrowed, and soon asked me why
content vehicle that required less time in between.)
I couldn’t do it as I had been instructed; that is, according to
the standardized work instructions. I explained that it was Then I noticed that the group of observers huddled,
easier for me to do it my way. He listened, unconvinced, akin to an American football huddle, engaged in intense
and observed me awhile longer. Then, he asked me to discussion. Then, as they broke their huddle, my team
try it the “right way” again, explaining that he was fearful leader tapped me on the shoulder, instructed me to step
that I would hurt myself if I kept up with my improvised aside, and took over my job. He and the others had come
repetitive motion over and over day after day. Perhaps my up with a NEW way to do the job, neither the original
way seemed easier to me at the time, but the position I was standard work way nor my improvised method, which they
maintaining to do the work would surely cause strain, which all agreed would injure me if I kept it up. My team leader
would injure me over time. I complied with his instructions tried out the new procedure, and I joined the others in
and tried again doing the job the standard way, but, sure observing. When the new method seemed to work to his
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Lean Enterprise Institute How Standardized Work Integrates People with Process

and the others’ satisfaction (many heads nodding approval, here, “Do we make that kind of support available to our
but still many furrowed brows as well — this was important workers?” As I visit companies, it is very rare that I see this
stuff), he asked me what I thought. I gave his suggestion a kind of commitment to support the frontline supervisor in
try. Sure enough, the new procedure worked for me and supporting the worker.
to the satisfaction of the impromptu task force. The other
observers had included, I discovered later, a safety specialist. “At some point, every high-
So, safety comes first, and there are aspects of successful level objective comes down to
work design that don’t necessarily appear on the various
a matter of how someone on
standardized work worksheets. Simply, the team leader
(frontline supervisor) must understand the work deeply. the front lines performs their
But most importantly, first, we must observe the work
work ...”
closely to ensure it is safe and effective. Then, we’ll work
on efficiencies, improvements, and other problem-solving. Senior managers need to take the time to understand what
And, beginning to end, we are going to … observe the work standardized work really is and how it is nothing if not a
… very … closely. mechanism to enable them to achieve their corporate
objectives. At some point, every high-level objective
More on Leaders comes down to a matter of how someone on the front lines
performs their work — this is where, as the saying goes,
I’ve been discussing the key role of the frontline supervisor,
the rubber meets the road. Until it’s reflected in someone’s
but there also is a role here for senior leadership. Too often,
standardized work, any corporate objective or initiative is
standardized work is viewed as one of those mundane things
just talk or words on a piece of paper.
and is taken for granted. People assume that standardized
work is working, and if it isn’t, well, people should just do So, we must take responsibility to ensure that the worker
their jobs better. learns, is supported, and has every opportunity to complete
the standardized work every time he or she performs the
“When I worked at the work. Providing that support is the role of the leader: Much
less policing of compliance to enforce standardized work; much
Corolla plant in Toyota City, more support to enable success.
roughly half of the team
leader’s time was made Standardizing Non-Standard Work
Now that we’ve established a baseline understanding
available to help his team
of basic, Toyota-style, standardized work for production
members when they got workers, what about standardized work for non-
standard work?
into trouble.”
This topic is less a matter of a “here’s how Toyota does
But, everyone has a role to play here. Engineering needs to
it” and more of a question to explore together. I think of
design work that is easy to perform in a standard way and
standardized work in three levels (this is similar but different
easy to improve. Middle management needs to support
to the Toyota view):
the frontline supervisor, ensuring they have the time to
support the workers. When I worked at the Corolla plant 1. Level 1 – repetitive production-type work, which is
in Toyota City, roughly half of the team leader’s time the type of work we’ve been exploring in this column
was made available to help his team members when they 2. Level 2 – supporting repetitive work, which we
got into trouble. And he had only five or so workers to considered in the section “Don’t Forget the Role of
support. So, here is where you should be asking yourself the Leader/Manager.”
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3. Level 3 – knowledge-based or service or project-based misapplied, and often disregarded. I think one reason it’s
work, for which success is still a matter of neglected relates to my second motivation.
• Timing Second, I want to emphasize that well-designed
• Sequence and content (including “knack”) standardized work will recognize all the social factors that
• How much “stuff” is needed to go into producing good quality in a repeatable way. Poor
complete the work work design could easily lead to a mistake by the worker
and a subsequent quality failure. The work design must
• Output 
produce the required output, as defined by the technical
No matter the type of work, standardized work is all about requirements, the specifications, and as specified by the
plan-do-check-act (PDCA), establishing conditions in engineering design of the product. That comes first. But,
which PDCA is possible, and then carrying out structured the work design must also include the “human factors,” the
learning and improvement cycles. That is called science, considerations that make it possible to do the job the right
the scientific method. Do we think science isn’t creative? way and even difficult to do it the wrong way.
Hah — perhaps it often isn’t, but it should be!
These two points bring us back to the thesis that the
Standardized Work is the Basis for Kaizen technical/process and the socio/people sides of the
So, what shall we make of this discussion of standardized standard work equation are equally important. You can’t
work? Two motivations drove me to write a bit extensively separate them.
about standardized work. The first is to emphasize that
Look at your standardized work and structured improvement
standardized work is a fundamental building block for
process (kaizen) — that is where you will find your culture!
any lean system but remains woefully misunderstood,

Team Leader
At Toyota, an hourly worker who leads a team of five to eight other workers; called hancho in Japanese.

Team leaders in the Toyota Production System form the first line of support for workers, who—unlike their
counterparts in traditional mass production organizations—are at the heart of improvement activities with
responsibility for problem solving, quality assurance, and basic preventive maintenance.

Team leaders do not take disciplinary action and do not have a fixed production job. Rather, they provide
support by knowing all the jobs performed by their team members so they can relieve workers, fill in for
absentees, or help workers who need assistance or are falling behind. They respond to problems such as
line stops, andon calls, and take a lead role in kaizen activities. They also use standardized work audit sheets
to do daily checks of team members to make sure people are following standardized work and to surface
problems.
Source: Lean Lexicon, Fifth Edition

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Lean Enterprise Institute How Standardized Work Integrates People with Process

Standardized Work at-a-Glance

This outline shows how standardized work serves your lean 5. Establishes a standard process for making changes
thinking and practices, as viewed through the lens of LEI’s (i.e., Suggestion System)
Three P framework of Purpose, Process, and People, which
People
can guide you as you establish standardized work processes.
1. Offers a means of engagement,
Purpose involvement, ownership
2. Views each worker as an entrepreneur
1. Establishes a baseline for improvement.
3. Incorporates Quality Control and Six Sigma
2. Creates a means of realizing attainment of
4. Forms basis for training 
organizational goals at the front lines, where the
• TWI – Training Within Industry
organization’s real work takes place.
• If you don’t know about this program,
3. Serves as a means of engaging the people who do the
learn about it!
work, enabling you to encourage the desired level of
• Job Instruction (JI), Job Methods (JM),
engagement required of the worker. (In other words,
Job Relations (JR)
remember why you want to establish standardized
work.):  (In Toyota’s case, standardized work
• Commitment, not compliance and kaizen training has replaced JM,
• Improvement, not steady-state — but companies would be well-advised to
There is no steady-state! consider starting with JM, then consider
• Creativity, innovation, problem-solving — Toyota-style standardized work later.)
Improvement of the standardized work • Skills Matrix – A plan for every person!
• Initiative, not merely following orders  • Practice, practice, practice 
5. Includes standardized work for non-standard work 
Process • Three levels of standardized work 
1. Builds from work standards. Level 1 – doing repetitive production-type work
2. Ensures safety, quality, performance. Level 2 – supporting repetitive work
3. Enables observation and process study. Level 3 – doing knowledge-based or project-
4. Includes three Basic Standardized Work Elements: based work 
• Takt Time and cycle time (TT vs. C/T): In other • Standardized work kaizen for creative or
words, timing — the timing demanded by your knowledge work 
customer and the timing constraints of your • PDCA (Lean Product and Process
processing capability Development by Al Ward) 
• Sequence (including layout and man-machine 6. Requires coaching, questioning (right questions),
combination with process capacity sheets and not telling, and making people think and
standardized work combination table): In other take responsibility
words, determining the optimum order of 7. Assigns greater and greater responsibility to the operator
producing the product or service — first do A,
The Standardized Work Equation
then B, then C.
And remember: The technical/process and the socio/
• S-WIP: In other words, the amount of in-process
people sides of the standardized work equation
“stuff” that is required, no more, no less. That
are equally important. Well-designed standardized work
stuff may be material, parts, or information. 
represents the technical and human dimensions of the work
in equal measure. 
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Lean Enterprise Institute How Standardized Work Integrates People with Process

Illustrating the Socio-Technical

Components of Standardized Work
The Fixed-Position Stop System illustrates how standardized work includes
technical (process noted in black) and social (people, noted in blue) elements
as noted in the below illustration. Source: Lean Lexicon, Fifth Edition

Team
Leader

The fixed-position stop system was pioneered Technical: Problem-solving happens

1
by Toyota to solve three problems: within cycle time or line will stop until
problem is fixed.
1. The reluctance of production associates to
Social: Operator has the responsibility
pull the signal cord if the entire line would to raise problems.
be stopped immediately.
2. Unnecessary line stoppages to deal with Technical: Cycle time for tasks to be completed
2
is defined and visualized on the shop floor.
minor problems that could be resolved
within one work cycle. Social: Operator can visually see ahead or behind,
and get immediate feedback if successful on job.
3. The need to stop the line at the end of a work
cycle rather than mid-way through the cycle
to avoid the confusion — plus the quality Technical: Andon is the method/tool to
3
and safety problems — inherent in restarting signal for help.
work tasks part of the way through a cycle. Social: If operator is behind they have a
mechanism to pull and signal for help.
The fixed-position stop system is a method
of jidoka, or building in quality, on manual
Technical: Team Leader can clearly see where
processes along moving assembly lines. 4
help is needed with the Andon.
Social: Team Leader is available immediately and
has the problem-solving skills to provide help.

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Standardardized Work Process Study Sheet
The Process Study Sheet is used to define and record the time for work elements in a process.

Page
/

Notes
Date／Time:

Cycle Time
MACHINE

Repeatable
Observer:

10
9

Kaizen Express
8
Observed Times
7
6
Process Study Sheet（作業分析シート）

5
OPERATOR

4
Product:

3
2
1
Process:

Work Element
Process Study

Process
Steps

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Standardized Work Process Capacity Sheet
The Process Capacity Chart is used to calculate the capacity of each machine to confirm true capacity and to identify and
eliminate bottlenecks.

（標準作業1: 工程別能力表）

Remarks
Date

CAPACITY／SHIFT
PROCESSING
Entered by:

Number of parts Line

TIME
TOOL CHANGE
Standardized Work 1: Process Capacity Sheet

Application

CHANGE
COMPLETION

Kaizen Express
BASIC TIME
AUTO
Part name

MANUAL
Part #

Machine #

Total
Approved by:

Step name
Capacity
Process

Sheet

Step

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Enterprise

118
Standardized Work 2: Standardized Work Combination Table
（標準作業2: 標準作業組み合わせ票）
09.3.3 Institute

Required Units Hand

Standardized Work From: Date: per Shift:
Walk
9:57 AM ページ118

Combination Table To: Area: Takt Time: Auto

Time（sec.） Seconds

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Work Elements
Hand Auto Walk 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95１００
1
2
time for each operation in a production sequence.

3
Standardized Work Combination Table

4
5
6

18
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
Waiting 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95１００
Totals
Seconds

Kaizen Express
How Standardized Work Integrates People with Process

The standardized work combination table shows the combination of manual work time, walk time, and machine processing
Lean Enterprise Institute How Standardized Work Integrates People with Process

Standardardized Work
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The standardized work chart shows operator movement and material location in relation to the machine and overall process
layout. It should show takt time, work sequence, and standard WIP .

Operator
Number
Supervisor:
（標準作業3: 標準作業票）

Team Leader:

Cycle Time
Standardized Work 3: Standardized Work Chart
Dept. ／Location:

Takt Time
Prepared By:

Number of WIP

Kaizen Express
Standard Work-in-Process
Symbol
Date:

Precaution
Safety
From:

To:
Standardized
Work Chart

Quality
Check

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Standardized Work Job Instruction Sheet
The job instruction sheet is used to train new operations. It lists the steps of the job, detailing any special knack that may be
required to perform the job safely with utmost quality and efficiency.

Supervisor:

STD WIP
Quality
Safety
Standardized Work 4: Job Instruction Sheet （標準作業4: 標準作業指導書）

STD WIP
Leader:
Dept. ／Location: Team

Cycle Time
Prepared By:

Takt Time

Time
Date:

Total

Kaizen Express
Note
Required
Quantity:

Quality Check
Tool
Sampling
Part Name
Part #
Job Instruction

Step
Sheet

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