…standard work

Sounds a bit boring, but it is an absoultely critical foundation to carefully develop, implement and insure standard work processes are followed a “continuous improvement” manufacturing setting. This seems so basic as to hardly deserve much press, but in reality it is extremely difficult to achieve. Workers tend to ‘do their own thing’ and create personalized work processes with a wide range of effectiveness and real outcomes.

 Often just the act of establishing and following standard work processes can have dramatic results. But it takes discipline to achieve this across a workforce, and even more discipline to monitor and insure standard processes are being followed over time.