Standard work

Concept

The documented best-known way to do a task, with its sequence, time and quantities. It gives a stable basis for training and quality, and is the starting point for the next improvement.

Description

Standard work is the documented best-known way to do a task. It states the sequence of steps, the time each step should take and the amount of material and information needed. It is based on what the people doing the work have found works best, and it is written down so that everyone can follow and train the same way.

The standard is not meant to freeze a process. It is the baseline for the next improvement. When someone finds a better way, the standard is changed and everyone uses the new version. Standard work gives stable quality and times, makes problems easy to see because they appear as deviations, and supports new colleagues. In lean management, leaders also have their own standard work, such as regular walks and board reviews.

Related topics in brief

• iFAKT GmbH · Related to · Organization
  Stuttgart-based consulting company and software specialist for Industry 4.0, founded in 2001, that helps manufacturers plan and optimize production and logistics processes; developer of the Polaris software.
• Polaris BSM · Related to · Product
  Module of iFAKT Polaris for business swimlane modelling that documents business processes together with the responsibilities of the roles involved.
• Lean management · Related to · Concept
  A management approach derived from the Toyota Production System that creates more value for customers with fewer resources by removing waste, improving flow and involving the people who do the work in continuous improvement.
• Kaizen · Related to · Concept
  A lean practice of small, practical improvements made close to the work, often run as short kaizen events or workshops by the people who run the process.
• Lean manager · Related to · Job / role
  Introduces and coaches lean methods in an organisation, such as value stream mapping, 5S and standard work, and helps teams to improve their processes.
• Scrap rate · Related to · Concept
  The share of produced units that cannot be sold or reworked and are discarded. It is a basic quality measure and also part of the quality factor in OEE.
• Poka-yoke · Related to · Concept
  A Japanese lean term for designing a process or tool so that mistakes are impossible or are caught at once, for example a part that only fits one way round.
• Line balancing · Related to · Concept
  Distributing the work of an assembly line over its stations so that each takes about the same time, close to the takt time, and no station is a bottleneck while others wait.

Glossary

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Experts on related topics

• Mirko Peters · via iFAKT GmbH

Maintained by Mirko Peters (Microsoft MVP) · Last updated: 2026-11-11