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New Horizons in
Standardized Work
Techniques for Manufacturing and
Business Process Improvement
© 2011 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

New Horizons in
Standardized Work
Techniques for Manufacturing and
Business Process Improvement
Timothy D. Martin & Jeffrey T. Bell

Productivity Press
Taylor & Francis Group
270 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016
Productivity Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business
No claim to original U.S. Government works
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Library of Congress Cataloging‑in‑Publication Data
Martin, Timothy D.
New horizons in standardized work : techniques for manufacturing and business process
Improvement / Timothy D. Martin and Jeffrey T. Bell.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-4398-4080-1
1. Workflow. 2. Standardization. 3. Production standards. I. Bell, Jeffrey T. II. Title.
HD62.17.M37 2011
658.5’3--dc22 2010028757
Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at

http://www.taylorandfrancis.com
and the Productivity Press Web site at
http://www.productivitypress.com

Contents
Foreword.......................................................................................... vii
Preface............................................................................................... ix
Acknowledgments........................................................................... xiii
1 What Is Standardized Work?........................................................1
A Foundation Based on Stability.................................................................3
The Best Method at the Moment.................................................................5
A Basis for Improvement.............................................................................6
How Do We Get Standardized Work?.........................................................7
The Required Components for Standardized Work....................................8
Types of Standardized Work.....................................................................11
2 Observation................................................................................15
Making Observations and Formulating New Questions..........................19
How to Break Down Element Observations for Standardized Work......20
Establishing Work-Element Standards and Graphical Notations..............23
Methods for Work-Element Data...............................................................25
Evaluation of the Data...............................................................................27
The Importance of Observing the True Situation....................................29
Learning to See Below the Surface...........................................................30
3 Cyclic Standardized Work...........................................................33
Work-Component Types............................................................................34
The Effects of Variation.............................................................................36
How to Document Standardized Work: The Standardized Work Chart....37
Tools for Standardized Work: The Work-Combination Table...................46
The Importance of Geographic Relationship............................................51
Making the Problems Visible.....................................................................52

vi ◾ Contents
4 Long-Cycle Standardized Work...................................................55

Applying Standardized Work Principles to Long-Cycle Applications.......56
The Concept of Parallel Work Steps.........................................................58
Other Cyclic Standardized Work Issues....................................................59
The Concept of Takt..................................................................................60
Looking for Other Ways to Express the Concept of Takt........................61
5 Job Design for the Worker: Understanding the Levels of
Interfacing..................................................................................65
Decoupling—When Is Protection from Interruption Needed?.................66
Protection Expressed by Units of Time..................................................... 67
Effects of Coupled Jobs.............................................................................70
Using the Interface Levels for Design of Good Standardized Work........72
Striking a Balance: Man and Machine......................................................78
Some New Rules and Some New Tools....................................................89
6 Noncyclic Standardized Work.....................................................95
Parallel Work Steps or Tasks on Demand.................................................96
Workers on Patrol......................................................................................97
Merging Takt Time and the Work Period.................................................99
Assisting the Worker: Standardized Work Drives Equipment Needs..... 101
Assisting the Worker: Tools for Complex or Infrequent Tasks...............103
Applying Standardized Work to Transactional Processes....................... 107
In Summary.............................................................................................. 111
Appendix A: Philosophy for Auditing Standardized Work............. 115
Cyclic Standardized Work........................................................................ 116
Noncyclic and Long-Cycle Standardized Work....................................... 118
Appendix B: Documenting Common Issues and Problems
with a WCT......................................................................................121
Summary of the Guidelines.....................................................................127
Examples of Work-Combination Table Issues.........................................128
Appendix C: Taking Measurements with a Stopwatch....................139
Appendix D: Workplace Mock-Ups and Simulation Philosophy...... 145
Appendix E: A Little More on the Kaizen Attitude......................... 151
References....................................................................................... 157
Index............................................................................................... 159

Foreword
The statement, “Without Standards, there can be no improvements,” is one

that I became well aware of during my tenure at Toyota. During my time
as a manager in the assembly plant at the Toyota Motor Manufacturing
Kentucky facility, I became very reliant on standard work to not only effec-
tively produce cars, but to continually improve the process that we used to
produce those cars.
A common misconception about standardized work is that it is only for
the person doing the standardized work. The person that does the standard-
ized work every day knows standardized work. Standardized work is for
management. Standardized work allows the management of an organization
to verify that the process is being done correctly and provides opportuni-
ties for improving the process. Standardized work is vital to the continuous
improvement efforts in a Lean Enterprise System.
In this book, Tim and Jeff walk you through a methodology that they
have developed to effectively create and develop standardized work. You
will find as you read this book that to effectively create standardized work,
you will have to go to the floor and “sweat the details” of your process. If
(and I do mean If) you are dedicated to creating good standardized work,
you will certainly gain detailed knowledge of your processes, which is a
knowledge that most of us have not had in the past.
Process knowledge in many organizations is held by a select number of
people who are involved in the process, and each of them likely has a little
different bit of knowledge. In other words, valuable process knowledge is
only provided on a “need to know” basis. When process knowledge is held
in this manner, improving the process and removing waste is very difficult,
because knowledge is hard to gain and there is no true standard to improve.
By going through the process of creating standardized work that Tim
and Jeff have outlined in this book, you can go from having process knowl-
edge that is only held by the two or three people, to being able to post the
vii

viii ◾ Foreword
correct standard work for doing the work every day. When a facility has this
type of standard work, they are equipped with a necessary variable to con-
tinually improve their Lean Enterprise System.
There can be no doubt that standardized work is a base for a solid Lean
Enterprise System. To continually improve your operating systems, there has
to be a base to begin, and standardized work is that base.
I sincerely wish you the best on your Lean journey.
Best wishes,
Rick Harris
President, Harris Lean Systems

Preface
Why write a book just on standardized work? My main reason for writing
this book is to share what my coauthor and I have learned and observed
in an effort to help others. You may not agree with the approach taken, but
please bear with us, as this is how we have come to understand standard-
ized work and thus must convey the points we feel are significant in a way
that we feel most comfortable with. There are also several appendices where
we have tried to provide some additional information in order to offer more
support for certain issues that will arise as you expand your thinking about
standardized work. We hope that you find them helpful as well.
One of the main points that we hope to make with this work is that it is
imperative that you have a solid understanding of standardized work from a
cyclic perspective before you try to adapt it to other applications. The reason
for this is that understanding the fundamentals, which are derived from the
application of standardized work to simple cyclic work situations, is the key
to adapting them to other, sometimes very different, situations. Once this
firm understanding is established, it can be used as the anchor point or foun-
dational basis for applying standardized work to other work situations that
may never have seemed possible before. Examples include health care, con-
struction, business processes, and even food services. We have used a lot of
examples that are based on manufacturing, but it is only because this appli-
cation is so prevalent and is the basis of the origin of standardized work as
we know it today. In other words, if you have a solid understanding of stan-
dardized work principles and the thinking behind their development, you
can successfully extend and adapt them to totally different work situations
and take standardized work into other areas: It is not just for manufacturing!
My journey to try and understand standardized work began many years
ago. The company I was working for at the time was in the process of try-
ing to implement “Lean” manufacturing. It was quite a large corporation, and
throughout the company they utilized outside consultants to try and teach us
ix

x ◾ Preface
about this philosophy and how to adapt it to our businesses. I was working
in manufacturing engineering and had been struggling with how we could
be more competitive with all the foreign companies causing great pressure for
us to compete or get out of the market. I was very interested in Dr. Goldratt’s
Theory of Constraints (TOC) and spent a considerable amount of time and
effort, both at work and at home, learning and reading all that I could find on
the subject and applying the principles to our manufacturing operations.
We were having good results (at least they were very promising), and we
were expanding our implementation in the manufacturing area where I was
assigned. About this time was when I was first exposed to the concepts of
Lean. Because I was somewhat of a proactive maverick (many of my col-
leagues over the years might use much more colorful descriptions), I was
transferred to a department where manufacturing engineering was going to
adapt Lean into the process where we designed production systems for new
projects around the world. The idea was to try and develop a Lean system
before the equipment was ever purchased so that we could place Lean sys-
tems into production from the start. At this point, I should mention that the
company was linked to the automotive industry, and the products tended to
be complex, high volume, and very unique, making this activity very impor-
tant, since the capital equipment costs for our industry were substantial.
I was eventually assigned the responsibility to help our teams integrate
Lean into the production equipment. After several years trying to cham-
pion this idea with limited success, I was fortunate enough to gain learning
opportunities from some very knowledgeable sources. One of my earliest
and best teachers was Rick Harris. Rick had a very unique background: Not
only had he worked for Toyota for many years, he had actually worked in
our industry prior to working for Toyota and therefore could see both sides
of the problems we were facing. I learned a great deal while working with
Rick and attribute my passion for the subject to his great coaching style and
infinite patience. Rick showed me that although we were not Toyota, and
never would be, we could still learn why they did the things the way they
did in the Toyota Production System (TPS) and adapt them to our business.
This is in contrast to the approach that many companies seemed to be tak-
ing at the time, which was: Imitate Toyota and hope to receive the same
results. With Rick’s help, I was able to begin looking at things from a vastly
different perspective, and this is when my journey truly began. I worked
with and learned from Rick for several years.
As time passed, and I learned more through various projects, I eventu-
ally had the opportunity to work on a product for Toyota. This was probably

Preface ◾ xi
the defining point in my journey to learn Lean. At this point I had origi-
nally intended to express my appreciation to several of my friends at Toyota
because I had learned so much from them. However, upon reflection, I
decided it was best just to express my appreciation to Toyota for their will-
ingness to share freely with the world what they have learned and devel-
oped over the years in their relentless pursuit to eliminate waste.
Finally, back to why we are writing this book. We cannot “tell” you how
to learn about standardized work. We can only try to share with you what
we have learned and hope that as you try to apply the philosophy and prin-
ciples on the shop floor or in the office or other place of business (wherever
the real work happens), you will learn by doing. However, as we have
adapted TPS thinking to other business processes, it has opened new doors
as to how to apply the concepts that TPS is based upon. We do not claim to
have all the answers, and we continue to learn with every opportunity. But
we have heard so many people say that these concepts cannot work in their
industry or with their processes—especially for standardized work, one of
the foundations of the TPS house—that we just had to try to find a way to
share what we have learned. Hopefully you will find this book helpful in
your journey.
Timothy D. Martin
I have been very fortunate as well with the people that I have met in my
journey learning about and implementing standardized work. I have had
a number of opportunities to work with Rick Harris, both as an industrial
engineer and as an industrial engineering supervisor. Rick was consulting
with our company in various forms, both in current production and what we
call “pre-production.” Having trained and worked in industry as a “classical”
industrial engineer for 25+ years, I began to really “see” the problems with
Rick’s help. In the early stages, we looked at the high level through value-
stream mapping. This gave me a better insight into understanding human,
machine, and material interactions from a “why” perspective. He further
enhanced my ability to “see” at the detailed level or standardized work level
of human, machine, and material. Rick had really helped us with the effec-
tive use of workplace mock-ups for both the production and pre-production
settings to help troubleshoot problems and train individuals about standard-
ized work. Many thanks to Rick for his patience and insight into tackling
large company structures.

xii ◾ Preface
I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my coauthor, Tim

Martin. He has been a great colleague, teacher, and friend in many different
ways. He helped me bring out the preconceived notions and bias that I had
about standardized work. Without Tim, this book would not have even been
a dream.
Tim and I have spent several hundred hours over the years between
ourselves and our colleagues in the discussion, agreement, and debate about
standardized work. I, like Tim, truly hope that this book will help you to
learn how to see the real issues in the workplace and how standardized
work can help you be successful in your endeavors. Oh, and hopefully you
will have some fun at the same time.
Jeffrey T. Bell

Acknowledgments
We would also like to say a very special thank you to several friends and
family members whose support, suggestions, and feedback were essential
in the completion of this project. Without them this book would never have
been a reality.
Carla Martin Professor Henry Kraebber

Amber Jordan Rick Harris
Mike Reprogle Chris Harris
Harold Redlin Professor James Barany
Trevor Harris Jimmy Martin
George Bell Margene Martin
Marjorie Bell Kimberly Martin
Brian Summerton
xiii

Chapter 1
What Is Standardized Work?
Before jumping into standardized work, it is probably a good idea to men-

tion the Toyota Production System (TPS) and Lean manufacturing (some-
times just referred to as Lean). These topics can fill entire volumes, so there
is no way we can hope to successfully cover all the principles and the phi-
losophies behind them in this book. Therefore, the assumption is made that
you are already learning about them and have at least a basic understanding
of the concepts. If you have not started learning about Lean, we highly rec-
ommend that you do this before venturing further into this book.
The first thing that we would like to discuss is that standardized work
is not just a format for documentation of work. It is a basic TPS philosophy
that is intertwined with that of kaizen, which creates a continuous improve-
ment environment by providing a constant “pull” to make things better,
though in very small increments. With this relationship, it becomes quite
obvious that standardized work is not permanent, even if the current pro-
cess seems optimum. There must be a constant drive for improvement, but
to minimize risks, the improvements should be in very small steps so that
they can be quickly evaluated so that the gains can be established as the
next norm or the changes abandoned with the least disruption. In this book,
we will refer to this as kaizen rather than continuous improvement because
we believe that there is much more to the concept than periodic improve-
ments (large or small). The concept is that the normal condition is not a per-
manent situation but only a stable environment during the constant design,
evaluation, and implementation of small increments of positive change for
the situation that moves it to better support the company’s goals. We came
to understand this as the kaizen attitude—the attitude of constantly looking
for ways to improve. It works best in a culture where everyone is working
1

2 ◾ New Horizons in Standardized Work
towards a common goal by moving the company in the same basic direc-
tion. When this occurs, it can help to establish an environment that assists
everyone in the company in making decisions that help support the overall
company direction. In this context, we will consider the kaizen attitude to
be a basic premise that helps complete the philosophy of standardized work
and continue on to developing the definition.
Standardized work can be defined as the currently best-known method
for accomplishing the work. This assumes that it is the safest and most
efficient method to do the work that meets the required level of quality. It is
very important to understand that these assumptions are critical to learning
about standardized work. Although they may seem to be self-explanatory,
they also have a great effect upon the way that we think about and develop
standardized work. For example, consider the assumption about the
required level of quality. It is always sound thinking to strive for the high-
est quality products, but there is a point where this crosses the customer’s
perceived value of the product when it drives the cost too high to be profit-
able at the market price and we try to raise the selling price to offset this.
Examples of this might include greater accuracy or functionality than is
required by the customer, much better surface finish, or more expensive
materials than are needed to meet the minimum customer requirements.
There are always trade-offs in the decisions that we make. If the cost to
achieve a level of quality is too high, there can be no profit, since the market
determines the selling price (market price – cost = profit). However, if the cus-
tomer perceives our quality to be lower than that of our competitors, this can
also negatively impact our business. Therefore the level of quality needs to be
as high as we can get it and still remain competitive. We must constantly strive
to increase our quality or we risk losing market share to our competitors.
Over the years we have heard many versions of an old joke about two
hikers and a bear. Basically, a pair of hikers is walking along a trail in the
woods when they see a large grizzly bear running toward them several hun-
dred yards ahead. The first hiker starts running in the opposite direction,
then notices that his companion is not running along with him. He turns to
look back and sees that the second hiker has stripped his hiking boots off
and is quickly donning a pair of running shoes from his backpack, which
is now on the ground. He yells to his companion, “You don’t think you can
outrun a grizzly bear do you?” His companion replies, “I don’t have to out-
run the bear, I only have to outrun you!”
There is a bit of common sense to the second hiker’s philosophy. If we
compare this story with the concept of perceived quality, we see that we do

What Is Standardized Work? ◾ 3
not have to have the highest quality levels physically achievable. We only
need to be higher than our competitors. The point to realize is that quality
is not just a number that can be measured but rather a perception. This per-
ception also extends to the concept of customer value. TPS and Lean manu-
facturing teach us about the various forms of waste. One of these forms of
waste is sometimes referred to as the waste of processing. If the customers
do not perceive the value in the extra processing, then how can we expect
them to pay for it? This is why we cannot normally pass on our costs to our
customers. If we recall the concept of value, then one way of describing
value is: what the customer is willing to pay for. It follows then that anything
that is left is what we pay for as a supplier of the good or service and really
just represents waste that adds unnecessary cost to the product or service,
which reduces our profit opportunity.
A Foundation Based on Stability

The “Toyota House” has been shown in many different forms over the years.
It is normally expressed as a house, with a foundation and two pillars sup-
porting a roof or ultimate goal. The main point that we want to focus on
is that the foundation is based on stability (Dennis 2002, 18). Before the
house can stand for the long run, the foundation must be firm and stable.
This concept of creating a stable foundation or base is a central theme for
the concepts of standardization and continuous improvement.
Now we return to the original definition: the currently best known
method for accomplishing the work. The word current implies that this is
how the situation is now but may change in the future. This is quite true,
since one of the main principles of TPS is kaizen, or the attitude of con-
stantly looking for waste and eliminating it. But we have learned not to wait
for large (home runs) improvements or even multiple simultaneous improve-
ments, but rather to look for small ways to improve constantly, day-in and
day-out (base hits). It is important to note that often there are many seem-
ingly conflicting principles in TPS. One that appears at this point is the fact
that we standardize as a way of stabilizing and thus reducing unevenness or
variation. However, the concept of kaizen teaches us that we must constantly
strive to improve, which means change, and we are no longer stable, since
the change will result in variation. The main issue in such situations is to
look at things from a different perspective. The end result is not to stabilize
(and achieve the best situation—thus declaring victory and marching on to

Figure 1.1 Production output under significantly different conditions.
our next problem) but to constantly look for more small improvements. We
cannot wait until we are in a crisis before starting to seek improvements.
We should make the kaizen attitude a part of our overall culture. But, if we
first look to stabilize the situation, we can see that the more stable the situa-
tion, the smaller the incremental changes that can be implemented and veri-
fied to see whether they improve the situation or not. Consider Figure 1.1.
Suppose that the two lines, A and B, on the graph represent the output
of a production department under two significantly different operating con-
ditions. One could easily see that the average of A is much higher than B.
However, in the case of A, it is much more difficult, if not impossible, to
tell if a certain action actually improves the output unless the change was
extreme. The reason for this is obvious: variation from cycle to cycle (in this
case day-to-day). With so much variation, only time could tell if a small
change made the situation better or worse. What we are trying to say is that
there is obvious variation under the conditions associated with line A, and
only large changes might get recognized as having an impact in the short
term without looking at the average over a long period of time. This could
easily result in considerable wasted effort and resources.
However, in the case of B, it is much easier to see if a small change has
an impact on the output, since it is stable. Consider the amount of resources
and attention that are required to manage a system with output like A.
Effort and resources are required for monitoring and responding to many
problems and conditions. The output of B, although lower than the average
of A, is then much more receptive to applying the concept of kaizen (small,
constant, incremental improvements). There is a temptation to try to go into
a situation like A and just radically change things. Unfortunately, this is
sometimes what it takes to get things stable in some severe cases. But it is
often very expensive and time consuming—and what if the results are not
better, or even worse? It is not a very pleasant feeling to have to explain to

management that all the resources and money spent to make an improve-
ment did not pan out! So, the old adage of changing for the sake of change
without understanding the impact of the change holds true.
One of the many things we like about the TPS approach is that if changes
are kept small, it is a simple matter to determine what to expect as far as
results. Since the changes are much simpler, often you can actually try them
out on a temporary basis before a permanent change by simulating the
change right at the place where the work happens. If the results are not as
expected, you have not expended a lot of money and resources. Even if the
change cannot be simulated without actually implementing it, usually it can
be undone quickly when it is kept small. However, do not forget that, in the
previous example, the system output of B is still much less than the output
of A. The kaizen attitude, if present, will provide the drive for improvement.
If the changes are simple but constant, we can still make rapid improve-
ments even when doing so in small incremental steps.
The Best Method at the Moment

Returning again to the definition, the currently best known method for
accomplishing the work, we next consider the best known method. It should
go without saying that the best known method implies that there may be a
better method out there somewhere. However, we feel that it is important
to mention it because it is one of the underlying principles that provide the
momentum behind the kaizen attitude. We have observed many applica-
tions where the system was considered by the team to be “Lean,” and after
implementation there was assumed to be nothing more to be done. After all,
there are only so many resources to go around, and the “Lean” experts can
only be in so many places at one time, right? If consensus is that nothing
more needs to be done at the moment, the kaizen attitude is not present,
and the opportunity to continue to improve is being lost. This is probably
one of the most frustrating situations that we have observed. It often hap-
pens when “Lean” activities are looked at as tools or events rather than as
a culture.
Take for example the so-called kaizen blitz approach. There is nothing
wrong with such an approach or event. Quite to the contrary, these can be
defining events when trying to make a major culture change in an organi-
zation. And they can be rapid and extremely successful. But it is essential

to get everyone on board and engaged in learning and improving. Granted,

to be competitive, we cannot afford unlimited resources, so it is important to
make the most out of the resources available. The most important resource
that is often overlooked is the people who actually do the work. While
observing Toyota, we noticed that the associate or team member plays a
significant role in the development and improvement of standardized work.
After all, who better understands the issues involved than the people who
are doing it day after day? This provides them with an “army” of resources,
all focused on the helping the company meet its goals! It can make a big
impact on your competitiveness if your entire company is constantly looking
for ways to improve.
A Basis for Improvement

Finally, the last part of the definition refers to the method for accomplishing
the work. The word method implies that we want to repeat the manner or
way that the work is done each time. It follows then that there is a sequence
to the steps that constitute the method. As we will soon see, the concepts
of method and work sequence will play important roles in this approach to
standardized work.
So where does this lead? The obvious conclusion is that standardized
work defines the work sequence to be repeated in order to try and achieve
repeatable levels of safety, quality, and output. But it also shows us that it
has two main usages:
1. It provides a standard method for accomplishing the work at the

moment.
2. It serves as a baseline for the kaizen activities.
This brings us back to the appearance of conflicts mentioned earlier.

We standardize in order to constantly improve, which means continuous
change! Actually, this is somewhat of an overstatement. The first step is to
stabilize the situation, as we discussed in the earlier example of the graph
of output B. Standardization helps us to do this. After the situation is stable,
we can now start on the road to constantly improving, but in small steps,
avoiding the risk and uncertainty that is involved with large and complex
changes. This will also allow us to maintain the integrity of the previous
kaizen improvements.

How Do We Get Standardized Work?

First, there are some prerequisite conditions (or preconditions) that must be
present in order to achieve and support standardized work. These are:
1. A human must be capable of doing the work. In other words, it must

be work that a person can do safely and ergonomically within the time
required and at the desired level of quality.
2. There must be a repeatable sequence to the work. The work that is
required must be such that the worker can do it the same way each and
every time it is expected.
3. The equipment, tools, and workplace must be highly reliable. If any of
these are not reliable or cause problems, either in time variations per
cycle or frequent downtime situations, the work will be impacted greatly.
4. The materials used must be of high quality. If the material and com-
ponents that are used are not of good quality, there may be frequent
instances of defects and other quality problems that will be a constant
source of issues that cause variation that will disrupt the worker.
These preconditions are necessary in order to make sure that variability

is kept to a minimum. For example, if a worker is constantly dealing with
equipment downtime or bad materials, how can he or she be expected to
accomplish the work in a consistent manner? Consider the variation in a
task when a worker has to constantly remove excess plastic flash from an
over-molded component: How can this be standardized if only a portion of
the parts have excess flash or if the time required to remove the flash var-
ies greatly between parts or between workers? Although a standard method
of ensuring that the component does not move on to the next process with
excessive flash might possibly be developed, resources would probably be
better utilized in improving the process causing the variation in flash—
whether internal or external to the company. Therefore, there is a need for
the preconditions to exist first in order to establish the stability needed to
support standardized work and kaizen.
At this point, we want to stop for a moment and talk briefly about the
term worker. It is important to understand that everyone has work that
they do, and therefore we use this term to refer to the person perform-
ing the work. This could be a CEO of a company, a policeman, a person
assembling parts in a factory, an engineer creating new product designs, or
a person preparing a meal in a restaurant. The term is not meant to imply

any disrespect to people, as we have come to understand that people are

the ones performing the real work—those tasks that are actually adding
the value in advancement of the product or service toward completion.
Machines, robots, and other complicated mechanisms are still just tools used
by the worker to accomplish the work. We use the term worker because it
is the most descriptive, and therefore the chance of miscommunication is
eliminated. There is an important relationship that develops when the kai-
zen attitude is present. This is the symbiotic relationship between the worker
and the company. When both are working toward the same goals, the
results can be greatly increased, but if there are problems such as mistrust,
fear, or other negative perceptions, this can prevent the two from working
toward the same goals. We have also observed this unfortunate situation,
and it is often one of the underlying causes of variability in some companies
and should be a main focus for gaining stability. The kaizen attitude and a
few of the issues involved are discussed further in Appendix E.
The Required Components for Standardized Work

Once the necessary preconditions for standardized work exist, we next need
to discuss the basic components that must always be present in one form or
another. These have been described by Ohno (1988, 22) as:
1. Cycle (takt) time

2. Work sequence
3. Standard inventory (in-process stock)
Please note that as we describe these required components, we will

mostly use examples that relate to manufacturing. This is critical because
the concepts and principles used to develop the philosophy of standardized
work have their foundations in the manufacturing industry. However, it is
important to understand that these required components can also be applied
in other industries or business applications if we grasp the basic concepts
firmly. It is this last premise that the later sections of this book are based
upon in order to make the progression from manufacturing to completely
different applications and industries. So please have an open mind as you
consider how these required components apply to your business.
Cycle time in this context has been more recently described as takt time
(Dennis 2002, 51) and is a concept that is used to describe the cadence or

pace at which a product (or service) needs to be produced in order to satisfy

customer demand in the time we have allotted to do so. The basic formula
is very simple:
Takt time (TT) = Allotted time ÷ customer demand
This can be for any time period as long as the time and demand used are
aligned (e.g., allotted time per day divided by customer demand per day). In
the manufacturing industry, it is most commonly expressed in units of “time
per part.” The customer needs a certain number of parts, and we have set
aside a certain amount of time to produce them. This could also be consid-
ered as somewhat of a schedule, except that it is used to act as a cadence to
compare the cumulative output to the passage of time. This is a somewhat
stranger definition than the conventional one, but it is important to under-
stand that takt is a much broader concept than is apparent on first glance. It
is this broader scope that will be necessary to apply the concept of takt to
areas where it did not seem applicable before. We will look at this concept
more deeply as we discuss the issues leading to noncyclic applications in
later sections.
Work sequence refers to the sequence of steps that must occur each time
the work is performed. This is a pretty straightforward statement, but the
emphasis is on the sequence rather than a checklist of events that must occur
without regard to the order. Whenever the work is to happen, it is impor-
tant that it happen in the same sequence each time. We see now that varia-
tion can have a definite impact on many aspects of the business, especially
in nonmanufacturing environments such as health care, food services, etc.
However, when we begin to consider the method used to get the work done,
it is not just the steps but the manner (often very specific motions or actions)
in which each step is performed that is important. Consider that visual con-
trol, another philosophy of TPS, can help ensure that an abnormal condition
(such as not following the prescribed method) is very apparent. Therefore, if
there is a definite manner in which the work is to be performed, it is easier
to notice abnormalities in the sequence. When we are trying to change to a
culture that fosters the kaizen attitude, it is sometimes necessary to institute
policies to help ensure a complete transition to the new environment. Visual
control is an important concept that can assist in this transition. For more
discussion on the topic of auditing standardized work, see Appendix A.
Standard inventory, otherwise known as standard in-process stock (Dennis
2002, 52), refers to any stock or material that must be present in order for the

work sequence to occur as intended. For example, if the sequence defines

that the first step is to place a part in a tooling fixture, it means that there
should not be a part already in the fixture when the worker gets to that step.
If there is, the sequence is disrupted and cannot be repeated until each step
has the proper in-process stock (whether material is required to be present
or not present at a particular location). This can be somewhat compared to
the priming of an old-style hand-operated well pump. It was necessary to
“prime” the pump with water in order for the pump to work as required
to supply water. So in this context, it is essential that the standard in-process
stock be present (or not present) according to the intended condition. This
also implies that once a cycle is started, it should continue until it is complete
to provide the worker with a consistent starting point after scheduled stops
such as breaks, lunch periods, end of shift, etc.
One of the main reasons for in-process stock is in order to take advan-
tage of some of the machine’s automation capability, which can reduce or
eliminate some of the worker’s time being wasted waiting on a machine
cycle to complete. For example, if a process takes 10 seconds of machine
time to complete, if the job is designed so that a completed part from
the previous cycle is present and ready to be exchanged with a completed
part from the previous process that the worker brought with him (the
completed part unloaded and the part brought with the worker loaded
in its place), all that is necessary is this exchange and the activation of
the machine cycle. The worker can then leave this workstation and take
the completed part that was unloaded to the next process in the work
sequence. If the job was designed without a completed part present, the
worker would have to wait for 10 seconds before the completed part could
be unloaded and moved to the next step (because the process is designed
to be empty when the worker approaches on the next cycle). Common
occurrences of this type of wait are when the worker must use both
hands to activate the process and keep the buttons pushed in the entire
time the machine is cycling for safety purposes. If the machine has ample
safety features to allow the machine to be activated and free the worker of
the wait, the worker can continue, and a completed part will be present
when the worker returns on the next cycle if the job is designed properly.
Therefore, we see that standard in-process stock (SIP) is very important
and that there is a relationship between the operation of the machine and
the standardized work.
One last point to mention, we notice that work sequence is both a pre-
condition as well as a required component of standardized work. This is

because it is the premise on which the principle is founded. Takt time, for
setting the required pace, and standard in-process stock, to set the required
materials for repetition, complete the components required for standardized
work to be possible.
Types of Standardized Work

Now that we are familiar with the three required components that must
always be present in some form, it is time to discuss the basic categories
into which standardized work is usually broken out. For most applications
where standardized work is said to be applied, they can be roughly sepa-
rated into two sections: those where each product or service is basically the
same and those that are different each time they are produced. The first
section can be further broken down into those that pretty much require the
same process steps, work, and process times (even if there are some slight
differences such as color, programming, etc.), and those that are essentially
the same but with some differences between models (added or deleted
process steps, process-time differences between models, etc.). This results in
three common categories into which most applications of standardized work
are normally considered to fall.
Common categories of standardized work:

Category A: Standardized work that has the same work sequence, work
content, and cycle time for all products in the same system. In other
words, all the products are basically the same or take the same
amount of time and same process steps, with no real differences
other than things like different color components, different program-
ming, etc., so that the only real issue is that the different parts only
need to be kept separate for delivery to the respective customers.
This is probably the most common category of standardized work.
Since essentially the products are all the same and take the same
amount of resources to build, the total number of products can be
added together and considered as a single product when determin-
ing a takt time as well as for purposes of determining system capac-
ity, even though there may be some changeover time between the
different products.
Category B: Standardized work that may have almost the same basic
work sequence, but the work content and therefore the cycle times

are not the same between different products produced by the same
system. There may be differences in the time per process step,
added or skipped steps, or other variations that differentiates one
product from another. A good example of this is a car on an assem-
bly line where one unit has a sun roof and the next unit does not,
even though nearly everything else may be the same. Therefore, the
amount of time and resources taken to produce them in the system
is not the same between products, preventing the totals from simply
being added together for a common takt time calculation. This can
add complexity in trying to establish time for the pace to be used as
a standard. This takt time calculation problem is due to the fact that
the total number of products cannot be simply added together and
divided by the allotted time like the Category A standardized work
application, since the products take different amounts of times to com-
plete. Even if a single time is developed for use while these parts are
being produced, it will not be very helpful unless a lot of resources
are expended in comparing the output to the passage of time, since
the relationship is not directly proportional as it is with Category A
applications. The greater the difference in the work content between
the products, the more sensitive the aggregate or weighted time is
to a change in the product mix ratio. This tends to result in multiple
“individual” takt times and the products being run in batches, since a
single takt time that was an average would be so difficult to compare
with the passage of time. Therefore, this category often causes a lot of
problems with determining resources required and maximum capaci-
ties, since these are also greatly affected by the mix.
Category C: Standardized work that does not appear to have a repeat-
able work sequence, at least within a single work period in the same
system. This category of standardized work has often been the most
difficult one to successfully implement. This is because the concept
of takt time does not seem appropriate because the required work is
not predictable in occurrence and frequency like Category A stan-
dardized work. In most instances, this type of standardized work is
not considered stable or repeatable.
For our purposes, these categories are not sufficient to properly

describe the techniques and principles that will be discussed. In this book,
we will discuss two main types of standardized work. These are described
as follows:

1. Cyclic: Work that is meant to repeat at the end of the current cycle and
continue with a regular frequency. This includes both Category A and
Category B standardized work. Examples of this type of standardized
work are seen in manual work cells with relatively short takt times.
However, it basically describes standardized work that requires the per-
son to repeat the same sequence of tasks continuously.
2. Noncyclic: Work that occurs randomly, or at least appears that way, and
does not appear to repeat at the end of the current cycle, but that must
follow the same work sequence when the work is required. This is typi-
cally Category C standardized work, but it can also include Category A
and Category B when dealing with long-cycle processes. We will dis-
cuss long-cycle in a later section, but we use this term to represent a
condition where takt time is longer than a normal work period (e.g.,
building two houses per year, etc.). Examples of Category C standard-
ized work can include tending groups of machines, preparing a cus-
tomer order at a fast-food restaurant, or performing tasks for long-cycle
standardized work applications such as installing the plumbing in a
new home. It generally describes tasks that must be repeated in work
sequence, but are only required occasionally rather than repeating at
the end of the current cycle.
We are going to focus first on the cyclic applications, as this is the sim-
plest form of standardized work, and as stated earlier, a firm understanding
of the basics is necessary if we are to expand the concepts into other areas.
The application of standardized work to noncyclic tasks will be covered in
a later section. But before we leave this section, there is one other impor-
tant concept to consider. Not all jobs will be designed around advancing a
single product or batch of products to completion. The worker may actually
be operating multiple machines or performing multiple tasks that may cross
several product value streams. There are many reasons for this, including
better utilization of equipment or worker, specialized worker training that is
in limited supply, low daily production volumes of individual products, etc.
Shigeo Shingo (1989, 156–161) explains the concept of a worker handling
multiple machines. He says that there are two types of multiple machine
handling: vertical and horizontal. The vertical type is called multi-process
handling and refers to the operation of multiple machines that are of differ-
ent processes. The horizontal type is called multi-machine handling and sim-
ply refers to operation of machines that are all of the same process. A good
example of multi-process handling is a manufacturing cell. An example of

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acquainted with military police duties, or the best modes of
exercising military law, in all its bearings, and to enable them to do
this with advantage to the army, and to the country, they should have
attached to them an intelligent mounted police corps. From the want
of such an establishment, which it is the work of years to form, how
often, and how severely have our armies suffered, and must
continue to suffer till a change takes place.
Inexperienced officers, if even well educated, taken suddenly from
their regiments, and, according to the fancy of general officers, or in
compliance with the wishes of injudicious and interested friends, are
unfit for, and must be ignorant of the complicated duties of the staff;
and our generals, at least of old, were themselves too often unequal
to instruct them. The consequences therefore invariably were, that
on first taking the field, nothing could be worse managed than the
departments over which our misnamed staff had to preside. The
system, if it deserved to be so called, being undefined or ill-digested,
the movements or manœuvres of the army, were, as a matter of
course, often badly arranged, and nearly as badly executed; its
combinations, as far as the staff were concerned in them, were
frequently defective. The General-in-Chief had little or no assistance
from the generality of them in the time of need, and it was really
ridiculous to see how even our common out-posts were sometimes
thrown out, leaving the most essential points unwatched, or wholly
disregarded.
These are sweeping charges, and I ought to be able to shew that I
am justified in making them: for example then—some may
remember that on the 27th of July, 1809, the first day, I may say, of
the battle of Talavera, the enemy's light troops broke unexpectedly in
upon us at the Alberche river, when our troops were quite
unprepared for such an event; some young corps were surprised
and consequently did not behave well. Lord Wellington, himself, if I
mistake not, and some of his staff were placed in a very perilous
situation in an old unroofed house, into which they had gone in order
to ascertain from its highest windows what was going forward; and
his Lordship had, immediately after, to take upon himself, in a great
measure, the direction of the hastily-formed rear guard of infantry,
consisting of the 45th regiment and 5th battalion 60th; which corps,
assisted by our cavalry, covered the retreat of the advanced division
till it reached the position in which the battle of that night, and the
following day were fought. But who, that witnessed it, can ever forget
the scene of confusion which took place on the night of the 27th,
amongst the Spaniards! They literally swept away with them, in their
panic, occasioned by the fire of a few French sharpshooters who had
followed up to their position, the part of the rear-guard to which I
belonged. These untoward events, were, in a great measure, the
consequence of the advanced division not being managed by
instructed or experienced staff officers; but I can scarcely undertake
to say, that even for some time afterwards this branch of our service
had become respectable, though it certainly had improved by
practice. In short, in point of movement and intelligence on the part
of regimental officers, the British corps of cavalry and infantry were,
in general, excellent; but we had not, with a few exceptions, many
officers of rank employed, either as generals or upon the staff, who
were capable of directing or making use of such troops scientifically,
or to advantage. It may be said, that in thus speaking of British
soldiers I now contradict my former assertions, but I by no means do
so; I here only allude to their discipline and courage in the field,
under good regimental officers, and not to what occurred too often
upon other occasions.
The French fairly worked us into practical knowledge of war at last;
not that the officers of that gallant nation were themselves so greatly
enlightened, as was generally supposed, or that they or their troops
gained the battles fought—although I often, and especially at first,
wondered they did not—but we had almost always to pay most
dearly for victory, that is to say, for getting possession of the field of
battle, which was sometimes all we had to boast of.
I may not, perhaps, appear to be borne out in the opinions I have
ventured to give, by Lord Wellington's general orders after the battle
of Talavera; I must, nevertheless, bring it before the reader to enable
him to come to a right conclusion:—
"G.O. Talavera de la Reyna, 29th July, 1809.
"No. 1. The Commander of the Forces returns his thanks to the
officers and troops for their gallant conduct in the two trying days of
yesterday and the day before, in which they have been engaged
with, and beaten off the repeated attacks of an army infinitely
superior in number.
"He has particularly to request that Lieutenant-General Sherbrooke
will accept his thanks for the assistance he has received from him,
as well as from the manner in which he led on the infantry under his
command to the charge of the bayonet. Major-General Hill, and
Brigadier-General Alexander Campbell, are likewise entitled, in a
particular manner, to the acknowledgments of the Commander of the
Forces, for their gallantry and ability with which they maintained their
posts against the attacks made upon them by the enemy.
"The Commander of the Forces has likewise to acknowledge the
ability with which the late Major-General M'Kenzie (whose
subsequent loss the Commander of the Forces laments,) withdrew
the division under his command from the out-posts, in front of the
enemy's army, on the 27th instant, as well as to Colonel Donkin for
his conduct on that occasion.
"The Commander of the Forces, likewise, considers Lieutenant-
General Payne and the cavalry, particularly Brigadier-General Anson
and his brigade, who was principally engaged with the enemy, to be
entitled to his acknowledgments; as well as Brigadier-General
Howarth and his artillery; Major-General Tilson, Brigadier-General R.
Stewart, Brigadier-General Cameron, and the brigades under their
commands, respectively.
"He had opportunities of noticing the gallantry and discipline of the
5th battalion 60th and the 45th, on the 27th; and of the 29th and 1st
battalion 48th, on that night; and on the 28th, of the 7th and 53rd:
and he requests their commanding officers, Major Davey, Colonel
Guard, Colonel White, Colonel Donallan, Lieutenant-Colonel Sir
William Myers, and Lieutenant-Colonel Bingham to accept his
particular thanks.
"The charge made by the brigade of Guards, under the command of
Brigadier-General H. Campbell, on the enemy's attacking column,
was a most gallant one, and the mode in which it was afterwards
covered by the 1st battalion of the 48th, was most highly creditable
to that most excellent corps, and to their commanding officer, Major
Middlemore.
"The Commander of the Forces requests Colonel Fletcher, the Chief
Engineer, Brigadier-General the Hon. Charles Stewart, Adjutant-
General, Colonel Murray, Quarter-Master-General, and the officers of
those departments, respectively, and Lieutenant-Colonel Bathurst
and those of his personal staff, will accept his thanks for the
assistance he received from them throughout these trying days."
Before the great French revolution, or about the year 1790, some
able French officers had given their attention to the formation of an
état-major, or staff, for their armies, which would have greatly
conduced to improvement in carrying on business in the various
branches of their service; and this was proposed to be chiefly
accomplished by establishing an uniform, comprehensive, and
connected system; embracing objects, to a certain degree, both civil
and military; the details of which would develop themselves, as the
several heads of service came to be examined.
These objects, owing to the confusion that arose out of the sudden
elevation to power of daring and able, but generally inexperienced
men, and the displacing of the old accomplished officers of the royal
army were frustrated, or at least lost sight of for some time: but,
although the French marched on from victory to victory over the
neighbouring panic struck and astonished nations, the want of such
an organized department, was seriously felt by the Commanders-in-
chief of their armies, so much so, that upon an able work being
published at Paris, by General Grimoard in 1809, styled "Traité sur le
service de l'Etat-major-general des Armées," it was received with
great approbation, and I may say, continued from that period to be a
guide to the French Marshals and Generals, in the formation of the
staff of the armies put under their charge; and it seemed also to be
the system adopted, or approved of, by the Emperor.
Not long before this General Thiebault had also published a very
useful work upon the same subject; but not by any means so
comprehensive as that of General Grimoard; which I am inclined to
think, would afford many useful hints to us in establishing a system
for carrying on the duties of this essential branch of our service; but
taken as a whole, it would, I am persuaded, be found too diffuse and
complicated to be advantageously adopted by any army. I may
however observe, that strictly speaking, we have no established
system of this kind; for the experience of a few officers, acquired on
service, most of whom are now high in rank, cannot be considered
as such; and what a deal an officer who wants information, would
have to wade through, if he endeavoured to find it in the several
volumes of general orders of His Grace the Duke of Wellington, who
must have felt, and evidently did feel, throughout his protracted
operations in the field, how hard and wearing it was, not only to
command a British army, but also to have so much of the weight and
annoyance of attending to minute details of military police, the
commissariat, and of almost every thing else, thrown upon him, and
requiring his constant superintendence and watchfulness. I am
aware, that after they had acquired experience in the field, he
received assistance, to a considerable extent, from some of the
head-quarter staff, and from the generals and staff of divisions and
brigades; but I do not believe, and his orders fully bear me out in
saying so—that any of our other generals could have been equal to
the task he found it necessary to impose upon himself; for at first he
was evidently not much better off, than a commander of a regiment,
who happens to have an indifferent adjutant, and who is in the habit
of hopelessly attempting to carry on the whole of its duties, and
managing all its details, between himself and that functionary,
without considering for what purpose he has been furnished with two
majors, ten captains, twenty or thirty subalterns, and a number of
non-commissioned officers. But it is really wonderful what His Grace
had at first to get through, from the want of a properly organized staff
for his army, who could have acted upon fixed principles, or
established regulations. From not being able to avail himself of such
assistance (and no Commander-in-chief of a British army can ever
under present circumstances do so), he was obliged to come too
much into contact with divisions, brigades, and regiments, and their
minute details; and had even to decide, after having had all the
trouble of inquiry into intricate matters, either personally or through
the means of a general court-martial, as to the punishment the
misconduct of many of our soldiers merited, and even to order it to
be carried into effect.
These and many other considerations should convince us, that there
ought never to be, what is usually termed a second in command,
without a division to take charge of, for he is too often only in the
way; but there should be a head, or chief of the staff of an army, in
constant and immediate communication with the commander of it;
and he ought to possess, in virtue of his office, considerable
authority. He should have under him, for carrying into effect the
orders or views of the Commander of the Forces, an adjutant, and a
quarter-master-general, with a sufficient number of assistants
attached to them; and one of each department, according to our
present plan, should be appointed to each division of the army; and
a brigade-major ought also to have the superintendance of the staff
duties of each brigade.
The respective duties of the adjutant and quarter-master-general's
departments ought to be clearly defined in every point, and carefully
kept distinct; and the strictest system of responsibility, should at all
times, and in all situations, be enforced throughout the whole; and it
should never again be necessary for a Commander of the Forces to
issue such an order as that which follows, and which shows at once,
what must have been at first the composition of the staff of a British
army.
"G.O. Zarza Mayor, 4th July, 1809.
"No. 1. The assistant-adjutant-generals, and brigade-majors of those
divisions and brigades stationed in the neighbourhood of head-
quarters, must attend at the adjutant-general's office for orders at 10
o'clock precisely.
"No. 2. The brigade-majors will attend at the assistant-adjutant-
generals of divisions to receive the division orders at half-past 11
o'clock, and at one, the brigade-majors must give out the orders to
the adjutants of regiments, which must be given out to the troops
and companies, and read to the soldiers at evening parades.
"No. 3. In case circumstances should prevent the brigade-majors
from issuing the general orders to the adjutants of regiments before
3 o'clock on any halting day, they are to receive and issue on that
day only the orders requiring immediate execution, of which the
general-officers commanding brigades are to make the selection,
and on the following day the other orders of general regulation.
"No. 4. All orders received by the adjutants of regiments must, at the
first parade, or earlier, if necessary, be read to the troops.
"No. 5. On marching days the assistant adjutant-generals and
brigade majors, stationed near head-quarters, will attend at the
adjutant-general's office for orders as soon as the troops reach their
ground.
"No. 6. All orders requiring immediate execution issued on marching
days, must be given to the adjutants, and read to the troops as soon
as possible.
"No. 7. The general orders will be sent from head-quarters to
divisions at a distance by the first opportunity, those requiring
immediate execution must be issued and read to the troops as soon
as received; the others, if not received by the general officer of the
division before 2 p.m., are not to be issued till the following day.
"No. 8. The assistant adjutant-generals, or the brigade major, of the
division or brigade at a distance to which the general orders will have
been sent, must send to the adjutant-general by the first opportunity,
a receipt for the orders received, specifying the number for each day.
"No. 9. When pass orders will be sent, directions will be written on
the back of them, stating whether they are to be circulated by the
person who will have carried them from head-quarters, or to the
officers respectively to whom they have been addressed.
"No. 10. Every officer, to whom they are addressed, must sign his
name on the paper on receiving them, and insert the hour of the day
at which they reached him.
"No. 11. As pass orders invariably must require immediate execution,
they must be issued and read to the troops without loss of time.
"No. 12. The numberless mistakes which have occurred, and the
many instances of neglect and disobedience of orders issued
referring to the health, subsistence, or the convenience of the troops,
renders it necessary not only to observe the early circulation of
orders, but, if possible, obedience to them and their early and prompt
execution.
"No. 13. The obedience to orders of general regulations must
depend upon the attention of general officers commanding brigades,
and commanding officers of regiments, and their determination to
enforce regularity and discipline, but obedience to them requiring
execution can be secured by other means.
"No. 14. Accordingly the Commander of the Forces desires that
officers commanding regiments shall report to the general officer
commanding the brigade, that the general orders requiring the
performance of any duty, or the execution of any arrangement, have
been obeyed."
All this proves that the knowledge and experience of the staff of a
British army were, at that period, at a very low ebb; but matters were
afterwards greatly improved, and the valuable time of the staff
saved, which was thrown away in attending for orders, by Lord
Wellington ordering the distribution of printed copies of general
orders for departments, divisions, brigades, and regiments; but, still,
too much of the time of the non-commissioned officers, who might
have been much better employed in assisting their officers in looking
after the soldiers, was always taken up in the field, in writing out
orders for their respective companies. This ought to be dispensed
with altogether. The corps should be quickly assembled in square, or
close column, and the orders or regulations, which should be few in
number, as almost every thing could be arranged before hand at the
Horse Guards, ought to be read distinctly to them by the
commanding officer, a field officer, or the adjutant; and when thus
assembled, any explanations, or farther directions, which might be
necessary, could be given, and the orders themselves more forcibly
impressed upon the minds of the soldiers, which is rarely properly
done, if left to company officers, or non-commissioned officers.
This plan would not only save much time, but also prevent many
mistakes from happening.
It is not my intention here, nor in any other part of this work, to be
unnecessarily minute in bringing matters before the readers; or at
present to enter fully into the various details of the duties of staff
officers; and I may, therefore, only now observe, and I shall not
hesitate in doing so to take advantage of the suggestions, or hints, of
any military writer, when it may suit my purpose, that the duties or
functions of the staff, which have hitherto, with us, been only
determined by what was considered custom, or by some obsolete
modes of practice, which, after much trouble, may, perhaps, be
found scattered through numerous orders and regulations, which
from time to time, have been issued by various commanders, or in
books which have no claim whatever to be considered official; and
so completely is this the case, that the practice of modern warfare
makes it desirable, and even indispensable, that where any authority
may be attached to them, they ought to be annulled or suppressed,
and a new system, constructed on a wise, and, if it can be done, on
a limited scale, soon promulgated, as the established regulations of
the army, which would render it scarcely possible, that mistakes, as
to staff duties, could hereafter happen when brought into practice;
for, in the field, the slightest misunderstanding, or disputing about
points, perhaps in themselves trivial, might destroy that unity and
rapidity of acting, which is so essential towards ensuring success in
war.
The officer employed as chief of the staff should possess first-rate
talents, much military information or experience; great activity, and
perseverance. There are very few officers capable of filling this
important and responsible appointment; for it demands a complete
knowledge of the profession of a soldier. He should be well
acquainted with the country about to become the seat of war; with its
history, and with the wars which may have been there carried on,
either in ancient or modern times; so that the general in command of
the army could consult and arrange with him, if he thought proper, as
to the best mode of directing his operations, and his suggestions
might in many respects be of the most essential service. He should
be looked up to by both the generals and the army, as not only
intrusted with the plans or views of the Commander-in-Chief, but as
also of being fully aware how they were to be executed; so that all
the details of service would properly come from him; and thus freed
from much care and trouble, the General-in-chief would more
particularly be able to devote his attention to the grand objects of the
enterprise in view. But the duties of chief of the staff and those of the
several departments under him, being, as far as practicable, clearly
defined by regulations; with what little difficulty or danger from the
effects of ignorance or inexperience an army handled by officers so
taught, and always kept in readiness when called for, could be
brought into the field in an efficient state for service; whereas by the
way in which we now try to get through matters, a Commander-in-
Chief in any future war would have to wade through all the difficulties
encountered, and by so much perseverance overcome by his Grace
the Duke of Wellington.
I must now observe, and in as few words as possible, that issuing of
orders and regulations, and upon all occasions seeing that they were
obeyed; keeping an historical journal of the events of a campaign;
making out returns for head-quarters, and calling for all those usually
required from divisions, brigades, and regiments, and the ordinary
correspondence appertaining to such subjects; arrangements for the
maintenance of the discipline of the army; furnishing of officers and
troops for guards and out-posts; issuing necessary instructions for a
well-regulated and mounted police force, whose commander,
captains, and subalterns, being well-taught their duties, and
competent to perform them, should be entrusted with even more
power than was allowed to provost-marshals;—these, with some
other points of service, ought to come under the Adjutant-General
and his assistants. But all this, it may be said, is already the common
routine of business, and should be known to staff-officers; yet every
one of them, I am certain, who has had experience in the field, must
have felt the want of an efficient police, and of a better system for
their guidance.
No division of the army should ever be without a strong detachment
of police, either temporarily or permanently attached to it; and thus
crimes would either be prevented through their vigilance, or those
guilty of them immediately punished; the resources of a country
would then neither be lawlessly seized and frittered away by
marauders, nor would the inhabitants fail to bring supplies to the
regularly established markets of the army, where they would be sure
to find protection from the police. But all sutlers and persons
permitted permanently to supply articles in camp or cantonments
ought to have licenses from the head of the police, without which
they should not be allowed to do so.
As more irregularities are generally committed by soldiers when
absent from their corps, either upon duty or otherwise, than at other
times; patroles of the police ought therefore to be constantly moving
upon the roads in all directions, and should particularly have their
eyes upon all guards, and people allowed for the service of the
commissariat, either when foraging in collecting supplies of any kind,
or in bringing them from the depots in the rear; and this useful corps
should also extend their observations, even as far to the rear as the
hospital stations more immediately belonging to the army in the field.
These various, important, and indispensable duties if properly
performed, and their due performance being shown by simple
returns or reports, would require a considerable police force; but as I
would expect them to be armed and equipped in all respects as
dragoons, they could, upon any emergency, be called upon to act as
such, and they must, therefore, in no way be looked upon as taken
away from the fighting part of the army; by the regulations they
would enforce, and by their preventing all straggling of soldiers or
followers of the camp in search of plunder or liquor, the army would
be rendered considerably more efficient through their exertions.
Therefore, to the establishing of such a corps, which ought to be
composed of well-conducted and well-paid men, I beg particularly to
request attention.
There is a point too much overlooked, or, at least, but little
understood in our army, viz. that of employing spies in order to
obtain intelligence; and, as I should expect, that the head of the
police is a man of ability and penetration, I would recommend that he
should be entrusted with the management of this necessary point of
service. If it is properly conducted, most useful information may be
procured; especially if sufficient means for this purpose are placed at
the disposal of a commander of the forces. There are various
classes of spies, but I am anxious to be as brief as possible in
alluding to them.
1st. Men considered of importance and in high situations, who,
through avarice or meanness, yield to corruption. It belongs,
however, to the Government of a country to employ such spies, and
it is believed that Russia especially has, at this moment, many of
them engaged in various countries, and in various ways.
2nd. Men supposed to be respectable in character, priests and
intriguing women (I here adopt the words of a French writer), to be
almost always found in countries in which war may be carried on;
who, through a good use of part of the money, which it may be
contrived to remit to them, can procure sometimes valuable
information; but the best of such spies are usually found amongst
those mentioned, and who are the least liable to raise suspicion.
3rd. Individuals admitted in various ways into the enemy's army—
such as servants to general and other officers, sellers of spirits,
provisions, and many trifling articles required by soldiers; and some
men may through them be induced to desert at particular moments,
especially when any important movements are about to take place.
Such people can repeat the conversations they may have listened
to; they can say pretty correctly where the enemy is in force; what
direction he is moving in, as well as what places are occupied by his
detachments; but this is generally all that can be looked for from
them, their communications being frequently too confused and
uncertain to be much relied upon. But some men, for money, as I
know from experience, can be found (indeed they offer themselves)
who would perform acts that would scarcely be believed, were I to
state them.
4th. Intelligent peasants of the country, of whom there are always
plenty to be found; but a good many of them should be sent out at
one time, under the pretence of selling various articles in the
enemy's camp, or cantonments; also to the detachments on his
flanks, and lines of communication and operation. Such men should
not, however, be employed at any great distance from their homes,
as they soon become ignorant of the country and roads.
5th. Good information can often be obtained from prisoners of war of
all ranks, if prudently and judiciously questioned by an officer, such
as I suppose the head of the police would be; and correct
intelligence was even sometimes, to my knowledge, pumped out of
our single-minded officers at the out-posts, by the French, during the
Peninsular war.
6th. The best and most useful of all spies, are those, who, though
known as such, are employed and paid by both parties, according to
the value of the information they are able to obtain. It is at the same
time prudent, that they should be closely watched by the police,
without their being aware of it, whilst they remain with our army; and
it is not difficult to deceive them, and thereby make them convey
false intelligence to the enemy. It would, however, be very imprudent
at any time, to place too much reliance upon the reports of even the
best spies. It is, however, an established principle, that every
possible information should be extracted from spies, without
unguardedly opening the mind to them, which too much zeal or
anxiety might sometimes lead us into; and it is always wise to
employ for the same object, men unknown to each other, so that
they cannot concert between them to deceive. Only one spy should
be spoken to at a time, and that in the most secret manner. Little
should be said to them; but they ought by every means to be
induced to talk much. They should also be led astray by seeming to
attach much importance to objects which are little cared about; at the
same time it requires much attention, to find out whether one is
dealing with double spies or not, for without this knowledge, we must
be taking unnecessary trouble, and often acting in the dark. Now, no
commander of the forces, nor chief of the staff, could possibly be
supposed to enter personally into such transactions, nor could they
possibly find time to devote to such minute investigations; but the
head of the police, whose duty it would be to make them, in the
prudent manner I have suggested, could communicate the result of
his perseverance in these respects to either, as he might be directed.
Spies should be well paid, especially when it is ascertained that they
have acted faithfully; and Frederick the Great of Prussia, who has
always been considered good authority, says in his military
instructions to his generals, (a work which should be carefully read
by all officers,) "a man, who, in your service, runs the risk of a halter,
deserves to be well rewarded."
I beg to apologise for here intruding what may be looked upon as a
digression; but mentioning information to be obtained from deserters,
has brought to my recollection the extraordinary circumstance—at
least I consider it as such—that it should have fallen to my lot, to
have had the lieutenant of my company desert to the enemy; the
only instance of the kind I ever heard of in the British army. It
occurred just before our advancing in pursuit of the French, from
what were considered the lines of Torres Vedras. I do not know in
what part of Ireland Mr. B—— first saw the light, but he had been
sent in early life to Salamanca, to be brought up for the Roman
Catholic priesthood. It was, however, I suppose, found that he was
unfit for that calling; at least, I understood that he had never been
ordained; and having married, some person had most unwarrantably
taken it upon himself to recommend him for an ensigncy in the army,
for which he was still more unfit than to be a priest, for he was both
vulgar in looks and manners; but as he spoke Spanish, and some
Portuguese, and announcing himself wherever he went as a good
Catholic, he got on, though very ignorant and illiterate, famously,
both with the priests and people of Portugal. But he had, on one
occasion, very nearly, in that country, come to an untimely end; for
having been sent off, in order to get him away from the regiment,
with part of the 3rd division's "advanced guard of infamy"—that is to
say—the soldiers' wives, whom it was found necessary to send to
the rear, in consequence of the depredations they daily committed;
these Amazons, headed by a well known character, rose upon him
with the most diabolical intentions, as some may remember, for the
circumstance was much laughed at at the time, and he only escaped
from their clutches, by jumping out of a window, at the risk of
breaking his neck.
As soon as he disappeared, and that it was conjectured he had gone
over to the enemy, as captain of his company, I was called upon to
report upon the circumstances which could have led to so
extraordinary an event; and I was at the same time given to
understand, that Lord Wellington was uneasy lest he might have
conveyed to the French some useful intelligence; but I conclude that
an explanatory letter which I addressed to the officers commanding
the regiment, set his Lordship's mind at ease; for I unhesitatingly
declared him to be totally unfit to make any observations of
consequence, as to the positions or state of the army, or upon the
country in rear of the lines; and in this opinion, as we were
afterwards able to ascertain, I proved to be quite correct, for Marshal
Massena finding him useless, he was altogether neglected, and
having been left by the French, in their retreat, asleep in a hut, he fell
into the hands of some of our light troops. It was intended that he
was to have been tried for deserting to the enemy, and I was in
consequence ordered to appear as the principal witness against him;
but upon his being brought before the General Court-Martial by the
Provost Marshal, it was at once ascertained, that he had become
deranged during his confinement. Upon this circumstance being
made known to Lord Wellington, he, I understood, ordered him to be
sent home, and I heard some time afterwards, that the unfortunate
man died in a lunatic asylum in Ireland. This was a melancholy
instance of the consequences of improper recommendations of
persons for commissions in the army, which I regret to say, was but
too common in those days; and my chief object in giving the story at
all, is, that it may cause some gentlemen in future, to consider what
they are about, before they take upon themselves the responsibility
of introducing such men as Mr. B. into her Majesty's army.
In the French armies, according to the system they pursue, an officer
possessing in many respects power not inferior to what I am so
desirous that our officers of military police should be intrusted, takes
up his station generally with or near the head-quarters of the army,
or close to what is to be the line of march of the following day, and, if
possible, within a reasonable distance of where he intends the
markets to be held, should the army be stationary even for a few
days only, and this enables him either personally to superintend what
is going on, or else to send his subordinates to do so. He or some of
his people patrole the neighbourhood of the camps, in order to
protect all who are coming to the markets with supplies, and, on the
spot, he punishes any one guilty of infringing the orders of the army.
—Upon the line of march he distributes his police in such a manner
as to insure good order amongst the soldiers, bat-men, carters,
those attached to the commissariat, sutlers, and even amongst the
people bringing supplies to the markets.
As he acts under the orders of the principal officer of the "état-
major," or the commander-in-chief, he and his subordinates have the
power of inflicting summary punishment, according to the rules of the
service; and they are, therefore, even accompanied by executioners,
the very sight of whom is conducive to good behaviour on the part of
the troops and followers of the army of every description. It is
something of this kind, but superior in arrangement, and in the rank
of those employed, that the British army so much wants, and what I
am anxious to have established upon a most respectable footing; but
in all arrangements for this purpose it should be kept in view how
beneficial it would be to the public service that a proper provision
should be made for the necessities of divisions of the army when
acting separately or independently. The French plan seems more
particularly adapted to the wants of the head-quarters only, and is
therefore so far defective.
In my anxiety to have an intelligent and efficient police established in
connexion with the adjutant-general's department, I have been
obliged to say more upon the subject than I at first intended, and as
everything relating to the discipline of an army comes under that
branch of the staff, I must also take the liberty to observe (and in
doing so I know that I am coincided with in the opinion I am about to
express by many officers,) that our courts-martial which are, even in
these quiet times, almost constantly sitting, have brought matters, as
the natural consequence of such a plan, into an unprofitable state,
and which cannot possibly from want of time, and for other obvious
reasons, exist, on service in the field. The strange system now
pursued seems as if intended to weaken the power and influence of
commanding and other officers in the corps, and which they must
possess, if discipline is to be maintained as it ought to be; and this
state of things looks as if brought about to suit the notions of men
who are always dragging military matters before the public, whilst
they show the world that they are quite ignorant of them. All this can,
however, scarcely have any other tendency than to prevent officers
from duly performing their duties lest they should be hauled over the
coals for so doing, and I greatly fear that this must before long
seriously injure the discipline of the army, so much so that if even
what I have ventured to propose for its good should not be thought
worthy of consideration, events alone may compel the legislature to
look to the consequences likely to be produced if the present system
is adhered to, and the result may most likely be that our military
chiefs will have to be intrusted with greater power than they ever
before possessed, especially on service; when far too much of the
time of officers was always occupied upon courts-martial of all kinds,
which might have been employed in looking after their men, and
have prevented the crimes from being committed which became the
subject for investigation, and as a proof of this the books of general
orders issued upon service, are almost filled with parts of their
proceedings and the observations of Commanders of the Forces
upon them.
It is by no means with the view of inducing any one to follow their
example I now mention that, in the French armies, before the
Revolution, courts-martial were only assembled for the trial of those
guilty of very serious crimes; and in the field, even these were often
summarily judged and punished, occasionally upon a simple verbal
order. The National Constituent Assembly, however, without knowing
what they were about, and from a sheer love of novelty, under the
pretext of doing away with arbitrary military proceedings, rendered
them, as now with us, most vexatiously frequent and complicated, by
requiring courts-martial to be assembled for the investigation of even
the most trivial offences, in order to award the most trifling
punishments; and which commanding officers, as in our navy, could
before have ordered upon their own authority and responsibility. The
new laws which they made for this wise purpose had soon to
undergo many and endless changes, all tending to occupy the time
of officers and to make the proceedings of military tribunals more
tedious and annoying; and they are now, after all that has been
done, no better than our own, and they have attached to them a
court of revision in which the matter, in case of appeal, is re-
considered. But to make up for being thus hampered, the French
état-major often found it necessary, under the delegated authority of
their commander-in-chief, to act in a very arbitrary and summary
manner in the field.
Other branches of the service, such as the Post-office, &c., come
under the Adjutant-General and his department, but I have already
been too minute upon this head; yet I do not see how I can be less
so if I am at all to enter upon the Quarter-Master-General's
department, and in doing so I must touch upon what is well known to
many officers.
All military plans, sketches, &c. especially such as afford information
like the following:—
Plan pointing out where are situated, the stone bridges, &c. &c.,
which exist upon the Ebro, from Reynosa to Tudela.
Wooden
Bridges Fords
Stone Fords in
fit for Infantry Ferries. in Observations.
Bridges. Summer.
only, when the Winter.
river is low.
Mirando, Pollentes,
Baca, Porlata, Vadillo,
Haro, Rampalais,
&c. &c. &c. &c. &c. &c.
&c. &c. &c. &c.
Also the arrangements for the movements or marches of an army; its
encampments, bivouacs, quarters, in the field fixing upon the general
line for out-posts, supplies of almost every description, and the
arrangements connected with them, and various other matters come
under the Quarter-Master-general and his department; and it is the
duty of these officers to furnish the chief of the staff, for the
information of the Commander of the Forces, and also generals of
divisions, when necessary, with comprehensive returns, according to
established forms, which would show at one view the various
resources of a country in which war might be carrying on. These
returns, of course, according to circumstances, should embrace the
cities, towns, villages, hamlets, and the number of inhabitants in
each. The number of carts, waggons, or other carriages; the number
of horses or mules for draught, burden or saddle; the number of
bullocks, cows or sheep; the agricultural productions, such as the
usual quantity of wheat, barley, oats, &c.; also of hay, straw or green
forage; the returns should likewise show the quantity of each
absolutely required for the use of the country, and the supplies, if
any, also the number of pairs of boots or shoes fit for soldiers, or
shoes for horses, which could be provided in a given time, or any
other manufactured articles, which it might be supposed were likely
to be required by an army.
Such information as this would enable the Commander of the
Forces, or the generals acting under his instructions, to employ the
commissariat advantageously, and also to order from the cities,
towns or country, whatever number of men, animals, &c. might be
required for various military purposes; and they would be enabled to
decide what part of the resources of the country could be made
available for supplying many of the wants of an army, so that
considerable quantities of food, forage, &c. might thus be obtained
upon the spot, in place of its being necessary to bring supplies from
perhaps distant countries, and even by ships, at an enormous
expense, as was often the case during the Peninsular war.
I do not pretend to be able, nor have I any wish to write a regular
military treatise; but I beg to observe, that acting thus upon system,
and every thing being, if possible, punctually paid for, or good
arrangements entered into, in cases of forced contributions, almost
any country could be made to contribute considerably towards the
wants of an army; but without such arrangements its resources are
either plundered or wasted. But nothing of this kind can possibly be
effected, unless an army has attached to it, a well organized
mounted police, to enforce regularity and punctuality.
The officers of the Quarter-Master-General's department, cannot
possibly perform the many duties required of them, without the
occasional aid of such a police force as I have in view, and which in
the end would be found to be a vast saving of expense, incurred in
many ways, by the country; nor without the assistance of a corps of
mounted men, usually termed guides; and which ought, if
practicable, to be raised in the country, the seat of war; and they
should be so well paid and treated as to insure their fidelity.
I must now, however, conclude this part of my undertaking, by
remarking, that into whatever parts or branches the duties, services,
or the business of an army may be divided, the whole should, as far
as possible, be brought under the Adjutant or Quarter-Master-
General's departments, and their correct and punctual performance
should be shown by the most simple, yet sufficiently comprehensive,
returns or reports, of which the forms should always be given; and
they should be similar, in many respects, to that which enabled the
Duke of Wellington to know, every day, the exact state or distribution
of his army; returns or reports of this kind cannot possibly be
dispensed with from the commissariat or ordnance, as the
Commander of the Forces, and generals of divisions and brigades
ought to know, at all times, how the army, and the parts of it under
their charge respectively, are to be supplied with provisions,
ammunition, &c. &c.
It may probably, by those who wish to remain independent at the
head of departments, be deemed desirable, that the medical,
commissariat, and ordnance branches of the army should remain
distinct, and that they should continue to communicate direct with the
Commander of the Forces; but in this I cannot coincide, and it strikes
me that it would be desirable, to place the medical department and
its establishments under the Adjutant-General, and the commissariat
under the Quarter-Master-General. My reason, in the first place, for
the former is, that no where is it so essential, that the strictest
discipline should be maintained, as at the several hospital stations,
and in every thing connected with the medical department of an
army; and in our future wars this must be particularly necessary,
from the rapidity with which they must be carried on, as I intend more
fully to show hereafter, when the instant removal of sick and
wounded to places of safety will appear to be indispensable.

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New Horizons in Standardized Work Techniques for

Productivity improvement in manufacturing SMEs :

New Horizons of Process Chemistry Scalable Reactions

New Horizons of Process Chemistry Scalable Reactions

Standardized Work with TWI Eliminating Human Errors in

A New Meaning-Mission Fit: Aligning Life and Work in

Process Systems Engineering for Pharmaceutical

New Perspectives in Software Engineering: Proceedings

Process Facilitation in Psychoanalysis Psychotherapy

© 2011 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

Timothy D. Martin & Jeffrey T. Bell

© 2011 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

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4 Long-Cycle Standardized Work...................................................55

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The statement, “Without Standards, there can be no improvements,” is one

© 2011 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

© 2011 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

© 2011 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

© 2011 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

© 2011 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank my coauthor, Tim

© 2011 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

Carla Martin Professor Henry Kraebber

© 2011 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

What Is Standardized Work?

Before jumping into standardized work, it is probably a good idea to men-

© 2011 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

© 2011 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

A Foundation Based on Stability

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Figure 1.1 Production output under significantly different conditions.

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The Best Method at the Moment

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to get everyone on board and engaged in learning and improving. Granted,

A Basis for Improvement

1. It provides a standard method for accomplishing the work at the

This brings us back to the appearance of conflicts mentioned earlier.

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How Do We Get Standardized Work?

1. A human must be capable of doing the work. In other words, it must

These preconditions are necessary in order to make sure that variability

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any disrespect to people, as we have come to understand that people are

The Required Components for Standardized Work

1. Cycle (takt) time

Please note that as we describe these required components, we will

© 2011 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

pace at which a product (or service) needs to be produced in order to satisfy

Takt time (TT) = Allotted time ÷ customer demand

© 2011 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

work sequence to occur as intended. For example, if the sequence defines

© 2011 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC

Types of Standardized Work

Common categories of standardized work: