Writing standard work instructions (SWIs) takes time and patience but they are worth the pain in the end.  SWIs help to ensure standardized procedures for optimal productivity.  This helps with consistency in production—which is what we want!  SWIs are also great for training new employees.  What better thing to leave the new worker with than detailed step-by-step instructions on how to do a job?  The objective of an SWI is to be able to explain the procedure to anyone not familiar with the system.

When writing SWIs make sure to include as much detail as possible.  This includes but is not limited to:  job title, purpose, scope, and job related definitions.  In the procedure section include the action and who’s responsibility it is to perform.  In this section step-by-step pictures are also extremely useful.

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Quality control promotes cycle time reduction, variability reduction, and better management.  Methods used to measure quality control include statistical process control (SPC), pareto charts, ishakawa diagrams (cause-and-effect, fishbone), check sheets, scatter plots, taguchi quality philosophy, and the 5 S’s.  Some of these methods require extensive measurements and a lot of information to give an accurate description of the situation and some of these methods require only a brainstorming session.  Below a few of these are detailed.

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