Standard work template
Standard work (or standardised work) is the agreed best way to do a repeated task at the pace customers need: the steps in order, how long each takes, and the takt time the cycle has to fit inside. This free Excel template works out takt time from your available time and demand, adds up manual and walking time step by step, and flags the step where the cycle runs past takt.
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It comes from the Toyota Production System, but works anywhere a task repeats many times a shift: an assembly cell, a packing bench, a kitchen line or a steady office process.
What's in the template
The workbook has a read-me, the standard work sheet and a worked example. The boxes at the top take the working time available per shift and the customer demand per shift, which set the takt time, plus the process, the standard work in process and the sign-off. The example is a fictional furniture maker's door cell, with 420 minutes available and 280 doors needed per shift, so takt time is 90 seconds:
| Step | Work element | Manual (s) | Auto (s) | Walk (s) | Operator time (s) | Cumulative (s) | Inside takt? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Unload the bored door from the hinge borer; put it on the bench | 5 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 7 | Yes |
| 2 | Take the next door from the trolley; check the face for chips | 8 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 18 | Yes |
| 3 | Load it into the hinge borer; press cycle start | 6 | 30 | 3 | 9 | 27 | Yes |
| 4 | Fit two hinges to the door on the bench; check with the gauge | 26 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 53 | Yes |
| 5 | Fit the handle with the preset driver | 18 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 71 | Yes |
| 6 | Wrap the corners, label and stack on the outbound trolley | 17 | 0 | 4 | 21 | 92 | Over |
| Total | 80 | 12 | 92 |
The Takt time column repeats the takt on every row, like the takt line on a paper combination sheet. Change the two top boxes on your own sheet and the takt check recalculates.
Standard work, SOP or work instruction?
| SOP | Work instruction | Standard work | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scope | An end-to-end process and the people in it | One task, broken into key points | One operator's repeated cycle at a workstation or cell |
| Main question | Who does what, in what order? | How do I do this step well? | Can the cycle keep pace with demand, every time? |
| Built around | Roles, handoffs and decisions | Key points and the reasons for them | Takt time, the work sequence and measured times |
| Changes when | The process or the rules change | The equipment or method changes | Demand changes, or the team finds a better way |
An SOP sets out how an order flows from sale to dispatch, a work instruction trains someone to fit a hinge, and the standard work sheet sequences the cell's tasks inside 90 seconds.
How to build a standard work sheet
- Work out takt time. Take the working time in a shift after breaks and briefings, in minutes, and divide by the units customers need per shift. 420 minutes for 280 doors is 1.5 minutes, or 90 seconds a door.
- Break the job into work elements with the operator who does it best: the smallest steps you could hand to someone else, each starting with a verb.
- Time each element over a run of cycles, using a time the operator can repeat comfortably rather than the fastest you saw, and record manual, auto and walking time separately.
- Order the elements so the operator works while the machine runs. In the example, the hinge borer's 30 seconds overlap the hinge and handle fitting, so they cost the operator nothing.
- Compare the cumulative time with takt. If the cycle ends after takt, the cell can't meet demand without overtime: move work elsewhere, cut walking, or split the cycle between two people.
- Set the standard work in process: the fewest units that must sit in the cell for the sequence to run, here one door in the machine and one on the bench.
- Post the sheet at the workstation, train to it, and update it whenever someone finds a better way.
Example: a door-hinging cell
The example sheet is a door cell at a fictional 90-person office furniture maker, where one operator bores, hinges and fits handles to cupboard doors. With 420 minutes available and 280 doors needed a shift, takt time is 90 seconds. The first timed sequence came to 92 seconds, so the last step, wrapping, labelling and stacking, shows Over.
Two seconds sounds trivial, but across 280 doors it's more than nine minutes a shift, or about six doors short. The team moved labelling to the dispatch packer, who prints labels in batches anyway. The last step fell from 17 to 9 seconds of manual time and the cycle to 84 seconds, leaving 6 seconds of margin for a dropped screw. The sheet was reissued as version 2.
Common mistakes
- Timing the fastest operator on their best run and calling it the standard, so everyone else looks slow.
- Adding machine time to the operator's time, which hides the chance to do other work while the machine runs.
- Leaving out walking. A few steps to a shelf on every cycle add up to minutes over a shift.
- Keeping last year's takt time. Work it out again whenever demand or the shift pattern changes.
- Writing it in the office instead of with the people who do the work, so it's ignored on the floor.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between takt time and cycle time?
Takt time is the pace demand sets: available time divided by the units needed. Cycle time is how long the work actually takes for one unit. When cycle time is longer than takt, you fall behind unless you add people or time, or improve the work.
Is standard work only for manufacturing?
No. Any task that repeats at a steady rate can use it, such as processing claims, picking orders or plating meals. Where there's no machine, the auto column stays empty.
Where does standard work come from?
From Toyota. Its own history records that in 1953 it set up standard operations made of specified takt times, work sequences and standard amounts of work in process, the three ideas this template is built around.