Enabling management to verify that processes are being performed correctly and in an efficient manner, standardized work provides limitless opportunities for process improvements. So much so, that it has become a vital component of improvement efforts in Lean enterprise systems. New Horizons in Standardized Work: Techniques for Manufacturing and Business Process Improvement is an all-inclusive guide to applying standardized work principles to virtually any business in any industry. It facilitates a fundamental understanding of standardized work principles and the logic behind their development, so readers can successfully extend and adapt them to their own work situation. It also: Supplies an accessible introduction to standardized work, from a cyclic perspective Explains how to instill and maintain quality in work processes right from the get go Provides the foundational basis required to apply standardized work concepts to a wide range of work situations Includes several appendices with helpful tips and problem-solving tools In a step-by-step format, this book discusses the relationship of the work period and the takt time, as well as the importance of the three main worker interface levels in job design. It includes an array of examples that demonstrate how the concepts discussed can be applied across a range of industries including health care, construction, business processes, and food services.

This field guide can be used directly on the gemba (work area) for implementing and documenting standardized work. It promotes the "future state" of standardized work along with crucial step-by-step techniques and explanations not found in other publications. The authors furnish many real examples of work problems that cause Lean practitioners difficulty with documentation, along with accurate solutions to those problems. The many illustrations and graphics focus on practice rather than theory. Readers learn that standardized work is not simply a tool for documentation but a method for reducing variation and providing continuous improvement through kaizen.

This field guide can be used directly on the gemba (work area) for implementing and documenting standardized work. It promotes the "future state" of standardized work along with crucial step-by-step techniques and explanations not found in other publications. The authors furnish many real examples of work problems that cause Lean practitioners difficulty with documentation, along with accurate solutions to those problems. The many illustrations and graphics focus on practice rather than theory. Readers learn that standardized work is not simply a tool for documentation but a method for reducing variation and providing continuous improvement through kaizen.