Standardized work is defined as the efficient and orderly method of producing work without waste and centered around people. The purpose is to promote efficiency and consistency yielding high quality finished installations. The purpose is also to enable crews to safely build high quality projects at the lowest possible cost.

The history of standardized work is based on proven U.S. Military methods. They were later incorporated by Taichi Ohno during the 1950’s at Toyota. One of the central principles of standardized work is part standardization which is also the foundation of the Toyota Production System. Without Standards, it is impossible to improve a business.

Applying this to a construction site and unpacking it a bit, the benefits are tremendous. First, let’s presume the company has adopted a culture of standardized work. That means all employees perform the same task in the same way. Implementing Standardized Work requires a company to have a paradigm shift away from “I don’t care how you get the job done, just get it done” and move toward an attitude of “Everyone does the job the same way each time”. This is very different than how most contractors operate. If ten people perform a task, it gets done ten different ways. What impact does that have on safety? Productivity? Quality? Second, by defining standard ways in which the work is performed, in the office, the fabrication shop AND in the field, companies can identify the root causes of accidents. Figure 1 is an example of a Standardized Work Instruction Sheet.

A further adaptation of the Standard work instruction sheet is a single point lesson. Ever sat in front of the copier trying to make a double sided, collated, stapled copy? What about starting a meeting that requires a conference call or video conferencing and everyone sits around for 20-minutes while IT arrives to fix the problem. Figure 2 is an example of a single point lesson.