What does Standard Work aim to create?

Standard Work aims to create the best possible work method that is both efficient and effective. It provides a defined procedure that ensures consistency and quality in processes within an organization. By documenting and standardizing tasks, this approach helps to minimize variation, optimize resource utilization, and establish a baseline for seeking continuous improvement.

The focus on the best possible method acknowledges that while there may be many ways to perform a task, the objective of Standard Work is to distill those methods down to the one that yields the highest performance while considering factors like safety, quality, and time efficiency. This makes it a foundational concept in Lean practices, encouraging a culture of ongoing refinement and improvement.

Choosing the best possible method also allows for later enhancements; as teams gather data and learn from their processes, they can further improve upon the established standard to continue driving performance excellence.