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Why do companies revert to their old state shortly after implementing 5S? When many companies implement lean production, the 5S efforts that were carried out in the initial stage, once further tools are introduced, cause those efforts to revert to their original state, which leads to significant difficulties when trying to apply other lean production tools. This ultimately results in the failure of the lean production initiative. Changhui Instruments (http://yunrun.com.cn/) will tell you why I. What is standardized operation? Standardized operations are an intensive approach to production aimed at achieving more efficient results, by systematically combining various production factors such as materials, equipment, and personnel. Under standardized operating conditions, there is less waste on the job site; the technical requirements related to machinery and materials are integrated effectively. At the same time, autonomous management is practiced on site – team leaders establish standardized production procedures and forms and train employees to follow them, with continuous improvements being made during implementation, thereby leading to an ongoing optimization of the standardized operating conditions. The currently popular standardized work procedures of Toyota consist of three elements and four important forms. Standard operations and operational standards are completely different. The so-called work standards are various technical standards established for the purpose of standardizing operations; these include things such as temperature, time, and pressure during processing, as well as the type, shape, material, size of cutting tools, cutting conditions, and cutting fluids – all of which are technical standards. To achieve the specified quality, the economic conditions of the operation are taken as standards. Standardized operations are also completely different from tabular standardized operations. The purpose of standardized operations is to make production processes rational, orderly, controllable, and efficient, as well as to minimize waste. Of course, many forms will be generated, and various visual management methods will be used; however, forms and visual management methods are merely tools. However, so-called form standardization refers to situations in companies or departments that are not fully committed to implementing Lean practices; in such cases, only the formal formats of standardized operations are used, without actual adherence to those standardized procedures. Issues such as inaccurate time measurements, lack of organization of work processes into cells, unresolved waste problems, slow progress in improvement efforts, and untimely updates to the relevant forms are all signs that standardized operations fail to effectively guide production. Here, we focus solely on these forms, and that is what we call form standardization. II. Role of Standardized Operations and Responsible Parties 1. Standardization is the foundation for improvement; without standardization, there can be no improvement. In lean production, the goal is to pursue continuous improvement; without standardization, production becomes unstable. The efficiency, quality, and level of fatigue can vary from day to day, making it impossible to find a basis for improvement – and thus improvement itself becomes unfeasible. Therefore, standardization is the foundation for improvement. That’s why Toyota experts say, “The first step toward improvement is standardization; without standards, there can be no improvement.” 2. Standardized operations are the foundation of on-site management. For example, if the work processes in a workplace are not standardized, those who have extra time to do work may, out of boredom or fear of being moved away from this valuable free position by their supervisors, slow down their work pace. They might also take on additional tasks such as carrying items or cleaning, which will greatly obscure the actual problems in the workplace and disrupt technical/management personnel’s understanding of the situation, thereby preventing the real issues from being resolved. At this point, the correct thing for him to do is to carry out the standard procedures exactly as they are specified; once the task is completed, he should wait in place or report to his supervisor proactively, so that the problem can be identified and resolved as soon as possible. 3. Standardized operations can ensure stability in work processes, reduce process variations, and decrease workplace injuries; this is particularly effective in the training of new employees. Generally, in companies of European and American style, standard operations are established by technicians acting as third parties who use IE methods to conduct operation analysis, based on the results obtained. At Toyota, the most prominent feature of standardized operations is that they are developed by the on-site (management) personnel who carry out those operations. Specifically, since the team leader understands and is more familiar with the tasks within their own process than others, it is the team leader who decides on the contents of the standard operating procedures. In other words, the standard operating procedures are documents developed by the team leader on-site, based on an understanding of the actual conditions there. Furthermore, it is the on-site supervisors who establish the standard operations, and it is also their responsibility to maintain and modify them. At the same time, standard operating procedures are not fixed; in line with the principle of continuous improvement, they are modified whenever various conditions on the shop floor change. In other words, improvement can only take place by changing the standard procedures. III. Prerequisites for Standardized Operations 1. To implement standardized operations, it is first necessary for the operations themselves to be in a stable state; otherwise, even if standardization is achieved temporarily, it will not be effectively carried out in practice. 2. The standard operating procedure is based on the Cell production method, which includes multi-skilled tasks and mobile work processes. It emphasizes a people-centered approach, eliminates waste, focuses only on the truly necessary tasks, and establishes sequences that can be repeated under the same conditions. Meanwhile, the allocation of time and machinery is also adjusted to fit this model. As we will see below, the standardized operations referred to by Toyota are not similar to those used in our companies – which include specific steps, time requirements, input materials, and precautions for carrying out the tasks. The foundation of these standardized operations lies in cells, multi-skilled workers, and mobile work methods; without understanding this, it is impossible to comprehend the elements and tools related to standardized operations, namely the three elements and the four tables. IV. Elements of standardized operations 1. Takt time refers to the manufacturing speed at which a production process can meet customer demands. 2. Task sequence: The task sequence refers to the process by which an operator transforms items, from raw materials to finished products. It includes transporting items and installing or removing them from equipment, and it represents the order in which tasks are carried out over time; it does not refer to the order in which products move from one place to another. This will be explained in detail later. 3. Standard handling: To ensure smooth operations, the semi-finished products necessary for each process, including those installed on machines, vary depending on the equipment configuration and the sequence of operations. Operations without any semi-finished products at any stage are not feasible. Generally speaking, even with the same machine configuration, if operations are carried out in the order of the processing steps, only what is needed for machine installation is required, and there is no inventory between steps. However, if the operations are carried out in the reverse order of the progression sequence, it is necessary to have a stock level after each product is manufactured between the various stages (i.e., two levels when two products are installed).