Standard Work Combination Sheet / SWCS

A Standard Work Combination Sheet (SWCS) is also known as a Standard Work Combination Chart, or a Standardized Work Combination Table. Regardless of what you call it, it is one of the most critical documents to your Lean success.

Download a Free Standard Work Combination Sheet

Standard Work Combination Sheets goes hand-in-hand with Standard Work Sheets. In essence, the Standard Work Combination Sheet shows workflow on a graph and clearly depicts:

• walking
• waiting
• machine time
• operator cycle time

Watch Our Standard Work Video

The Standard Work Combination Sheet has many uses:

1. As a training
   1. It provides a standard that can be clearly communicated to employees during the training process.
   2. The Standard Work Combination Sheet provides employees with a quick and easy refresher when posted in a work cell. They can glance up and check that they are doing the process correctly. This is especially important as Lean takes hold and employees rotate jobs more frequently.
2. As a quality When a problem is discovered, the first step should be to confirm that the process is being consistently followed. The Standard Work Combination Sheet makes it easy to audit an operation.
3. As a management tool. The Standard Work Combination Sheet helps managers:
   1. Understand their capacity
   2. Manage daily operations
   3. Keep things running smoothly. Knowing exactly where an employee should be at any point in a takt time lets managers get them help immediately when things go south.
4. As a continuous improvement The Standard Work Combination Sheet, to the experienced eye, screams out incidents of waste. When this waste is easily identified, it is much more likely to be eliminated.

Directions for Completing Your Standard Work Combination Sheet

1. Fill out all header and footer information.
2. Coordinate the numbers with the steps shown on the Standard Work Sheet. The two documents should go together.
3. Show only one operator per sheet.
4. Make sure to clearly mark the takt time on the Standard Work Combination Sheet.
5. Don’t forget that the operator has to walk back to the starting point.
6. Write in your name, and get the Standard Work Combination Sheet reviewed by the leader who is responsible for the work area.

Standard Work Combination Sheet Tips, Tricks, and Warnings

• A computer-generated Standard Work Combination Sheet looks nice (see below), but people are reluctant to change them. If you want to create them on a computer, make sure you also hang a red pen near it once it has been printed. That way, employees can mark changes as they make improvements to the process.
• Use an action verb in the “Step Description” box. It reduces confusion later.

Putting the Standard Work Combination Sheet to use…

1. Don’t forget to download the free Standard Work Sheet to go with it!
2. We’ve also got an article that might interest you about how to structure your Standard Work to support the operators on the shop floor.