ABSTRACT
The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) indicates that standards are documents that provide requirements, specifications, guidelines or characteristics that can be used consistently to ensure that materials, products, processes and services are fit for their purpose. Standard work instructions are ideal for highly repetitive work and should be continuously revised based on best practices and lessons learned. Guidelines should reflect the best-known or most practical way to perform certain activities or tasks with clear justification when deviations from the guidelines are warranted. Process standards set the baseline for controlling a process and can be used as a reference for detecting deviations that can destabilize a process and generate undesirable outcomes. Standards can also be changed to achieve a higher level of performance as measured by positive trends in output metrics. Standard work defines the interaction between processes and their external factors including people, machines, materials and the environment under stable conditions.
