Your company is announcing an IWS implementation, or a consultant is recommending it to improve the reliability of your production lines. This acronym, which also refers to a welding certification, refers here to Procter & Gamble’s in-house method, and it will place significant demands on your teams.
Integrated Work Systems (IWS) brings together maintenance, process reliability, and management around Two principles: zero waste and individual responsibility. Both require that your operators be trained.
What are Integrated Work Systems (IWS)?
Procter & Gamble developed the IWS in the 1990s by combining Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), process reliability, and team organization, three systems that she ran separately.
The company had observed that its plants that combined several of these elements were making greater progress, so it initially rolled out the IWS in twelve plants to compare them with the others.
| Landmark | What You Need to Know |
|---|---|
| Origin | P&G, in the 1990s, through the integration of three existing systems |
| Principles | Zero waste and accountability for every person on site |
| Pillars | Ten or twelve, depending on the site, opened one by one |
| Deployment Outside of P&G | More than 400 factories supported by consultants |
| Bachelor's Degree | Comprehensive methodology licensed by EY; publicly available principles |
When maintenance, quality, and organization operate independently of one another, they compete for the same teams and the same downtime. The IWS brings them all into a single loop, from losses to priorities, and then to standards and competencies.
So judge the IWS based on this overall logic, because its list of tools resembles that of any approach to’operational excellence.
Do you need a license to use IWS?
Your website can apply the principles of IWS without a license, because’They are public. ; so you can get started right away without waiting for a contract.
Only the comprehensive method—with its tools and P&G-certified consultants—is delivered through EY, the sole provider authorized to license it. British American Tobacco is among the companies that implement the IWS.
Zero waste and ownership: two principles that require specific skills
Aiming for zero waste means making every loss visible, and taking ownership requires everyone to address the losses within their scope, which implies that he was trained.
Whereas traditional management escalates problems, IWS has them addressed by the people who see them—from the operator to the director.
Figure 1
The IWS Loop
Skills gaps: Without trained personnel, the identified issues have no one to address them.
- 1. Losses Made Visible
- Aiming for zero losses means making every loss visible.
- 2. Priorities
- A single loop determines what to process first, rather than parallel processes competing for the same teams and the same stops.
- 3. Standards
- Daily routines and work standards ensure that the corrections are maintained.
- 4. Skills
- Ownership requires everyone to take action to address losses within their area of responsibility, which assumes that they have received training.
Diagram taken from the article, without values.
At an IWS factory in Honduras studied by Kury Camacho (2018), an operator does not advance to the next stage of self-directed maintenance until after an individual evaluation. The team then undergoes an audit.
Ownership is being prepared, and it is being verified one person at a time. Entrusting your equipment to an operator who has not been trained is to place a responsibility on them that they cannot handle.
What are the pillars of the IWS?
The IWS is organized into pillars, ten or twelve, depending on the site, ranging from equipment to site management, including quality and people.
No official list is publicly available, and the abbreviations vary from one factory to another. For your site, it’s helpful to see how the pillars support one another.
| Family | Pillar | What he aims to do |
|---|---|---|
| Facilities | AM, autonomous maintenance | The operator cleans, inspects, and maintains the machine |
| Facilities | PM, progressive maintenance | Scheduled Maintenance and Equipment Reliability |
| Processes and Quality | LE, loss elimination | Analysis and Elimination of the Causes of Losses |
| Processes and Quality | Q, quality | Product quality controlled at the workstation |
| People and Organizations | ET, Education & Training | Team Training and Certification |
| People and Organizations | ORG, organization | Team Roles and Organization |
| People and Organizations | LDR, Leadership | Management's Commitment |
| Flow, Security, and Control | SN, Supply Network | Supply and Delivery Flows |
| Flow, Security, and Control | EHS, Environment, Health, Safety | Personal Safety and the Site's Impact |
| Flow, Security, and Control | IM, Initiative Management | Managing Improvement Projects |
Figure 2
Nine pillars built on the foundation of training
The ten pillars of a food processing plant that implements IWS, grouped by category.
Facilities
AM, autonomous maintenanceThe operator cleans, inspects, and maintains the machineDepends on the training track: an operator will only perform an inspection on a machine if they have been trained to do so.
PM, progressive maintenanceScheduled Maintenance and Equipment Reliability
Processes and Quality
LE, loss eliminationAnalysis and Elimination of the Causes of Losses
Q, qualityProduct quality controlled at the workstation
People and Organizations
ORG, organizationTeam Roles and Organization
LDR, LeadershipManagement's Commitment
Flow, Security, and Control
SN, Supply NetworkSupply and Delivery Flows
EHS, Environment, Health, SafetyPersonal Safety and the Site's Impact
IM, Initiative ManagementManaging Improvement Projects
ET, Education & Training · Training and certifying teams—a cornerstone that must be established from the very beginning.
The number and names of the pillars vary from one factory to another: ten here, twelve there. According to Gomes (2022).
Open them one by one, based on your website's needs, using the A Focus on Training from the Start. An operator will only perform a machine inspection if they have been trained to do so, which links autonomous maintenance to this pillar.
An IWS plant in Honduras has been operating this way since 2015, and only moves forward with each pillar after ensuring that the entire team involved has understood it.
What is the difference between IWS, Lean, and TPM?
IWS is taking over TPM and merging it into a single system of daily routines and validated steps, with the same attention to losses as the principles of lean management.
Self-maintenance entrusts the operator with basic tasks on the machine, such as cleaning, inspecting, lubricating, and tightening. Do you already practice TPM? If so, you’ve already come part of the way—but you often still need to validate the seven steps of this maintenance process, each of which must be audited before moving on to the next.
What daily routines does the IWS implement?
The Daily Management System (DMS) brings together the routines your team performs every day to ensure standards are maintained; three of them support autonomous maintenance.
| Routine | What the operator does | When | What it produces |
|---|---|---|---|
| Centerline | He checks each setting marked on the machine (pressure, temperature, speed) and adjusts it to within the specified range | At the beginning of each post | A machine that starts up properly calibrated, and a fault label if a threshold is exceeded |
| CIL (Cleaning, Inspection, Lubrication) | He cleans to inspect, and inspects to find defects | During a scheduled break at the start of a shift | Issues identified early on; those that are beyond the team's scope are forwarded to maintenance |
| Defect Handling | He notes each discrepancy on a label, corrects it, and investigates the cause | At any time, especially during the other two routines | A defect is closed when the fix has been in place for 24 hours |
| Daily Team Meeting | He reviews the day's metrics with his team | Every day | Checking that the routines have been completed, and the day's tasks |
Each routine requires that your operators be trained to its standards. To this end, IWS sites use a one-page guide (OPL, One Point Lesson) that outlines a specific task to be performed on the equipment.
How does a site move from one IWS phase to the next?
The IWS can be explored in four phases, and a site moves on to the next step only after being evaluated.
Their names are less important than what the assessment will require you to demonstrate. In factories that implement the IWS, the assessment is conducted pillar by pillar and verifies three points.
- The daily routines and work standards for the current phase are well established, as evidenced by the monitoring results.
- Individuals possess the skills required for this phase, as outlined in a competency matrix.
- A training plan addresses the identified gaps.
Figure 3
Is your site ready for a phase evaluation?
The three points that an assessment checks, pillar by pillar.
Nothing is saved or sent: the result is calculated in your browser.
At a Portuguese factory studied by Ribeiro (2014), self-managed maintenance begins in Phase I by cleaning the machines, eliminating sources of contamination, and establishing inspection routines. The team does not perform maintenance on its own until Phase IV.
To prepare for your phase assessment, you must first show who is qualified in what. Without an up-to-date template, you'll have to rely on self-reported data.
What results can we expect from the IWS, and how long will it take?
P&G announces First noticeable results in 16 to 20 weeks, citing companies that have cut their unplanned downtime by more than half. A typical EY deployment goes live in 13 weeks.
These two time frames do not measure the same thing, and neither tells you how long the entire system will take. The Portuguese plant, which was in Phase I in 2014, was aiming for Phase III by 2016.
In front of your executive committee, promise a launch result for a specific scope. A general figure says nothing about what your site will achieve.
The Education & Training pillar: the foundation for all the others
The Education & Training pillar trains versatile operators and mentors who, in turn, train their colleagues, and He updates the chart showing who can do what.
Knowledge is passed down through the field. An operator is trained and evaluated, then uses one-page handouts to demonstrate the task to others; if the chart isn’t up to date, you no longer know who can train whom.
- Map the skills and qualifications of each area in a skills matrix, to find out who can do what these days.
- Provide training before and during each stage of self-maintenance, since each step is audited before the next one.
- Confirm each qualification with a dated evaluation, which you will need when advancing to the next phase.
- Have qualified operators communicate the standards using one-page fact sheets to develop the versatility of the team.
We recommend tracking these four steps using a matrix shared among production, HR, and quality. Once this tracking is automated, we see sites reduce their training time by a factor of four.
Mercateam Competency Matrix
Knowing who can do what, area by area
A matrix shared by production, HR, and quality keeps the skills map up to date.
Production, HR, and Quality All in One Place · Date-Stamped Approvals · Pre-Deadline Alerts
Accreditations and Audits: Qualifications That Must Be Demonstrated
Some qualifications are required by law, and An auditor will ask you for dated proof of this.
If your facility is ISO 9001-certified, the standard requires you to maintain documented evidence of competence. In the pharmaceutical industry, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) require training records.
None of these documents specify which tool to use. They ask you to determine, for each person, what they have approved, when, and when it expires. A authorization tracking "Up to Date" can help you with that.
Where should you start when deploying IWS?
Start by identifying a specific need for your website and launching an explanatory campaign, then launch a pilot project, because training people before imposing rules is the recommended way to overcome initial resistance.
The condition of your equipment determines which pillar to start with. The same article on TPM recommends beginning with autonomous maintenance in a dirty or dusty plant, with targeted improvements and autonomous maintenance in an older facility, and with quality maintenance—which focuses on product defects—in a new plant.
- Choose a specific need for your site—such as stoppages, scrap, or service rate—that gives meaning to the process.
- Choose the first pillar based on the condition of the equipment—new, old, or dirty.
- Mapping the skills in the pilot area in a lean skills matrix, to find out who is already eligible for what benefits.
- Explain and provide training, then launch the pilot machine, which demonstrates the benefits before asking everyone to pitch in.
- Extend this to other lines and other pillars, tracking each validation over time.
Figure 4
Which pillar should I start with?
Two choices, followed by the five steps of the sequence.
What specific need of your website justifies this approach?
What is the condition of your fleet?
- 1.Select a specific requirement for your site, such as stoppages, scrap, or the service rate.
- 2.Choose the first pillar based on the condition of the equipment—new, old, or dirty.
- 3.Map the skills in the pilot area.
- 4.Explain and provide training, then start the pilot machine.
- 5.Extend this to other lines and other pillars, tracking each validation over time.
Phases 3 through 5 are when validations become more frequent, and when a skills management tool comes into play.
Rule taken from the TPM journal of Marín-García and Mateo Martínez (2013), as mentioned in the article. Nothing is recorded or sent.
A skills management tool like Mercateam comes into play during stages 3 through 5 of your sequence, when assessments become more frequent.
- The competency matrix issues an alert before a certification expires.
- The training module validates each step with an electronic signature.
- The staffing schedule assigns only authorized operators to each workstation.
- The instructions for each station are accessed on-site via a QR code.
What if your site is an SME? You follow the same sequence, with fewer pillars and only one pilot line at a time.
What You Can Do Starting This Week
Take a list and note, standard by standard, who is qualified and since when, prior to any phase evaluation or maintenance transfer.
- List the line standards, from centerlines to one-page data sheets.
- For each operator, note which standards they have validated and on what date.
- Note the required authorizations listed on the line and their expiration dates.
This initial assessment requires no tools, and it's the first step we recommend taking. To keep it up to date across multiple lines, you can Request a Mercateam demo.
Mercateam Demo
Keep this status report up to date across multiple lines
After your first reading on a line, track your qualifications and deadlines all in one place.
Demo on your own computers · Import your Excel file · Hosting in Europe
