Map the tasks that would hurt most to lose

A skills matrix is only as useful as the question it answers. The one an operations leader asks after a fault is simple: who on this shift can fix it?

Start from the task

List the handful of tasks that stop a line when nobody can do them: a CIP sequence recovery, a filler valve rebuild, an ammonia refrigeration fault. Then count the people on each shift who can perform each task unsupervised.

Exhibit 1

Illustrative data

In this illustrative bottling plant, three critical tasks have a shift with no one qualified to do them

Number of people qualified to perform each critical task, by shift (skills matrix), illustrative bottling plant

In this illustrative bottling plant, three critical tasks have a shift with no one qualified to do them (Number of people qualified to perform each critical task, by shift (skills matrix), illustrative bottling plant)

	Shift A	Shift B	Shift C	Shift D
Boiler start-up after trip	3	2	1	1
Labeler changeover	2	2	2	1
CIP sequence recovery	1	0 · gap	1	0 · gap
Ammonia refrigeration fault-finding	2	1	0 · gap	1
Palletizer jam clearing	3	3	3	2
Filler valve rebuild	1	1	0 · gap	0 · gap

People qualified on shift: 0 1 2 3+

Link to this exhibit: In this illustrative bottling plant, three critical tasks have a shift with no one qualified to do them

1. 1Callout 1: Handwheel and stem: the expert knows how far is enough by feel.
2. 2Callout 2: Bonnet: the order of the bolts matters on a rebuild.
3. 3Callout 3: Body and seat: wear shows first where the flow turns.

Read the gaps in coverage

A site total can look healthy while one shift has no one qualified on a critical task. The dashed cells in the exhibit mark those gaps. The values are illustrative and show how the matrix will be presented.