A skill matrix template for automation and robotics companies (free download)

An integrator quotes for a cell that combines a robot from brand B, a vision station for part orientation and a safety PLC. The quote goes out on Monday. On Friday the owner discovers that a single engineer has done all three, and he is booked on a site handover that month. The firm can delay the job or send someone to learn on the customer's floor. A skill matrix would have shown the problem before the quote left.

In an automation firm, the matrix answers three questions. Who can do this job without help? Where does a skill rest with one person? Who should learn what next? It works only if the columns match what you sell and the levels are backed by evidence. A sheet of vague strengths like good at PLCs helps nobody plan a cell.

Left-hand fields: name, role, joining date, home base, date of last change.
Wiring and testing: panel wiring to drawing; ferruling and wire numbering; continuity buzz-out and insulation-resistance tests.
PLC brand A: offline logic; live changes while the machine runs; fault finding with cross-reference lists, watch-tables and forcing.
PLC brand B: the same three columns as brand A.
Robot brand A: teach-pendant jogging and programming; offline simulation; tool, frame and payload set-up; remastering after a crash.
Robot brand B: the same four columns as robot brand A.
HMI and SCADA: screen build to a tag-naming scheme; alarm lists that avoid an alarm-flood; historian tags, trends and reports.
Drives and motion: VFD parameter sets and autotune; servo tuning; braking resistor, encoder and homing faults.
Machine vision: backlight, dome or telecentric choices; tool set-up and thresholds; retuning for a new variant.
Safety: dual-channel e-stop and guard interlock circuits; light curtain muting; safety relays; safety PLC changes.
Project: running a FAT; leading site commissioning; customer operator training; remote support.
Process knowledge: one column per industry you serve, such as a clarifier at a water works, a cement kiln, a bottling hall or a body shop.
In every box: a score of 0 to 4 and the job that earned it.

• 0 Not trained. Has not worked on this. Leave it blank rather than guess.
• 1 Observed. Has watched it done on a named project, with no hands-on time yet.
• 2 Supervised. Has done it with a senior checking each step. Name the project and the senior.
• 3 Independent. Has done it alone on a customer job and the result held at FAT or site. Name the job.
• 4 Can teach. Has taken someone else from 1 to 3. Name the learner.

1. 1

   List the people

   Everyone who touches a job: engineers, wiremen, fitters, testers and service staff. Include trainees at level 0 and 1.

2. 2

   Fix the columns

   Start from your last ten quotations and list every skill they needed. Drop columns nobody quotes for.

3. 3

   Ask for a self-rating

   Each person marks their own row. Self-ratings often run high on software and low on commissioning, which is worth knowing.

4. 4

   Check against evidence

   The project manager or engineering head confirms each level 2 and above against a named job, FAT log or site sign-off.

5. 5

   Date it and file it

   HR keeps the master copy, with an evidence-log tab beside it. Every change is dated and signed off by whoever checked the proof.

Project managers update the rows of everyone on a job after each FAT and each handover, while the evidence is fresh. HR holds the master and chases gaps monthly. The owner reads it every month, ideally before the pipeline meeting, as a cover check on upcoming quotations. Twice a year, the engineering head walks through the sheet with each person and clears stale entries. Someone marked independent on a brand they have not touched in two years is probably back to supervised.

Down each column, tally the names scoring 3 or 4. One name means the skill leaves with a single resignation. No names means you are quoting work nobody can do alone. Mark those columns red and give each a pairing: a named person moving from 1 to 3 on the next job that needs it. Our post on what happens when one engineer holds the whole project covers the handover side of the same risk.

The matrix becomes a ladder when each level change shows up in grade or pay. A programmer who reaches level 3 on a second robot brand has made the firm easier to sell. The pay benchmark page for robotic integrators shows how to price that step. The red columns become the year's training plan. The skills grid used by industrial automation companies maps skills by brand and plant type in a similar way.

Copy the template into a spreadsheet, with one tab for the matrix and one for the evidence log. Fill it for your current project team first, not the whole firm. Read the red columns against your next three quotations. For a general method that suits any shop floor, see building a skill matrix step by step. The hub page for the sector sets out the wider people patterns behind this risk.