Monday, first shift, two people absent on the bracket line. The supervisor glances at the matrix pinned by the line office. It was last touched before the previous customer audit. It says Ramesh can run the nut projection welder. Ramesh moved to the paint shop in August. The supervisor puts a floater on the welder instead, and nobody knows whether the floater was ever signed off there.
A matrix that describes last year is decoration. For plants in the automotive components group, it has to answer three questions every shift. Who can run each operation today? Where is cover thin? Who signed that each person was ready? The layout below pastes into spreadsheet cells, one item per column, and prints on a single A3 sheet.
The template
Header: plant, line name, shift, month, prepared by, verified by.
Columns A to E: employee code, name, joining date, contractor name if any, home station.
Columns F onwards: one per operation in routing order, for example OP10 blanking, OP20 forming, OP30 piercing, OP40 nut projection welding, OP50 torque check, OP60 final gauging and packing.
Put a star on the header of any operation marked as a special characteristic on the control plan.
Code 0: not trained on this operation.
Code 1: shadowing; may load and unload with the trainer standing beside.
Code 2: runs under watch; the line leader checks every part.
Code 3: runs alone, does first-piece and last-piece checks and reacts correctly to a red gauge.
Code 4: sets the operation after a changeover and coaches a newcomer through codes 1 to 3.
In each cell after the code: sign-off date and the watcher's initials.
Starred operations: code 3 or 4 also carries the quality engineer's countersignature.
Row under the names: how many people sit at code 3 or above for each operation on this shift.
Bottom row: refresher due date for each operation, reset after any drawing or process change.
Last column: date of the latest eyesight check for anyone at code 3 on visual inspection.
Flag rule: an operation turns red when fewer than two names hold code 3 or 4.Why operations, not machines
Many plants list machines across the top. That hides the real risk. One press may run three different dies, and an operator signed off on the bracket die may never have seen the gusset die. Listing operations in routing order also matches the control plan, which is the document an auditor holds. When the two line up, a starred column on the matrix points straight at a starred row on the plan.
Filling it the first time
- 1
Draft from the line leader's memory
Sit with each line leader for half an hour and mark codes as he believes them. Expect optimism.
- 2
Verify by watching
Over the next fortnight, watch each person at code 3 run the operation and handle a planted reject. Lower any code that does not hold up.
- 3
Collect second signatures on starred columns
The quality engineer watches and signs. Until then the cell stays at code 2, whatever the history.
- 4
Enter contract workers on the same sheet
Same codes, same sign-offs, contractor named in column D. The customer will not separate them, so neither should you.
- 5
Print, pin and date it
The printed copy carries the date it was generated. An old date should be challenged on sight.
Who touches it, and how often
- Line leader: updates the cell on the day of each sign-off, never in a hurried catch-up on the thirtieth.
- Quality engineer: signs every starred cell at code 3 and above, and checks refresher dates after an engineering change.
- HR: merges line sheets into a plant master each month and links codes to the operator grade ladder.
- Shift supervisor: picks relief only from people at code 3 or above for that operation.
- Plant head: reads the red count by line every Monday and asks what the plan is for each red.
Reading it on a Monday
Start with the red cells. Each red is an operation one absence away from a stopped line or an untrained stand-in. Each red earns a nominated learner and a deadline. Then look along the rows. Someone at code 4 on four operations is your next line leader, or your next resignation if nothing changes for them. People stuck at code 1 for months tell you training has stalled.
Linking codes to growth
Operators read a matrix as a promise when each code step means something on the pay slip or in the next role. Agree the link once, publish it, and apply it identically across day, evening and night crews. The underlying method, written for any trade, is in our step-by-step matrix guide. For lines where setters drive the codes, see the learning plan for fastener plants. Plants with new products every few months can borrow from the EV component learning page.
