A skill matrix template for CNC and precision machining shops (free download)

Ask an owner who can set the twin-spindle lathe on second shift and the usual reply is a pause, then a name, then a correction. A skill matrix replaces the pause with a sheet. It lists each person against each machine and says, level by level, what they have been seen to do.

This one is built for machine shops: turning, milling and VMC work, grinding, wire EDM and the measuring room. It is free to copy, and the lines below are the whole of it. Paste them into a spreadsheet, one row per person and a column for every machine type or inspection bench. The levels and the sign-off rule matter far more than the layout.

Row header: name, employee number, usual shift, date joined, current grade.
Columns: one per machine type or station. Examples: bar-fed lathe, sliding-head lathe, twin-spindle lathe, VMC with fourth axis, horizontal borer, surface grinder, cylindrical grinder, honing machine, wire EDM, CMM, deburr and wash.
Level 0: not trained on this machine.
Level 1: loads, unloads and deburrs under watch; may not start a cycle alone.
Level 2: runs a proven job unaided, measures on the agreed clock, halts on any doubtful size.
Level 3: swaps inserts, trims wear offsets within the agreed band, clears a simple alarm and carries on.
Level 4: sets the job, touches off tools, sets work offsets, proves and signs the first piece.
Level 5: programs or edits for this machine and teaches levels 1 to 4.
Each cell: the level, the signer's initials and the sign-off date.
Bottom of each column: a headcount at level 2 and higher, split by shift.
Mark red any machine where a shift has fewer than two people at level 2.
Final column per person: the next level targeted, on which machine, by which month.

1. 1

   Columns are machines, not departments

   Each distinct machine type earns its own column. Two lathes with the same control and turret can share one. A lathe with live tooling and a sub-spindle cannot share with a plain two-axis machine.

2. 2

   Draft it with the senior setter

   Sit with your most experienced setter and go person by person. Expect generous scores for old friends and harsh ones for newcomers. Mark every score from this round provisional.

3. 3

   Confirm each level on live work

   Over the next month a level holds only when the signer has watched the task during live production. Someone who says they can set the twin-spindle but has never proved a first piece there stays at level 3.

4. 4

   Add the per-shift counts

   Count, column by column and shift by shift, the people at level 2 or higher. This row is what turns the sheet from a record into a risk list.

5. 5

   Agree one next target per person

   One machine, one level, one month. Two or three targets at once usually means none get done.

• Shift supervisor: changes a cell on the day a sign-off happens and keeps the sheet at the time office.
• Senior setter or inspector: initials the level after watching the task; nobody signs their own cell.
• Office manager or HR: checks monthly that new joiners have a row and leavers are struck through with a date.
• Owner or plant head: reads the shift counts every month and asks about each red mark.

Updating at the moment of sign-off is the habit that keeps the sheet true. A matrix rebuilt from memory twice a year drifts from the floor within weeks, and people stop trusting it.

The shift-count row carries most of the value. A column with two names on days and one at night tells you which machine stops when one person takes leave. A column whose only level 4 has been there since the shop opened tells you where succession is thin. A person parked at level 2 on the same lathe for two years tells you why they are answering calls from the shop across the road.

Operators stop caring about a sheet that has never changed a payslip. Print the grade step attached to each level beside the matrix, even if the steps are modest. A level 3 initial on a second lathe then carries weight at the next increment. Our post on how operators should be graded covers the grade side, and structured training plans turn each target into a month-by-month schedule.

• Scoring people against a department instead of a machine, which hides who can really run the grinder.
• Letting people sign their own level, or letting a friend sign without watching the task.
• Leaving temporary and contractor-supplied operators off, so night cover looks healthier than it is.
• Refreshing it once a year before a customer visit, then forgetting it again.

The general method, written for every kind of floor, is in the floor-agnostic version of this method. Notes for one business type sit on the turning shop training route. The broader picture for the trade is on the machining employers' hub.