Without standardized work, there can be no consistent quality. When every employee performs a task differently, identifying the source of errors becomes difficult or even impossible. Even when a leader conducts a Gemba walk on the shop floor, the observation has little value if there is no standard to compare against.
In the traditional management approach-following Taylor's principles-industrial engineers were solely responsible for designing, modifying, and improving processes, while workers were expected to simply follow instructions. Standard work was often misused as a tool to measure employee performance, which contradicts the principle of respect for people, a cornerstone of the Toyota Production System.
Toyota's strength lies in its people, not just its processes. Standardized work at Toyota is designed to eliminate waste, develop employee skills, and build deep organizational knowledge. It empowers employees to improve processes, fosters continuous learning, and creates a foundation for high performance across the organization.
Dr. Mohammed Hamed Ahmed Soliman is an internationally recognized Lean expert, author, and university lecturer. He has published over 100 books and articles on Lean thinking, quality systems, and industrial excellence. He currently teaches Industrial Engineering and Management Systems at the American University in Cairo, an Executive Advisor and a member of the Advisory Committee of the IEOM International Society, and consults for global organizations across manufacturing, public services, and education.
With nearly two decades of academic and professional experience, Dr. Soliman has trained professionals across the Middle East, including engagements with Princess Nourah University in Saudi Arabia and Vale Oman Pelletizing Company. He has designed and delivered over 60 leadership and technical development programs, helping organizations build a culture of continuous improvement and operational excellence.
Earlier in his career, he worked in various industrial sectors including crystal-glass manufacturing, fertilizers, and chemicals, while educating teams on the Toyota Production System. He has led numerous lean transformation projects, delivering measurable results and uncovering substantial cost savings by targeting waste across production and service environments.
His lectures and training materials have reached over 200,000 learners via SlideShare, and his research is ranked among the most downloaded papers on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN) by Elsevier.
Dr. Soliman holds a BSc in Engineering, a master's in Quality Management, and postgraduate degrees in Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management. He also holds certifications in quality, cost, and operations management. He is a member of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE) and the Society for Engineering and Management Systems (SEMS).
His insights have been featured in SAGE Publications, Industrial Management, Lean Thinking, and other peer-reviewed platforms.
