Manufacturing skills matrix template
A free workbook for a production cell, line or maintenance crew — where skills matrices started, as ILUO cross-training charts. Stations, machines and procedures, rated on one five-level scale.
For a production or operations team
For a production cell, line or maintenance crew — where skills matrices started, as ILUO cross-training charts. Rows are stations, machines and procedures.
Skills in the template
- Line 1 operation
- Line 2 operation
- Machine setup and changeover
- Quality inspection
- Preventive maintenance
- Lockout / tagout
- Forklift
- 5S and workplace organisation
- Root-cause analysis
- Training new operators
The workbook opens in Excel, Google Sheets and Numbers, with 6 example people, a notes column for what the ratings mean, and empty rows to add your own.
Making it fit your team
- One row per station or machine, named the way the floor names it. Rate each person on what they can be seen doing there today.
- The scale maps onto ILUO: Beginner is "in training", Competent runs the station on routine work, Proficient handles the unusual cases, Expert trains others.
- Certifications that expire (forklift, first aid) need a date as well as a level. Keep it in the notes column, or use the training matrix template for them.
The rating scale
Every cell is rated on the same five levels, each defined by something you can watch a person do, and a blank cell means “wants to learn this”. The proficiency levels guide explains where they come from.
- 0 None
- Hasn't done it yet.
- 1 Beginner
- Does it with guidance or a checklist.
- 2 Competent
- Does it alone on routine work.
- 3 Proficient
- Handles the unusual cases; others rely on them.
- 4 Expert
- Sets the standard and teaches it to others.
Planning cross-training from it
The point of a manufacturing skills matrix is that no station stops because one person is off. Aim for at least two people at Competent or above on every station, and one Expert who can train the next.
Read each row before the shift plan. A station with one qualified operator on a shift is the first one to train for; a station with no Expert has no one in-house to train it at all.
More templates
- Software engineer skills matrix template
- HR skills matrix template
- Product manager skills matrix template
- Customer service skills matrix template
- Training matrix template
- General team template
All of them, and how to use any one as a competency matrix template, are on the skills matrix templates page.
When the spreadsheet stops being enough
Kunska keeps the same matrix live for the whole team: everyone rates their own skills, changes show up as they happen, and the gaps and development plans come out of it. Free for teams.