Free tool
Cross-Training Matrix: Find the Tasks Only One Person Can Run
The Monday start-up waits for one tech. The order load stops when the rep is on vacation. Most plants can name a few of these, and nobody has the full list. This check ranks every task that depends on one person and shows which to fix first.
Works on any plant or area. Free, and nothing you enter leaves the page.
Why use it
Every plant has tasks that wait for one person
They rarely show up on a skills matrix. Reports, approvals, start-ups and edits stop the floor just as fast as a station with no operator.
“We waited for the one person who knows it.”
One person can run the task alone, and that person was out.
Caught byRan it alone
“The backup has the login but has never run it alone.”
Access and a sign-off look like cover on paper. A solo run to standard is what counts.
Caught byTrained versus ran it alone
“Nights can’t do that.”
Both people who can run it work days, so the task waits for the morning.
Caught byShift cover
“Nobody books vacation in month-end week.”
Cover that holds today drops to one person when someone retires or goes on leave.
Caught byKnown absence
If any of these sound familiar, the check ranks them and gives each one a first fix.
Who it’s for
Rank the list before someone leaves
Plant managers
The week a key person gives notice.
Production managers and supervisors
Building the holiday schedule.
Maintenance managers
When one tech is the only one who starts the boiler.
CI leads
Picking tasks to simplify.
HR and training leads
Turning a training budget into a ranked list.
How it works
Three steps
List the tasks that would stop something
Start-ups, changeovers, approvals, edits, order loads and reports. Use roles in place of people’s names.
Answer a few questions per task
How often it runs, what stops without it, how many people have run it alone, whether every shift has one, and who will be away. Tasks with three or more people skip the rest.
Take the ranked list to your next production or staffing meeting
You get a ranked list with Start here, a first fix for each task with its five-step plan, a printable cross-training plan with write-in columns for backup, trainer and dates, and a blank cross-training matrix. On Riverside Packaging, 9 of 12 tasks are at risk, and the Monday boiler start-up comes first with a score of 20.
The method
Three cover checks, then a rank and a fix order
Each check tests one thing about a task. The examples come from Riverside Packaging, the sample plant in the tool below.
Ran it alone
How many people have run it alone, start to finish, to standard, in the last 90 days?
Passes whenTwo or more people have run it start to finish, without help, to standard, in the last 90 days.
Why it mattersTWI counts a person as able to do a job when they do it alone to standard; ILUO calls this level U.
PassesSanitation pre-op release: three people.
FailsMonday boiler start-up: one tech.
Shift cover
Does every shift that needs it have one of them?
Passes whenEvery shift that needs the task has someone who can run it alone.
Why it mattersTwo qualified people on days still leaves nights with none.
PassesCarrier booking and BOL: one on each shift.
FailsFiller fill-weight adjustment: both on days.
Known absence
Is anyone who can run it alone going to be away in the next 6 months?
Passes whenCover holds through planned retirements, leave and long vacations in the next 6 months.
Why it mattersTwo people drops to one the day one of them leaves.
PassesLabeler setup, Family A: three or more people.
FailsFirst-article approval: the QA manager is on leave in Q1.
How we rank
Which single-person task comes first?
How it worksFrequency × what stops, plus time to train and known absence. The weights are below.
Why it mattersA daily task that stops a line outranks a monthly report.
ExampleMonday boiler start-up scores 20: weekly × whole plant, plus months to train and a known absence.
ExampleMonth-end scrap report scores 3: monthly × reporting only, plus days to train.
Fix order
What do you do first for each task?
How it worksSimplify, build it in, train a second person, document what’s left, prove it with the expert away. Each task starts at the step that fits it.
Why it mattersIt draws on TWI Job Methods (eliminate, combine, rearrange, simplify) and the hierarchy-of-effectiveness idea that design and simplification beat training alone. This order is Webineering’s synthesis of those sources.
ExampleMonth-end scrap report starts with Simplify: automate the report.
ExampleCustomer EDI order load starts with Prove it: a backup is already trained.
The weights
| How often | Every day or shift 4, every week 3, every month 2, a few times a year 1 |
|---|---|
| What stops | Whole plant or shipments 4; a line, area, product, orders or releases 3; plans or schedules 2; reporting only 1 |
| Time to train | Months 3, weeks 2, days 1 |
| Known absence | Yes +5, Not sure +2 |
| No one in-house | +3 |
Score = how often × what stops + time to train + known absence + no one in-house. Ties go to the task that runs more often, then to list order.
Try it
Rank your single-person tasks
Open the example to see finished results, or list the tasks in your own plant or area.
Get started
Pick a starting point
Use roles such as “Line 2 lead” in place of people’s names. Your list stays in this page and clears when you close it.
Common questions
What counts as cover, and where the rules come from
Start to finish, without help, to standard, and recently: this check uses the last 90 days, or the last run for tasks that come up a few times a year. That follows Training Within Industry (TWI), which treats a person as able to do a job once they do it alone and the result meets the standard. On Riverside Packaging, three people meet that bar on the sanitation pre-op release.
No published standard sets a number. A common rule is one more than the job needs at once, per shift. This check sets a floor below that rule: two people who have run it alone, with every shift that needs the task covered, so it flags the tasks with no backup at all.
The number of people who could be out before a task stops. The term comes from software, where Avelino and colleagues measured it across 133 popular GitHub projects in 2016. On Riverside Packaging, the Monday boiler start-up has a bus factor of 1.
A skills matrix maps people to skills. This check ranks the tasks that depend on one person and prints the result as a cross-training matrix, with blank columns for the backup, the trainer and the dates. Use it alongside a skills matrix if you keep one.
I is in training, L can do it with limited help, U can do it alone to standard, and O can train others. The scale is common on lean skills matrices. This check counts a person once they reach U.
Use roles, such as “Line 2 lead” or “QA manager”. The ranked list and the printouts often get shared in production and staffing meetings, and a role stays accurate when people move. Nothing you enter leaves the page either way.
Rank anyway. With one person behind most tasks, training a second person on everything at once takes too long, so Simplify and Build it in carry more weight: automate the report, post the sequence, fix the settings. Start at the top of the list.
Schedule a solo run: the backup does the task start to finish with the expert on call and away from the task, and the result passes its normal check. That is step 5 of the fix order in the companion article. On Riverside Packaging, the customer EDI order load starts here, because a backup is already trained.
After any retirement, resignation or shift change, and at least once a year. Each of these changes who can run what, and a covered task can drop to one person the day someone leaves.
ISO 9001 clause 7.2 requires you to determine the competence each role needs, make sure people have it, and keep documented information as evidence. It does not name a skills matrix; a matrix is one common way to show that evidence.
Some tasks need a license or a qualified evaluator before a backup can run them. Boiler operation can need a state or local license, and OSHA 1910.178(l) requires forklift operator evaluations by someone with the knowledge, training and experience to evaluate. On Riverside Packaging, check this for the Monday boiler start-up and the forklift evaluation for new hires before assigning a backup.
Site assessment
Want a second set of eyes on who can run what?
Our fixed-fee site assessment reviews your floor processes, records and reports and ends in a written findings report.
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