Assembly work instruction
A work instruction is not an SOP. An SOP describes a process across roles; a work instruction tells one operator how to perform one task correctly at the bench. Conflating them produces documents too general to follow at the station and too detailed to read as process. This is the station-level version, which is also what ISO 9001 auditors expect to see referenced from the procedure.
- 1
Operator confirms the work order, part number, and revision match the drawing at the station.
Operator
Revision match is the check that prevents building last month's version. A superseded drawing at the station is the most common cause of a whole batch being wrong.
- 2
Operator confirms every component and consumable listed on the bill of materials is present and within its shelf life.
Operator
Shelf life applies to adhesives, sealants, and anything with a cure time. Expired consumables fail later, in service, where the cost is far higher.
- 3
Operator confirms tools and gauges are the specified ones and are within calibration date.
Operator
An out-of-calibration gauge invalidates every measurement taken with it, which can mean re-inspecting everything built since its last valid check.
All in calibration: go to step 4
Out of calibration: go to step 10
- 4
Operator performs the assembly steps in the sequence shown on the drawing, without substituting the order.
Operator
Sequence is part of the specification. Steps that look interchangeable often are not, because access or cure order depends on them.
- 5
Operator applies the specified torque, pressure, or setting and records the actual value where the drawing calls for a record.
Operator
Record the actual value, not a tick. A number lets someone diagnose a drift; a tick tells nobody anything.
- 6
Operator performs the in-process check at the point the drawing specifies, before the feature becomes inaccessible.
Operator
In-process rather than final, deliberately. Checking a feature you can no longer reach means the only options are scrap or rework.
- 7
Operator confirms the measured result is within the stated tolerance.
Operator
Within tolerance: go to step 8
Out of tolerance: go to step 9
- 8
Quality Inspector performs the final inspection against the inspection criteria and records the result against the work order.
Quality Inspector
Accepted: the procedure ends
Rejected: go to step 9
- 9
Operator stops, labels and quarantines the affected item, and raises it with the Line Supervisor rather than adjusting to make it fit.
Operator
Stop rather than correct. An out-of-tolerance part adjusted at the bench is an undocumented deviation, and it hides the reason the process drifted.
Raised and quarantined: go to step 11
- 10
Line Supervisor removes the uncalibrated tool from service, arranges calibration, and identifies anything already built with it.
Line Supervisor
Identifying prior output is the part that gets skipped and the part that matters. Everything measured since the last valid calibration is of unknown conformity.
Replacement tool in service: go to step 4
- 11
Line Supervisor decides the disposition: rework to specification, use as is under a documented concession, or scrap.
Line Supervisor
All three need a written record and a named decision-maker. Use-as-is without a recorded concession is the finding auditors look hardest for.
Rework: go to step 4
Concession or scrap recorded: the procedure ends
Change these before you use it
- Attach the actual drawing, bill of materials, and inspection criteria. Without them this is a framework, not a work instruction, and it cannot be followed at a station.
- State your real tolerances and torque values. This template deliberately states none, because inventing them would be worse than leaving them blank.
- Add photographs of the correct assembly at each step. For station-level work, an image outperforms a paragraph, and this is the main reason paper work instructions fail.
- If you are certified, reference this instruction from the parent procedure so the document hierarchy an auditor expects actually exists.
- This is a starting point, not engineering or safety guidance. Have it reviewed by whoever owns the process.
This is a starting point, not compliance advice. It is written to be adapted, and a procedure that touches access, money, or customer data needs to match how your business actually operates and whatever rules apply to you. Use it as a first draft to edit, not a policy to adopt.
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