ECRS poster

ECRS is a checklist from work study for improving a job one step at a time: can the step be eliminated, combined with another, rearranged into a better order, or simplified? The order matters. A step you stop doing costs nothing to improve, so elimination comes first and simplifying what is left comes last. This poster gives the four questions with an icon each, for use once the job has been timed or filmed.

Download the poster

The PNG is free to download now. The print-ready vector PDFs open after a short form, once.

Download PNG (300 dpi)2550 x 3300 px, prints at 8.5 x 11 in · 345 KB · no form

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ECRS poster — 24 x 36 in18 x 24 inA2A3LetterA4PNG 300 dpi

The words on the poster

ECRS: four questions for every step

Ask them in order. The cheapest step to improve is the one you stop doing.

Eliminate Can we stop doing this step at all? Who needs it?
Combine Can two steps be done at once, or by one person?
Rearrange Would a new order remove walking, waiting or handling?
Simplify Can what is left be made easier, quicker and safer?

Time it first. Use a time study or a video, then question each step, not each person.

On the floor

How to use it

Putting the ECRS poster to work

1
Put it where time studies and line balancing are done, or carry the Letter size to the line.
2
Go through a filmed job step by step and ask the four questions of each step.
3
Use it in a kaizen event to stop the team jumping to automation before removing steps.
4
Pair it with the free time study sheet and standard work combination table.

Where the poster goes and how to teach with it, in the order to try them.

Which size to print

24 x 36 in or A2: a main wall or team board, read from a few metres away.
18 x 24 in or A3: a station or notice board. The A3 file also fits 11 x 17 in paper.
Letter or A4: a clipboard, binder or handout, on any office printer.

Every PDF is vector, so it stays sharp at full size. Nothing runs to the edge of the page, so no bleed is needed.