Skills matrix (ILUO)
People × skills with ILUO levels, a target level and the people needed per skill: coverage, gaps, single points of failure, Excel with formulas and a blank matrix.
Input
Paste, open a CSV, TSV, TXT or XLSX file (up to 20 MB), or drop it on the field. Files are read in this browser only.
Levels 0–4 or I, L, U, O; “-” = not trained, empty = not assessed. Optional rows “Target level” and “People needed” set them per skill; otherwise the defaults below apply.
Runs in this browser. Data is not uploaded or stored.
Results
6 people, 6 skills: 1 more person needed at the target level, 1 skill on one person only.
- Only one person is at the target level for “Changeover”: a single point of failure.
- “Changeover”: 1 person is not assessed.
| Person | Welding | Pressing | Assembly | Inspection | Packing | Changeover | At target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operator A | O | U | U | L | U | O | 5 |
| Operator B | U | L | U | U | O | I | 4 |
| Operator C | U | U | L | I | U | L | 3 |
| Operator D | L | I | U | U | U | – | 3 |
| Operator E | I | U | O | L | L | · | 3 |
| Operator F | – | L | U | U | U | U | 3 |
| Target level | U (3) | U (3) | U (3) | U (3) | L (2) | O (4) | |
| At target / needed | 3 / 3 | 3 / 2 | 5 / 3 | 3 / 2 | 6 / 2 | 1 / 2 | |
| Gap | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | 1 missing |
Squares: I one side, L two, U three, O closed; cells at the skill’s target level have a heavy outline.
| Skill | Target | At target | Needed | Gap | Below target | Not assessed | Can teach |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Welding | U (3) | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Pressing | U (3) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Assembly | U (3) | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Inspection | U (3) | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Packing | L (2) | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Changeover | O (4) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| Person | Skills at target | Only one at target for |
|---|---|---|
| Operator A | 5 of 6 | Changeover |
| Operator B | 4 of 6 | — |
| Operator C | 3 of 6 | — |
| Operator D | 3 of 6 | — |
| Operator E | 3 of 6 | — |
| Operator F | 3 of 6 | — |
Download offline versionSingle HTML file · v1.4 · 536 KB · works without internet
How the skills matrix is calculated
A skills matrix shows who can do which job at which level, so that training is planned before an absence stops the line. The ILUO levels are a common shop-floor practice, not a standard.
Formulas
- Level: 0 not trained, 1 I in training, 2 L with help, 3 U alone to the standard, 4 O can teach; empty = not assessed.
- At target for a skill = people with a level at or above its target level (default U).
- Gap = max(0, people needed − at target); single point: exactly one person at the target.
- Coverage = Σ min(at target, needed) / Σ needed.
Worked example (the tool’s example)
- Six operators, six skills. Changeover needs level O and two people; only Operator A is at O: at target 1, gap 1, a single point of failure.
- Every other skill has the people it needs; coverage = (3 + 2 + 3 + 2 + 2 + 1) / 14 = 93 %.
- Operator F at U in changeover is the obvious next one to train to O.
Common mistakes
- Rating by impression: assess against the work instruction, at the station.
- Counting people at I or L as cover: they cannot work alone yet.
- Updating the matrix once a year: it is a planning tool, keep it current with the training.
Input and files
- Paste the matrix from Excel or open a CSV or Excel file: names in the first column, one column per skill; levels as numbers or letters.
- Excel: the matrix with the levels as numbers, and the people at target, the gap and the coverage as formulas. Print / PDF on A4 landscape; the blank matrix (fillable PDF, Excel with formulas) is for paper.
- Files: CSV, TSV and TXT are read as if pasted (UTF-8, UTF-16, otherwise Windows-1257). XLSX: choose the sheet and the columns or a cell range; formula cells use the value Excel last saved, dates are kept as text. Files up to 20 MB are read in this browser only and never uploaded.
- XLSX files are read with SheetJS Community Edition 0.20.3, Apache License 2.0 (license), loaded only when an Excel file is opened or created.
Questions
- What does ILUO mean?
- Four steps of being able to do a job, drawn as a square closed side by side: I – learning it, L – can do it with help, U – can do it alone to the standard, O – can do it and teach it. Here they are levels 1 to 4, with 0 for not trained. The wording varies between plants; what counts is that everyone reads the levels the same way.
- How many people should be able to do each job?
- Enough to cover absence, holidays and shift changes: three per job is a common rule for a one-shift job, more with several shifts. A skill with only one person at the target level is a single point of failure; the matrix lists them.
- How is coverage calculated?
- For each skill, the people at or above its target level, counted up to the number needed; summed over the skills and divided by the people needed in total. 100 % means every skill has the people it needs; the gap per skill shows how many more are needed.
Related tools
- One-point lesson: the sheet to train one point quickly.
- Combination table: the standard work the levels are measured against.
- Line balancing: how many operators the line needs.