Stop the Madness! Implement 5S
5s housekeeping kaizen lean lean manufacturing manufacturing productivity set in order shine sort standardize sustain team-based visual factoryDon’t just clean the mess, 5S!
Lean 5S’s stand for Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardize and Sustain and 5S is the most universal tool in the lean toolbox. The 5S methodology can be applied in every factory across the globe and it is guaranteed to make them all more productive. Whether you work in a job shop or a high-volume factory and regardless of the products you manufacture, 5S does work.
Before 5S is implemented, a common phrase spoken in a plant is, “clean-up, we have a tour coming through”. Then everyone scurries about cleaning the factory up for some VIP tour. Then after the tour, poor housekeeping practices return. And soon, it cycles back again.
Instead of pursuing this cycle of madness, implement a 5S approach. After implementing 5S, your plant will always be “tour ready” and it will operate more efficiently too. The time wasted looking for things is eliminated from your cost structure. You keep only what you need, where you need it and in the quantities that are required for production.
5S provides a sustainable method for shopfloor organization and housekeeping. With 5S everything and I mean everything in your factory has a specific and visual place for storage. Tools, parts, supplies and materials are stored in shadow locations. When something is missing, the shadow location screams back at you, “Replace Me!”
There is no place for dirt or clutter. In fact, dirt and clutter seem so out of place in a lean factory that these issues present themselves as a violation of your senses. Because of the visual nature of a 5S shop, everyone simply feels compelled to comply. Shift-to-shift handoffs become easy too because unacceptable conditions are visual and rare.
To implement 5S in your factory, start small. Choose a place that is visible when you first walk into your plant. Select a cross functional kaizen team of about 10-12 people. Do a little bit of training and then methodically progress through the 5S steps. Remember, this isn’t just another housekeeping event. This is a 5S journey.
5S is team-based because you need the horsepower of numbers. The more people you have, the more work you can get done. The team is cross-functional because you want outside eyes to challenge the norms that exist. And most importantly, you want team-based decisions. Often during normal housekeeping exercises, people don’t know where to put things, so they simply hide stuff in cabinets and dark corners. However, with 5S, this team-based, focused event provides the time and resources for decision-making. 5S is not about hiding stuff, it is about discovering issues, making decisions and providing a long-term solution for operational organization.
There is no doubt that 5S will make your plant more cost effective, efficient and enjoyable. And there is no other method of housekeeping that is as sustainable as 5S.
Stay connected with news and updates!
If you want some weekly T4T wisdom coming straight to your inbox for your reading pleasure - look no further! Join our mailing list to receive the latest blogs and updates.
Don't worry, your information will not be shared.
We hate SPAM. We will never sell your information, for any reason.
CATEGORIES
All Categories 5s 5s standardize 5s sustain 6m's accomplishment accountability accuracy action action plans actions ada addiction addiction help adverserial affordable agenda alcohol alcoholism amazon american disabilities act anderson-darling approachability art artisan assembly assembly line assessment assignments attention to details attribute gage r&r auto industry auto manufacturing auto production automobile manufacturing average avoidance best practices big bend black belt boss boulder city bourbon trail business business case business model business proposals candidate experience candidates capability study capital career cargo cash flow cell design cememt central limit theorem central tendancy ceo certification certification training challenges change change management changeover reduction chaos child labor ci cnc cnc programming cogs communication communitiy company compassion compitition concrete conducting interviews conflict conflict management consistency construction consumption continuous improvement corrective action correlation analysis cost savings costs course cp cp and cpk cpk cross-functional cross-training cross-training matrix crude culture current state current state map customer customer satisfaction customer service customer value customers cv daily goals dallas dam data data collection data transformation debt-free decision maker defects demand department design design of experiment design review design reviews develop development dfm diet direct labor diversity documentation doe drilling driving results drug use duluth dumping e learn e-learning eap ebit education effective effectiveness effectivity effects of change efficiency email empathy empirical rule employee employee assistance program employee development employee engagement employee recgonition employees encouragement enforcement engagement engineer engineering equipment exercise expectations expertise experts facilitate facilitator factories factory family life feedback financial fishing fixed mindset flexibility flexible follow-up ford forecast fossil fuels fred jones freightliners friendships frontline leaders fun gage r&r gasoline gemba general motors goals gold rush good conflict great lakes great teams gross margins gross profits growth growth mindset habits health healthy henry ford heritage hiring histogram history hoover dam housekeeping how to be a great teammate how to thrill customer human relations human resources hydro-electric hydro-electric power hypothesis testing ice breaker illinios river valley illinois illinois river immersion improve improvement industrial industrial engineering industrial heritage industrial heritgage industrial history industry industry 4.0 inequity injury prevention innovation inspection instructions integrity internal promotion interview questions interview skills interview tips interviewing inventory investment irresponsible jack daniels distillery tour job diversity job shop job shops jobs kaizen kanban kappa kentucky knowledge lead leader leaders leadership leadership development leading lean lean champion lean culture lean implementation lean journey lean kickoff lean launch lean manufacturing lean pilot project lean six sigma lean strategy lean tools lean vision learn learning lifestyle logging logistics low prices lumber machine guarding machine speed machines maintenance making a pitch management management by walking around manager managers managing managing conflict managing the floor manpower manufacturing manufacturing leaders manufacturing leadership manufacturing plants manufacturing results manufacturing supervisor manufacturing supervisor leadership marfa material mbwa mean measurement meditation meeting meetings mental health methods metrics midland milk run mindset minnesota model-t mother nature muda multivariant analysis national park nature new products night shift nimble business normal distribution normality test office oil ojt okc oklahoma on line courses on-site factories on-time delivery onboarding one-on-one online open-door operational excellence operator operators opex ore organization otd output overhead ownership p-value packaging packaging material partner partnering partnership partnerships pdca pdca cycle peers performance performance management performance patterns performance review perimian basis personal accountability personal growth personal grwoth personality petroleum pikes place pitch plan planner planning plant plant costs plastics point of use poka-yoke policy portland cement positive feedback pou power plant pp ppk praise presentation presentation anxiety presentations prices prime costs principles printing private label problem solving problems procedure procedures process process capability process center process controls process engineer process management process variation product development product testing production production flow production supervisor productive conflict productivity products professionalism profit profits profressional development progress project project management projections projects promoted props provide qualifies quality quality control quality tool quick changeover r&d range rapid changeover recognition recognize recruiting recycling red tag referals refinery reliability reputation resolving conflict respect responsibility responsible results resume resume screening resumes revenue rewards rigs roi rolling-5 rolling-5 action plans roots routine safety safety incentives sales sales tips salesperson sampling science screening screening applicants seattle self-promotion selling service set in order set-in-order set-up reduction shadow board shareholder shine shipping shopfloor single minute of exchange of die single-piece six-sigma skills sleep slideshow sme smed social life sort specifications specs speed to market staffing staffing model standard cost standard deviation standardize starved rock state-of-the-art statistics steel steel fabrication steel industry stress stress management strong leader structure success supervision supervisor supervisor development supervisor leadership supervisors supervsior supplier supply chain support sustain systems t-test tactical takt teaching team team work team-based teammate teams teamwork technical tennesse whiskey tennessee texas the great depression the hoover dam the normal distribution curve timber time management time-series tools tourism toyota production system tpm tps training training methods travel troubleshooting trust turn around two sample t-test types of change understanding vacation validation value value stream value stream map value-driven values variance variances variation velocity vendor managed inventory video violations visual factory vmi voc volunteering vsm war on waste washington waste waste reduction waterway wellbeing work instructions work rules workforce workplace workplace conflict