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5S: The foundation for the lean journey

This lean practice engages the workforce in making the shop a better place to work

Regardless of the stage of your lean journey, the investment of time, talent, and treasure in getting 5S right is critical. When I say getting it right, I am talking about treating 5S as an important and measurable process that affects the business, rather than simply a technique to clean and organize an area.

Lots of companies dabble in 5S. They do a little here and there, shine things up a bit, maybe purge some items that have been taking up space. But this provides only modest and short-term benefits. More important, it does not modify the behavior of people in the organization so that they actively, and without “pushing,” support this essential foundation of the lean journey. Change in behavior is what enables sustainable improvement. By treating 5S as the foundation that everything else in your improvement portfolio is built upon, you can enhance your investments in lean, Six Sigma, and other business process management methods.

5S Review

Although the lean literature has varying definitions of 5S, most have some elements of cleaning, organization, stability, and standardization. The 5S definition that works best for me is: A method for achieving stability and standardization in the workplace and for removing muda, or waste.

This definition gets at the bigger problems of stability and standardization. The cleaning and organizing are means to the ends. The areas where you begin implementing 5S could be a workcell, a machine, the maintenance room, a section of the warehouse, or a cubicle in the front office. 5S is a universal improvement method that works in almost any type of operation, regardless of industry, size, or level of lean process maturity.

Elements of 5S

1. Sort and select, or “remove everything that’s not needed.” Sort out and separate what needs to remain and what needs to be removed. Try putting red tags on the items that could be removed, so people can quickly identify them. Put these items in a quarantine area so other stakeholders can have input as to whether or not they should be removed.

This is the most emotional part of 5S. People in one shift may say that rickety old chair or cabinet behind the machine is a nuisance and safety hazard, while people on the other shift may say it has been there for 20 years and they cannot do without it. The key is to be aggressive and get the stuff out!

2. Straighten and store, or “set in order.” Next, organize. Think about what is used frequently (maybe every machine cycle or several times a day). Keep these items close so there is no need for wasted motion. Keep items required only sporadically or infrequently out of the immediate work area but within a reasonable travel distance.

3. Scrub and shine, or “clean and inspect.” In the factory with presses, die lubes, and a history of minimal attention to equipment, you may need a 55-gallon container of scum-buster. In a medical device manufacturing clean room, you might need only a spray bottle and lint-free cloths for wiping things down. But in both cases, the third S requires attention to and inspection of the state of the equipment. If you do it right, the “scrub” will get you up close and personal with the equipment.

4. Standardize, or “regular locations and cleaning.” This step focuses on making the workplace organization and control repeatable and consistent. Develop standards around the layout, tool locations, timing and frequency of cleaning, and expectation of what people’s roles are in ongoing execution of 5S. Use shadow boards to identify what tools to have in the area and whether tools are available as expected. Have cleaning supplies (brooms, wipes, shovels, hoppers, and whatever else is appropriate for the situation) available and visible.

5. Sustain, or “spread, train, self-discipline.” To sustain the effort, initiate a regular 5S audit—weekly, biweekly, or whatever makes sense for the situation. Convert the audit scores and feedback into action. Monitor, tabulate, and post the scores in trending graphs. Share the audit feedback with the stakeholders (people working in the area, supervisors, and supporting engineers) so they can act on the specific feedback noted during the audit. This is critical to driving behavior that is consistent and supportive of 5S. When this happens, you know that people consider 5S as the foundation for the lean journey.

The first three steps are the easiest and most straightforward. People receive a lot of instant gratification from cleaning and organizing an area. The hard part comes with the last two steps. When you standardize and sustain, you begin to make 5S an ongoing process that becomes part of the way you do business.

How to Treat 5S as a Process

Most organizations start 5S modestly and tactically. They learn about its potential in improving the operations. People spend less time looking for stuff, have better control of tools and materials, free up space to improve flow, and have more time for value-adding activities. Put another way, you have a more effective, better utilized workforce.

The companies most effective in implementing 5S build it into their operations strategy in a meaningful and measurable way. They make 5S visible and make its importance very clear. In short, their actions speak volumes.

So how do you elevate 5S to a level of “process” and strategic importance? Here are a few ideas to get you started:

  • Invest in training and involve everyone. Make sure everyone knows what 5S is and how to do it. Provide examples of what is expected. Develop standards that take away the guessing, and make expectations objective. Although you might start modestly with pilot areas, always strive toward the vision where everyone is effectively involved.
  • Leverage best practices. There is no need to reinvent the wheel. Leverage the great ideas, methods, and techniques from one area to another. This ups the return on investment and provides a baseline for the next great idea. Recognize the people who generate good ideas and implement the best practices of 5S.
  • Audit the performance. Develop an audit process that provides objective feedback about 5S in an area. The audit sheet should provide enough description so that both the auditor and the person working in the area being audited understand what is expected. Items on the audit worksheet might focus on floor cleanliness, hose locations, use of shadow boards for tools, timeliness of data on the information board, access into and out of the work area, and lots more. Your audit strategy also should address who does the audit (self-audit, peer audit, supervisor audit, or lean manager audit, for example).
  • Measure the results. If you believe the saying that you get what you measure, then measuring 5S is critical. One way to measure is to use the scores from the 5S audit to track the performance trends for an area. The areas in a department can be rolled up into a departmental (supervisor’s area of responsibility) score. Depending on the behavior you are attempting to drive or reinforce, the scores can be rolled up to plant, division, or even overall corporate 5S scores. Talk about creating alignment!

A Showcase Shop Floor

5S is an effective way to engage the workforce in making the plant or office a better place to work. As 5S gains traction, it helps push responsibility for cleanliness, organization, stability, and standardization deeper into the organization. Who better to be responsible and empowered to keep the work center or cubicle organized than the person who spends eight hours a day there? 5S provides the structure and the process for this to be done well.

Results from the 5S investment can show up financially (less spending on lost tooling or reduced MRO item consumption), operationally (increased on-time schedule performance or quicker throughput), and organizationally (increased autonomy in the work centers or improved employee satisfaction through fewer minor disruptions).

Is your plant a showcase where you want customers to visit? If yes, then are you leveraging that showcase as part of your marketing strategy? If your plant is not a showcase, why not?

Regardless of whether your company is just starting or is a seasoned traveler in the lean journey, it will be worth your time to evaluate how 5S can lead to great performance. I encourage you at your next staff meeting, daily sunrise meeting, or continuous improvement process meeting to ask, “How can we use 5S to make our plant the showcase and be the strongest player in our markets?”

About the Author
Back2Basics  LLC

Jeff Sipes

Principal

9250 Eagle Meadow Dr.

Indianapolis, IN 46234

(317) 439-7960