Principles of 5 S

Efficient work and quality require clean environment, safety and discipline. 5S are simple, effective rules for tidiness.

Contents
Principles of 5S Hints Implementing 5S, my own experience irst step ! "raining managing staff Second step ! effective starting of 5S 5S patrol "#ird step ! turn 5S into daily task Pitfall$

Principle of 5 S
"#e 5S are prerequisites for any improvement program. %s waste is potential gain, so eliminating waste is a gain. 5S P#ilosop#y focuses on effective work place organi&ation, implifies work environment, reduces waste w#ile improving quality and safety. "#ere is no #ope for efficiency or quality improvement wit# dirty work place, waste of time and scrap. "#e five

S stand for t#e five first letters of t#ese 'apanese words!

Meaning Seiri Seiton Seiso Seiketsu Shitsuke Sorting Out Systematic Arrangement Spic and Span Standardizing Self-discipline

(alling t#is principle 5S is a good way to remem)er its content.

What are 5S?

Seiri
Sorting, keep t#e necessary in work area, dispose or keep in a distant storage area less frequently used items, unneeded items are discarded.

Seiri fig#ts t#e #a)it to keep t#ings )ecause t#ey may )e useful someday. Seiri #elps to keep work area tidy, improves searc#ing and fetc#ing efficiency, and generally clears muc# space. Seiri is also excellent way to gain valua)le floor space and eliminate old )roken tools, o)solete *igs and fixtures, scrap and excess raw material.

Seiton
Systematic arrangement for t#e most efficient and effective retrieval. % good example of Seiton is t#e tool panel. Effective Seiton can )e ac#ieved )y painting floors to visuali&e t#e dirt, outlining work areas and locations, s#adow tool )oards. or improving c#angeover time wit# SMED or reduce mac#ine downtime t#roug#t "otal Productive +aintenance ,TPM- it is necessary to #ave tools at #and. So a specific mo)ile tool cart was designed. %n ot#er example of Seiton are .)room carts.. %s cleaning is a ma*or part of 5S we custom made carts to #old )rooms, mops and )uckets. Several carts #ave specific locations and all employees can find t#em. Seiton saying would )e! "A place for everything and everything on its place."

Seiso
(leaning. %fter t#e first t#oroug# cleaning w#en implementing 5S, daily follow/up cleaning is necessary in order to sustain t#is improvement. (leanliness is also #elpful to notice damages on equipment suc# as leaks, )reakage and misalignment. "#ese minor damages, if left unattended, could lead to equipment failure and loss of production. 0egular cleaning is a type of inspection. Seiso is an important part of )asic "P+1 "otal Productive +aintenance and Safety matter t#roug# cleanliness is o)vious.

Seiketsu
Standardi&ing. 2nce t#e first t#ree S #ave )een implemented, it s#ould )e set as a standard so to keep t#ese good practice work area. 3it#out it, t#e situation will deteriorate rig#t )ack to old #a)its. Have an easy/to/follow standards and develop a structure to support it. %llow employees to *oin t#e development of suc# standards. "#e 4 firts S are often executed )y order. Seiketsu #elps to turn it into natural, standard )e#aviour.

Shitsuke
inally, to keep first 5 S alive, it is necessary to keep educating people maintaining standards. 6y setting up a formal system1 wit# display of results, follow/up, t#e now complete 5S get insured to live, and )e expanded )eyond t#eir initial limits, in an ongoing improvement way1 t#e 7ai&en way. "#e effect of continuous improvement leads to less waste, )etter quality and faster lead times.

Hints to 5S
"#e 5S principle is gradual and necessarily in t#at order. 5S are for everybody, it is #opeless expectation for su)ordinates to follow 5S if manager class does not comply to it. 5S s#ow efficiency in time, transforming t#e p#ysical environment of work area and spirit of all employee levels. %ll t#is seems o)vious8 9ooks easy8 2f course t#ere is not#ing really new, )ut )efore saying it is so simple or even dou)t its efficiency, try to set up 5S for yourself, for your unit. :ou will see difficulties and reluctance, so called resistance to c#ange, t#e natural tendency to return to t#e status quo and t#e good old way. %fter succeeding in setting up 5S, don;t forget to keep t#em alive$

!ple!entin" 5S# !y o$n e%perience

%s 5S are fundamental prerequisite for 'apanese industrial met#ods, implementing t#em in a formal way was a ma*or pro*ect, from t#e start of our unit.

&irst step ' Trainin" !ana"in" staff

"#e first training was given to managers, foremen and line leaders. In addition to t#e course, frequent visits on t#e s#op floor revealed numerous examples of lack of order, tidiness, )ut dust, o)solete parts or documents still lying around... "#is was t#e moment to memori&e initial status and kick/off improvement ideas. ,In t#e same time we worked on 5S, we introduced 7%I<E= spirit"aking pictures to keep in mind original state, )y collecting more pictures as pro*ect goes on, makes a nice )efore>after al)um. "#ose visits on t#e ground were invasions, as no drawer or closet was safe )efore inspectors, s#owing lack of personal 5S.

Second step ' effective startin" of 5S

+anagers, foremen and line leaders taug#t t#e 5S spirit and tec#niques to t#eir teams, top/ down. 2nce explanations given, first improvement ideas, enric#ed wit# t#e new ones, from workers, tec#nicians and employees, were given a planning for action. "#e plant was sliced into sectors and responsi)ility of 5S split among t#e sections.

"op management issued )asic 5S rules, a kind of ta)le of laws, stating a)out stacking #eig#ts, stacking &ones and so on. 2ver five mont#s, one S per mont#, sections #ad to turn ideas ,e.g! planned actions- into reality. irst actions consisted mainly in cleaning, sorting and marking inventory &ones, corridors... Progress and compliance to rules were monitored )y a mont#ly 5S patrol.

5S patrol
Some managers, foremen or line leaders were entitled )ot# as responsi)le for 5S in t#eir area and patrolman. (#airman of t#at organi&ation was t#e ?uality Insurance manager. "o involve every)ody, two different workers were c#osen eac# mont#, to *oin t#e patrol. Patrol used evaluation s#eets, )ased on t#e company rules. % couple of .inspectors. were given several sectors to c#eck. "wo patrols could c#eck a same sector. Patrol planning was done so t#at eac# sector was c#ecked over t#e mont#s. %t t#e end of eac# audit ,patrol-, evaluation s#eets wit# notes and remarks were gat#ered and discussed. "#e 5S co!!ittee c#airman ,?uality Insurance manager- gat#ered t#e s#eets and calculated a glo)al result. % c#art wit# all results was finally displayed. 5S Improvement 0equests could )e issued to some responsi)le person, requesting a concrete answer to some specific point. "#is person s#ould respond quickly, proposing a deadline for clearing t#at trou)lesome point.

Third step ' turn 5S into daily task

3#en 5S were kicked/off and t#is system understood, it was ready to )e turned into regular *o). (early 5S tar"et were assigned to divisions, as a part of t#eir quality targets. %verage result of all mont#ly 5S audits s#ould meet t#at target. So patrols were kept after kick/off period.

So!e pitfalls
%n essential condition for long term success of 5S is management;s commitment. +anaging staff must keep pressure to avoid natural )e#aviors to ruin t#e first ac#ievements. "#emselves must )e#ave like examples. "o admit twists to 5S rules will poison t#em, making long term commitment questiona)le. Evaluation standard criterion must adapt to specific conditions, for example to avoid production staff to claim a)out constraints office workers don;t #ave1 cleanliness and tidiness is easier to keep in office t#an works#op...