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 Sorting Out
Seiton Systematic Arrangement
Seiso Spic and Span
Seiketsu Standardizing
Shitsuke 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...