The 5S Implementation Process

by Steven Strayer

The purpose of this article is to provide an easy-to-follow 5S

Implementation Procedure that will help you get fast results from
lean.

Many of my contacts have asked about this particular discipline and

asked for a more detailed process to implement it. So, I thought I
would take a moment to develop it, so that, it might help more people
through the process.

5S is the very foundation of lean processes and the basis from which
many of the other processes flow.

I worked with a facility that tried to jump directly to TPM. The build
up was excellent, they had t-shirts, prizes, many people involved from
all departments and excellent planning, but without the base of 5S,
the effort collapsed soon after the rollout event.

Had they put first things first, 5S have would made all the future lean
tasks easier and more capable of producing results.

5S came about as a result of a study that asked the question, “Why do

manufacturing plants have a hard time starting after a shutdown?”

Some of the answers were settling dirt, operators spending time

setting up their workstations, cleaning work areas, etc.

My goal for this guide is to provide a clear process for you to become
the Lean Hero of your facility. A champion implementer for your
team and company.
5S has been used in almost every business environment to help
achieve gains in safety and efficiency.

From administrative offices to dentist offices, doctors offices,

hospitals and, of course, manufacturing facilities.

IT’S A GAME-CHANGER FOR HIDDEN PROFITS

To begin effectively it’s important to be very focused on ONE

PARTICULAR AREA only.

Pick an area that will show dramatic improvement.

• Training the trainer is a great way to spread a culture of change.

Being selective and concentrating all your attention and resources
into one small and clearly defined area is vital to the success of 5S.

• Taking several pictures of the area in general and some spots of

special interest within the area will document before and after
results that encourage others to come on board and the results will
make a very high impact and provide the necessary credibility for
getting everyone else's support to continue this "new" culture
paradigm.

The experience of the operators, maintenance techs and others that

work in the area are the implementers of the guidelines. They become
the creative problem solvers that create efficiency and accountability
and become the masters of their area, taking on the responsibility for
how effective they are.
1) The first S (Seiri) is for “Sort":

SORT: is about removing, from our selected area, anything that simply
is NOT used in the area or “DOES NOT BELONG.” Creating an
organized work environment with only things you use, is key.

WARNING: I have seen many of these sort exercises become “load up

the storeroom exercises”. This is not the time or the place to damage
your MRO process. Resist the urge to “save stuff” in the store room.

When your area is sorted it should have in it just what the process
needs.

It should include ONLY necessary incoming material and tools,

needed for the job.
• A place for out-of-specification products.
• A place for machine output, if needed, to feed the next process.
• Just enough material to maintain a steady flow. (Single piece flow if
possible).
• And "When in doubt, sort it out".
• Create, a "parking" or "red-tag" area.

It can be as easy as sorting these items into places on the floor marked
with a broken down box, plywood sheets or other identifier.

In one case, we had a toolbox full of tools provided by the company

and used by technicians in the shop. When we determined this box
was extra, technicians who had turned in a tool request were allowed
to fill them immediately from the toolbox eliminating the need to buy
new tools -(cha-ching).

Ideally, the "red tag area" is open for only a few days, after which the
valuable items not needed are moved to a storage location where
someone must take care to return, sell, donate, or any other
alternative for this obsolete or unused material and should take no
longer than a week to accomplish.

The new “owners” of the 5S’ed area should be protective of the area
and management should be aware of the big picture supporting the
5S implementation.

This takes discipline, commitment from everyone and

accountability both individually and corporately.

2) The second S (Seiton): "Set in Place”:

This is not my second step, but while sorting, I also (Seiso): “Shine” -
however, for the sake of this article “Seiton” will hold second place.

The old saying: "a place for everything and everything in its place” is
the mantra of this 5S step.

The goal is for this step is to find the proper place for anything
needed in just a few seconds.

The "place" assignment must make sense and determined by the

direct users of the workstations. (When we get to standardizing this
may affect more than one workstation).

Some arrangements may be necessary like: racks, shelves, drawers

(preferably open access ones), or (my favorite - shadow boards) but
use the creativity of your team is useful to finding what works for
them.

For example, in China, we made a game of using an orange foam to

line the tool box drawers and then used a black overlay foam with
cutouts for the specific tools. The engineers and skilled team loved it,
so they owned it.

• Consider the ease of access and ergonomics, as well as safety as

main factors in the process.

• Make sure you are removing trip hazards, sharp edges hard contact
and pinch points.

• In order to assure that tools, jigs, and other repetitive-use items go

back to their exact place, whiteboards with shadows for each tool
are excellent options.
• In some cases, you might find it convenient to utilize color codes.
This helps avoid confusion when there are tools that look very
much alike and have differences of size or application.

• For major items like carts, trash cans, dollies, incoming and
outgoing pallets, use tape or painted lines, adding labeling is a must
great.

The point is, things are always kept in the same spot creating a
“muscle memory effect” for retrieving them and cutting down on
work flow timing.(cha-ching!)

• Shelves assigned to keep certain materials or tools should have clear

labeling and outlining that make it easy for the user to find tools
and return them quickly.

Management Rule: “ LEAD BY EXAMPLE”.

When people come to my office and see detail tape marking

everything on my desk, with P-touch labels and all my files labeled, it
conveys the idea that I not only believe what I preach, but follow it
myself.

Managers who want to convince people to change a culture should

lead from the front and model the change they want to see in their
teams.

“MY CORE BELIEF: IF YOU WANT TO HAVE CONTINUOUS

IMPROVEMENT IN YOUR BUSINESS, THEN YOU HAVE TO BE IN
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT IN YOUR LIFE.”
3) Concerning (Seiso): “Shine”:

I refer to this item as a return to “like-new condition” exercise.

If your goal is to reach TPM (and mine always is.), then you must do
things consistently, efficiently and cost-effectively.

• Keeping things clean and usable, lengthens the life of tools and
machinery and maintains machine availability.

• Stopping leaks

• Making sure gages are working, readable, and

marked operating area “green” and “the do not
operate (unsafe)” area “red”. The middle area
being orange (moving out of specification, but not
affecting output adversely). or this can wait, the
group should decide.

• Finding and eliminating areas of contamination.

• Making sure lubricates and other fluids are stored and labeled
properly. Making sure only contaminated free and the correct
lubricates are available to the area. (There is a very detailed
program to use for lubricant cost reduction.)

The purpose of the cleaning process, is to create awareness and a root

cause mindset when finding and solving problems.

If one of the reasons for equipment downtime is “dirt”, remember,

that in your cleaning efforts, your goal is to clean, paint and eliminate
sources of dirt (contamination) so that the time it takes to start up
again is minimized and hence more cost effective.
Dirt is a robber of profit.

In cleaning you will discover oil leaks, loose or missing covers, loose
fasteners and other opportunities to improve.

Everyone benefits from a cleaner work space. It is safer, things are

more visible and if you work to keep it clean, you are much less likely
to let someone else mess it up or drop trash in your area.

Pride of work goes up and quality and employee loyalty is the

benefactor of a better work environment. Quality improves (cha-
ching).

This means that maintenance must also be aware that they are part of
the process, so that when fixing equipment, they own their own
clean-up.

Cleanliness contributes to making the area safer and the people who
work in it happier.

Standard Work Instructions become part of “SHINE” as “acceptable

cleaning practices” become “the standard” for all departments so
everybody knows exactly what “clean” means.

Pictures and layered audits, help to establish consistency in the

“sustain portion” of the process and are vital to the “whole-process
approach” of Continuous Improvement.

When everyone in the organization becomes part of the layered-

audit process, 5S becomes the way you do business. As a result,
quality is higher, everything runs better, you have less break-downs,
and time-management of project completion is smoother, and people
are happier. And happy people are more productive. (cha-ching!)
Eventually you create "Autonomous Work Teams”, putting you well
on the way to a Continuous Improvement Culture, where managers
are an assistant and roadblock breaker to the team.

You want your teams to get comfortable with success and build in
celebrations and rewards that consciously encourage top
performance.

4) The fourth S (Seiketsu):”Standardize":

Here, the new level of cleanliness and orderliness of the "5Sed"

area is a valuable achievement of the whole organization.

This is where consistency, and expectations are what holds it together

and creates a long-term outcome. When EVERYONE, from top
management to floor sweeper and everyone in between, are all
working toward the goal of 5S, the “culture of kingdoms” (where we
only care about what WE do) becomes a “culture of alliances” (where
we support and work together for everyone’s mutual success).

In this environment, your teams provide creative ideas to keep all the
good work going and making each success visible over the entire
plant.

Standardization is the new way of having our workstations looking,

feeling, and functioning properly across the organization. When
everyone knows the expectations before hand and are on the same
page, everyone works freely without drama and disciplinary actions
are reduced drastically. (cha-ching)

Standard Work, takes out the guess work, and reduces mistakes and
downtime.
5) The fifth S (Shitsuke):”Sustain”:

Like any progress we achieve in life, it is critical to do all that it may

take to preserve it.

Kaizen Events are very powerful allies in preserving the 5S culture

you have created, since they empower ALL of the team members to
follow up and support the cause.

When it’s time for the closure of each implementation project, having
the members of the team create a mission statement they can
commit to that will help preserve and enhance the improvement
accomplished, makes it a sustainable cause between team members.
Studies show that people and groups that have a mission statement
posted in the area are 2X to 10X times more productive!
This shared mission encourages a shared responsibility and
camaraderie around the implementation of the goals and processes of
5S and in the end, the longevity and profit of the organization.

Consciously celebrating the teams accomplishments around 5S, sets

the attitude necessary for the next step in Continuous Improvement -
Creating and Implementing Standard Work Practices for ALL areas of
the organization.

I hope this helps you on your Continuous Improvement journey.