The 5S approach is a simple but powerful method for shopfloor improvement. Progressive shopfloor improvement techniques are vital for companies who want to stay competitive and to achieve world-class excellence. Companies must find new ways to ensure the survival in this competitive environment by adapting to the changing business needs.

5S is a powerful improvement process that gives impressive results. Main challenge of implementing 5S is developing a shopfloor understanding of its key points and tools.

Learn how to put this powerful and proven improvement tool in the hands of your entire workforce. Implementation of five pillars of 5S is the starting point in the development of improvement activities.

The five pillars are defined as:-

1. Sort2. Set in Order3. Shine4. Standardise5. Sustain

We practice these five pillars in our personal lives without even noticing it. We do keep our things like wastebaskets, towels, clothes etc using Sort and Set in Order.

These 5 pillars are in fact the foundation for achieving zero defects, cost reduction, safety improvements and zero accidents. 5S system sounds simple and basic, but we do forget to realise the importance in the daily work of a workplace.

However, the fact remains that

• a neat and clean workplace has higher productivity

• a neat and clean workplace produces fewer defects

• a neat and clean workplace meets deadlines better

• a neat and clean workplace is a much safer place to work

5S Explantation

Let’s understand these five pillars and how they can help improve your workplace.

1Sort

Sort means that you remove all items from the workplace that are not needed for current production (or clerical) operations. Implementing this first pillar helps in

• Effective utilization of space, time, money, energy, and other resources

• Reducing problems and annoyances in the work flow

• Improving communication between workers

• Increasing product quality and productivity

Red Tag Technique for 1S

It means implementing 1S by tagging all unneeded items with conspicuous “Red Tag”.The most difficult is to differentiate what is needed or what is not or may be needed later. Three key factors that helps determine what is needed or not are:

• How useful the item is in our daily workflow?

  • If the item isn’t needed it should be disposed of

• How frequently the item is needed?

  •   If it is needed infrequently it can be stored away from the work area

• How much quantity of the item is needed at work?

  • If it is needed in limited quantity the excess can be disposed of or stored away from the work area

a neat and clean workplace has higher productivity

2Systematic Arrangement

Systematic Arrangement means that you arrange needed items so that they are easy to use and label them so that anyone can find them and put them away.Key steps of systematic arrangement are what to store, how much to store, where to store and how to store.

• In order todecide on appropriate locations, 5S Map is a tool that can be used to evaluate current locations of parts, jigs, tools, equipment, and machinery, and to decide best locations for these items.

• The next step is to identify best locations using The Signboard and Painting Strategies that helps to identify, what should go where and in what quantities.

3Shine

Shine means that we keep everything swept and clean. Key purpose is to keep everything in topcondition to be ready to use as and when needed.In order to implement Shine in your workplace, one should determine:

• Shine targets

• Shine Assignments

• Shine Methods

• Shine Tools and

• Implement Shine

5S Schedules and the Five­Minute Shine are the common tools used in the implementation of Shine.

Once cleaning becomes a part of our process, it’s important tostart incorporating systematic inspection procedures into our Shine procedures. This turns “cleaning” into “cleaning/inspection.”Cleaning/Inspection Checklists and Checklists of Needed Maintenance Activities helps in inspection process.

4Standardise

Standardise helps to maintain the first three pillars-Sort, Set in Order, and Shine.

Why standardise?

• To be able to do & sustain 3S (Sorting, Systematic arrangement and Shining Cleaning) work in the best known way

• To ensure that quantity & quality of work is consistent

• To provide a basis for improvement

• To provide a basis for daily management/ supervision

• To provide a basis for training new employees

Here are some of the Standards to be created as a part of 5S implementation:

Sorting Standards

• What items should be kept in the areas & what items should not be kept

• Red Tagging and Red Tag disposal Standards

Systematic Arrangement Standards

• Standards on How much to Store

• Standards on Where to Store

• Standards on How to Store

  • Labeling& Signboard Standards
  • Floor Marking Standards
  • Shadow Board Standards

Standards for Shining / Cleaning

• Cleaning Schedule

• Cleaning Standards

5Sustain

Sustain means maintain 4S- Sort, Systematic arrangement, Shine and Standardize.

Maintain the gains from other 5S activities and improve. Workplace with commitment to sustain 5S conditions enjoy high productivity and high quality. It includes:

• Determine 5S Level of Achievement

• Perform routine checks

• Analyse results of routine checks

• Measure progress and plan for continuous improvement

• Conduct 5S Training to everyone in Production using 5S Training plan

• Conduct Regular Audits on 5S by setting 5S Audit calendar

To help sustain 5S activities in your company, it’s important to conduct 5S campaigns using mostcommon tools – 5S Slogans, 5S Posters, 5S Photo Exhibits and Storyboards, 5S Newsletters, 5S Pocket Manuals, 5S Department Tours, and 5S Months.

Implementation of 5S sounds simple but any company introducing these five pillars is likely to encounter resistance.

• What’s so great about it?

• Are we not keeping it clean?

• We already do Sorting and Systematic Arrangement

• We did 5S years ago

• We’re too busy for 5S activities

So, why do we need to implement the five pillars?What can the implementation of the five pillars of 5S do for you?

• It gives you an opportunity to provide input regarding how your workplace should be organized and laid out and how your work should be done

• It makes your workplace more pleasant to work in

• It makes your job more satisfying

• It helps remove many obstacles and frustrations in your work

• It helps to know what you are expected to do, and when and where you are expected to do it.

• It makes it easier to communicate with everyone you work with

Not only this, company will also experience many benefits from implementing the five pillars including higher product quality, lower costs, increased customer satisfaction, and corporate growth.

• Zero Changeovers leading to product diversification

• Zero Defects improving Quality

• Zero Waste resulting to Lower Costs

• Zero Delays helps in Reliable Deliveries &increasing customer satisfaction

• Zero Injuriescreating Safe environment

• Zero Breakdowns for Better Equipment Availability

• Zero Complaints bringing Greater Confidence and Trust

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Companies implementing 5S experience many benefits from implementing the five pillars of 5S, such as increasing product diversity, raising quality, lowering costs, encouraging reliable deliveries, promoting safety, building customer confidence, and promoting corporate growth. Following are key benefits achieved from 5S implementation

Benefit 1. Zero Changeovers Bring Product Diversification: To remain competitive companies must reduce changeover time to zero, increase changeover frequency, and become more adaptive to product diversification. 5S (Five S) can help reduce changeover time by reducing searching time and raising overall operating efficiency.

Benefit 2. Zero DefectsBring Higher Quality: Defects result from many causes, including attaching the wrong parts and using the wrong jig. Sort and Set in Order prevent these kinds of errors. Further, keeping production equipment clean reduces equipment-operation errors and enables faster retooling. These and other effects of 5S implementation all add up to fewer defects.

Benefit 3. Zero Waste Brings Lower Costs: Factories and offices are virtual storehouses of waste. 5S imple­mentation can help eliminate the following types of waste:

• In-process and warehouse inventory
• the use of excessive amounts of space for storage
• stand-by waste while waiting for equipment to transport items
• searching waste, when necessary items are hard to find
• motion waste, in side-stepping poorly located equipment and supplies

Benefit 4. Zero Delays Bring Reliable Deliveries: Factories that lack thorough 5S implementation tend to produce defects no matter what they do to prevent them. Deadlines whiz by while everyone is busy reworking defective products. It is difficult to meet delivery deadlines in the face of problems like wasteful motion and too many errors and defects. When these problems are eliminated, deliveries become more reliable

Benefit 5. Zero Injuries:Promote Safety Injuries can be expected when items are left in walkways, when stock is piled high in storage areas, or when equipment is covered with grime, cutting shavings, or oil.

Benefit 6. Zero Breakdowns Bring Better Equipment Availability: When daily maintenance tasks are integrated with daily cleaning tasks, operators notice problems before they cause a breakdown. In this way, equipment is more consistently ready for use. Clean, well-maintained equipment breaks down less frequently and is also easier to diagnose and repair when breakdowns do occur.

Benefit 7. Zero Complaints Bring Greater Confidence and Trust: Factories that practice the five pillars are virtually free of defects and delays. This means they are also free of customer complaints about product quality.

• Products from a neat and clean workshop are defect-free
• Products from a neat and clean workshop cost less to make
• Products from a neat and clean workshop arrive on time
• Products from a neat and clean workshop are safe.

Benefit 8. Zero Red Ink Brings Corporate Growth:Companies cannot grow without the trust of customers. The five pillars provide a strong base upon which to build customer trust and loyalty. Therefore factories with a solid 5S foundation are more likely to grow

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5S is foundation for implementation of Lean Manufacturing / Kaizen / TPM  etc. if Gemba is full of unwanted items, dust, dirt, no improvement is possible. Also poor housekeeping leads to lot of wasteful activities such as searching, waiting, excess motion and excess inventory. 5S is very powerful tool if understood and implemented in right way. 5S was made popular by Toyota and orginal Japanese names for 5s , are as follows:

1. Seiri (Sorting): Distinguish between necessary and unnecessary items in the gemba, and remove unwanted items from Gemba
2. Seiton (Systematic Arrangement): Arrange all items remaining after seiri in an orderly & systematic manner.
3. Seiso (Scrub or clean): Keep shop floor, machines and working environments clean.
4. Seiketsu (Standardise): Create standards to sustain and follow Seiri, Seiton and Seiso
5. Shitsuke (Sustain): Build self-discipline and make a habit of engaging in 5S by establishing standards.

Let us learn in detail about first 3S:

Seiri: “The first step of housekeeping, seiri, entails classifying items in the gemba into two categories—necessary and unnecessary—and discarding the unwanted items from the gemba. All sorts of objects can be found in the gemba. A close look reveals that only a small number of them are needed in daily work; many others either will never be used or will be needed only in the distant future. Generally gemba is full of unused machines, jigs, dies and tools, rejects, work-in-process, raw materials, supplies and parts, shelves, containers, desks, workbenches, files of documents, carts, racks, pallets, and other items. An easy rule of thumb is to remove anything that will not be used within the next 30 days. Red tag campaign is key strategy for implementing Seiri (Sorting). Red tags are attached to unwanted items so that such items can be seen visibly .

Seiton: Once seiri has been carried out, all unnecessary items have been removed from gemba, leaving only the minimum number needed, next step is to implement Seiton. Seiton means classifying items by use and arranging them accordingly to minimize search time and effort. To do this, each item must have a designated name, address, and volume. Not only the location but also the maximum number of items allowed in the gemba must be specified. For example, work-in-process cannot be produced in unlimited quantities. Instead, the floor space for the boxes containing the work must be delineated clearly (by painting a rectangle to mark off the area, etc.), and a maximum allowable number of boxes—say, five—must be designated.

Seiso: means cleaning the working environment, including machines and tools, as well as the floors, walls, and other areas of the workplace. There is also an axiom that goes, “Seiso is checking.” An operator cleaning a machine can find many malfunctions. When the machine is covered with oil, soot, and dust, it is difficult to identify any problems that may be developing. While cleaning the machine, however, one can easily spot oil leakage, a crack developing on the cover, or loose nuts and bolts. Once these problems are recognized, they are easily fixed.

It is said that most machine breakdowns begin with vibration (owing to loose nuts and bolts), with the introduction of foreign particles such as dust (owing to a crack on the cover, for instance), or with inadequate oiling and greasing. For this reason, seiso is a great learning experience for operators because they can make many useful discoveries while cleaning machines. Seiso is also backbone of first step of Autonomous maintenance of TPM.

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Many companies begin their lean improvement journey by first implementing 5S, the Japanese methodology minimizing errors and mistake proofing: seiri (sort), seiton (set in order), seiso (shine), seiketsu (standardization), and shitsuke (sustain). 5S has been translated in local languages in many countries, called 5K in Kenya. 5 Kiswahili words starting from word K – Kuchagua (Sort), Kupanga (Set in Order), Kusafisha (Shine), Kudumisha (Standardise), Kufundisha (Sustain). 5S is called 5O in UGANDA, 5A in Germany.

For many firms 5S seems like a logical starting point, and many have been convinced by lean consultants that they should begin their lean journey by implementing 5S. Yet, we should ask, is this right, or does it even make sense?

5S is a valuable member of the Lean Kaizen tool kit. Few would argue that it’s difficult to make improvements or approach world-class levels of process excellence with work areas that are poorly organized, unclean, unsafe, and not standardized. 5S is a systematic way to improve workplace organization and functioning by establishing the basic conditions that are essential to process stability. In addition, 5S is often a good way for firms to familiarize themselves with continuous improvement by involving and engaging workers to improve workplace conditions and organization.

Strengths of 5S as an initial improvement activity include the following:• Successful implementation of 5S requires that processes be defined and process ownership assigned. This begins to create basic process team structures with assigned responsibility and accountability for process conditions and performance.• Through 5S, process conditions start to become standardized, leading to the surfacing of abnormal conditions, which in turn can lead to problem solving, learning, and developing corrective and preventive actions.• 5S begins to stimulate employee contributions and ideas for improvement. It is important for firms that begin their improvement journey with 5S to nurture the employee contributions which can flow out from 5S activity.• Well-implemented, 5S can open up entry points into flow and pull, equipment reliability, standardized work, and value analysis.

However, pursuing a “5S first” approach can have drawbacks and pitfalls, including the following:• If 5S is perceived as a program, it may take on a life of its own and become an end goal of a firm’s improvement journey. The proper role of 5S is to stimulate and shape a culture for the wider use of appropriate techniques that improve the functioning of a firm’s process system.• 5S may not be an appropriate starting point for improvement if there are serious constraints to performance. For example, if a firm is capacity-constrained, focusing improvement effort at the bottleneck process that is limiting system capacity will have more effect than embarking on a companywide 5S program.• 5S is a tool. If a firm blindly pursues 5S without understanding its proper role in a lean system, then the tool loses its effectiveness. If all you have is a hammer, then everything begins to look like a nail. If you don’t have the problems that 5S is designed to address, then don’t apply it—or at least get to it in a proper logical sequence.

In connection with the point above, avoid the danger of becoming a 5S “toolhead.” Business systems are sociotechnical environments. Tools and techniques must work together with humans in an integrated and systemic way to create value for customers. The blind pursuit and application of tools is antithetical to real continuous improvement through people.

Many firms fail to integrate the basic practices and routines of 5S into their daily work. If 5S is seen as something else that has to be done besides the regular work, then it has not been well-implemented. 5S practices must become routine and part of the work; that is the purpose of concepts like standardized cleanup and visual control. Great 5S is transparent 5S.

Many firms become 5S “score crazy” and obsess about the scores on 5S process audits, trying to get their processes to “level 5” as quickly as possible. That is just end-gaining to a target without paying attention to the means for getting there. What is more important than the 5S audit score is whether contribution for improvement is forthcoming from a process team, and whether the team is actively engaged and involved in thinking about improving their processes and work. When visiting a plant, I never ask to see a 5S score; I want to see what improvements the team has been thinking about, and executing, since its last audit or check. That is a better indicator to the level and quality of collaborative energy for improvement than a 5S score.

5S is not necessarily the only, or even the best way to initiate lean thinking and practice in an organization. Choosing a pilot or target process, and then beginning with standard work, can logically lead to value analysis and the application of other lean tools, including 5S. Defining the work method in a process provides a framework for evaluating whether proposed changes to a process and its work methods are indeed improvements.

Many of the problems firms experience with respect to 5S result from the current mania for copying. Much of the lean movement is built on the premise of copying what other firms have done, and one firm in particular—Toyota. In fact, just about every lean implementation can trace its roots back to the tools and techniques of the Toyota Production System (TPS).

The problem with copying is that it works against thinking, inquiry, and learning. Toyota’s approach to production grew out of its need to find a way to effectively compete with mass producers that could take advantage of economies of scale. The tools and techniques of the TPS are solutions to executing high-variety, small-volume repetitive production in a cost-effective way. Most important, as the developer of these solutions, Toyota had to think and learn how to solve its production problems in a way that could enable it to compete effectively.

Blindly copying the tools and techniques of TPS bypasses this thinking and learning. It also assumes that your company has the same problems as Toyota did, and that you can replicate Toyota’s success by implementing those tools in a similar way within your business system.

Rather than a tool-based approach to improvement, I think it is useful to think about the things that a firm has to do over and over again to improve its capability for serving customers. This includes defining and managing core processes such as those related to the supply chain, market demand, products and services, and product realization. Driving business improvement of these core processes is a key function of management. That improvement effort may lead to the use of appropriate tools and techniques to solve problems, improve process performance, and increase value-added benefits to customers. 5S may be one of those of tools, but for any given process it may not necessarily be the preferred starting point.

By all means, use 5S. However, use it intelligently and appropriately, and adapt its principles to your situation. Avoid letting 5S become an end in itself, and remember to effectively integrate it with your people and their work.

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