5S Assignment

Harsh Bhalani
2012ABPS552P

Company Background:
Wan Cheng Industry Manufacturing Factory, Taiwan is a manufacturing company
established in 1981 and produces parts for several hardware products. The main
problems faced by Wan Cheng were messy tool settings, bad working
environment and inefficient process flow. Wan Cheng kept all its tools and
products without having a proper system to classify or arrange them often
leading to pile up of unwanted inventories. For several years, the company
wanted to improve its efficiency but the lack of knowledge in its employees or
management prevented it from taking any effective measures to implement 5S.

Steps Followed in implementation:

1. Sort
Company collects all items that it has now and determines whether or not
it will be
used, distinguishing the items into two different categories: used and nonused. Wan Cheng cleaned all samples out from the cabinet, and decided if
samples should be kept or sent back. Samples that the company was
working on were kept in an ordered manner in the cabinet and rest were
sent back to an upstream company or the suppliers.
2. Set in Order
Wan Cheng manufacturing company, made a place to set the tools they
had, for example, they distinguished all sizes, then put each size into
separate containers and made
a label to identify what size was inside of the container. In addition, they
hung some tools that were used often on the wall, reducing time needed
to find and pick a tool.
3. Shine
Wan Cheng manufacturing company uses a lot of coolant when the
machines are working, leading to a wet and dirty floor when the personnel
were drying the products. For the shine step, all the employees of the firm
have been made aware of the dangers of a wet floor and they are now
required to sweep and wipe the surrounding areas.
4. Standardize
The company has made charts with instructions and images to help
employees in remembering the sorting pattern as well as helping new
employees understand the company practices. It has also assigned
sponsors for each rule so that new employees can be trained on those
rules by them upon joining the company.
5. Sustain
The company has made a checklist for all the machines about the steps to
be carried out in the machine and each employee has to sign on that after
completion of work on that machine.

Before and After Implementation:

Arrangement of Drills

Before
After

The Machine and surrounding area

Before Cleaning
After Cleaning

Result:
The average time consuming looking for and retrieving drills was reduced by
38%, and
the time for mills was reduced by 49%. These reductions were a direct result of
the 5S
implementation. This time reduction will allow for additional productive time for
employees to
work meeting customer demand, being more efficient, and productive.