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5S
5S
A clean, well-organized workplace is essential for high-performance. Are improvements possible in filthy
surroundings? Can we expect people in dismal environments to work at their maximum potential? Can
uncluttered minds with fresh ideas function in cluttered work places? The "Five S" tool consists of techniques
used to establish and maintain a quality environment in an organization.
The 5S Process, or simply "5S", is a structured program to systematically achieve total organization,
cleanliness, and standardization in the workplace. A well-organized workplace results in a safer, more efficient,
and more productive operation. It boosts the morale of the workers, promoting a sense of pride in their work and
ownership of their responsibilities.
By assigning everything a location, time is not wasted by looking for things and it is quickly obvious when
something is missing from its designated location. The benefits come from deciding what should be kept, where
it should be kept, and how it should be stored. This decision making process should lead to a dialog which can
build a clear understanding between employees, of how work should be done. It also instills ownership of the
process in each employee. As a result, it is often executed in tandem with standardization of work processes
(SOP, ISO).
Five S's
Five S stands for five Japanese words that start with the letter 'S': seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu, and shitsuke
(Table 1).
Sometimes an extra S or two is added to the original set (e.g. 5S Plus, 6S, 7S). The most common additional S is
for Safety, with some organizations using Security as the seventh S. We think that the original set deserves to be
preserved, because of its simplicity and ease of implementation. Safety and security should be side-benefits of
disciplined housekeeping, but are much larger topics in the hospital environment, and deserve to be developed
as independent programs.
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The Japanese and the Koreans borrowed Chinese characters (kanji) to establish their
respective writing systems. The Chinese language, however, is quite different from
Japanese and Korean. Chinese characters originated in China convey Chinese
traditions and culture, therefore the Chinese are content with the kanji or writing
symbols they have. But kanji sometimes exceeds the needs of the Koreans and the
Japanese in their own cultural contexts, while at other times the characters are
insufficient. So both the Koreans and the Japanese developed independent syllabaries
to supplement kanji for effective communication in their own cultural context.
Shitsuke is a good example. Originally there was no kanji equivalent for the idea
conveyed by the term so the Japanese invented one for it which expresses the basic
concept 'make oneself beautiful'. The word sometimes means 'education' in general,
but more often the learning of Japanese social manners. In primary school this is called
moral education (dotoku kyoiku).
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People involved in Seiri must not feel sorry about having to throw away things. It is important to save things,
but it is just as important to throw things out. Most important of all, you must know what to discard, what to
save, and how to save things so they can be accessed later. Many people just hate to throw things away because,
they say, "You just never know when you will need them again".
The idea is to ensure that everything left in the workplace is related to work. Even the number of necessary
items in the workplace must be kept to its absolute minimum. Using seiri, you would ask questions such as: Can
tasks be simplified? Is information up to date? Have we made maximum effective use of space? Do we label
(identify) items? Do we dispose of waste frequently? Because of seiri, simplification of tasks, effective use of
space, and careful purchase of items follow.
Some typical areas where seiri might be applied include work in process, unnecessary tools, unused machinery,
defective products, and paper and documents.
With seiton, workers must allocate a place for everything. Then they must keep everything in its allocated place.
Items that are used on a regular basis must be kept close at hand. All locations should be labeled to identify what
items should be where. The correct place, position, or holder for every tool, item, or material must be chosen
carefully in relation to how the work will be performed and who will use them. Every single item must be
allocated its own place for safekeeping, and each location must be labeled for easy identification of what it's for.
An example of orderliness is keeping tools mounted on a peg board instead of storing them in a drawer. With
this approach, an outline of each tool is drawn on the peg board so everyone can see which tools are in use.
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Workers return each tool to its proper location once they have finished using it.
Objectives:
Needed items can be easily found, stored and retrieved.
First-in first-out (FIFO).
Save space and time.
Guidelines:
A place for everything and everything in its place.
Place tools and instructional manual close to the point of use.
Design the storage areas such that the entrance is wider and the depth is shallower.
Layout the storage area along the wall to save space.
Place items such that they are facing toward passage for easily access.
Store similar items together. Different items in separate rows.
Don't stack items together. Use rack or shelf if possible.
Use small bins to organize small items.
Use color for quickly identifying items.
Clearly label each item and its storage areas (lead to visibility).
Use see-through cover or door for visibility.
Use special designed cart to organize tools, jigs, measuring devices, etc., that are needed for each
particular machine.
In an office or factory, you might start by graphing out the individual areas of cleaning responsibility. Every
area of the workplace assigned to a person or group of persons for cleaning. No area should be left uncleaned.
Everyone should see the 'workplace' through the eyes of a visitor - always thinking if it is clean enough to make
a good impression. In doing this, it is important that all assignments be absolutely clear and that there are no
undefined, unallocated, or gray areas. Unless each and every person takes this responsibility to heart and accepts
personal responsibility, you are not going to get anywhere.
At the beginning of a seiso program, some companies put glossy coatings on the floors and paint their machines
and walls to promote cleanliness. Once the workplace has been "refreshed" in this way, it becomes unacceptable
to allow, say, a machine to leak oil onto the floor. If such a leak occurs, workers clean it promptly. If the
machine continues to leak, the workers are motivated to ask why the leak keeps recurring, and to have the
machine repaired to prevent further leaking. The machine will work better after it is repaired and the area will
remain clean and safe to walk in.
Concerns about cleanliness should extend to both the inside work area and areas outside the facility. It should
include offices and all common spaces.
Every worker should be trained to see the workplace through the eyes of others who pass through it (including
customers). What would they think? How would the area look to them? Workers must be educated to check
tools and equipment regularly, and to seek ways to always improve working areas. This work should never be
considered "done".
Management should continually display notices about improvements made in each area of the plant, including
charts and photographs.
Objectives:
Cleanliness ensures a more comfortable and safe working place.
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Color-coding and standardized coloration of surroundings are used for easier visual identification of anomalies
in the surroundings. Personnel are trained to detect abnormalities using their five senses and to correct such
abnormalities immediately. Color management is used not only for color-coding, but also to create more
pleasant work environments. More workers are now opting for white and other light-colored clothes. Because
these clothes show dirt quickly, they provide a good indicator of how clean the workplace is. They highlight the
need for cleaning.
Workers should make it a habit to be clean and tidy (starting with themselves). Here are some things that
workers have done under the heading of standardized clean-up:
Shitsuke denotes commitment to maintain orderliness and to practice the first 4 S as a way of life. The emphasis
of shitsuke is elimination of bad habits and constant practice of good ones. Once true shitsuke is achieved,
personnel voluntarily observe cleanliness and orderliness at all times, without having to be reminded by
management.
Self-discipline is important because it reaches beyond what management can impose. If a worker does
something only because he or she has been required to do it by a manager, there is a good chance that the
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worker may have to be reminded again (and again) to do the same thing). (Think of your mother demanding that
you keep your room clean when you were a teenager). By contrast, self-discipline more or less guarantees the
continuity of a daily routine. Self-discipline basically says "follow procedures in the workplace".
Planning For Implementation
5S can be implemented in different manners. However, the following PDCA procedure is quite effective:
Organize the program committee. (PLAN)
Develop a plan for each S. (PLAN)
Publicly announcement the start of the program. (DO)
Provide training and education to employees. (DO)
Select a day and everybody cleanups his/her own working area. (DO)
Select a day and everybody organizes his/her own workplace.(DO)
Evaluate the results of 5S. (CHECK)
Self-Examination and Take corrected actions. (ACTION)
Five S, like all other quality and pollution prevention initiatives, requires commitment from top management
and participation by everyone in the organization. The program cannot simply be implemented by decree. It
requires planning, and the plan will differ from facility to facility. It is very important to avoid the "one-size-
fits-all" approach.
Five S is best implemented very gradually - often over a one- or two-year period of time. Rushing into it is sure
to kill the program. Because implementing five S can be such a big job, some companies decide to institute it
department-by-department or building-by-building.
Before embarking on Five S, it is useful to identify and address any factors that may make the program difficult
to implement. Preliminary assessment should look at the tools that are needed to complete Five S projects, such
as special shelves, stands, instructional labels, and placement figures.
With the Five S approach, maintenance needs to be upgraded to preventive or "predictive" mode. This starts by
fixing defective machinery, instituting measures to prevent leakage of fluids, and initiating the use of
computerized maintenance management system software. Any plans necessary for changing machine and
process layout should also be made at this time.
An oversight team that includes the plant manager and some of the area workers should coordinate the
preliminary work. In order to operate more smoothly, someone should facilitate the team who is familiar with
concepts of team building and with use of problem solving and decision making techniques. The team should
also be trained on the Five S philosophy. Once the preliminary work is completed, plans describing
implementation of the Five S campaign should be prepared and released.
Implementation
At this point, management should endorse the formal Five S plan and dates should be set for implementation. It
may be best to implement the program when the area to be affected is going through a "slow time" or is
scheduled for a planned shutdown.
It is useful to hold a workshop for the employees who will be serving as five S facilitators during
implementation. These facilitators should be separate from those employees who are serving on the facility Five
S oversight team. In addition, all employees in the affected area should be familiarized with Five S techniques
and with the implementation plan.
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It can also be a good idea to take photos showing what the work area is like at the start of the Five S program.
These photos can later be used to illustrate the progress that has been made. The facility may also want to
establish an award program to provide incentives to workers. If multiple departments are involved, a prize can
be given to the best implementation team.
The Five S team should begin by emphasizing tidiness (organization), including throwing away all the things
that they no longer need. This is the time to make any necessary work flow changes, such as repositioning
machinery and work stations. It is important that workers be allowed to modify the new configuration so that it
works well for them. The team should make sure that the planned changes are more efficient than what the
workers had before.
Next comes the orderliness (neatness) effort. Everything should be labeled and assigned a location. All parts and
tools need to be placed so as to be within reach of workers. It must also be easy to restock the parts for optimal
work flow. Workers must be given time to get used to the new configuration. In addition, the Five S team
should make sure that there is no backsliding with regard to tidiness.
Finally, the department is ready for the cleaning stage. At this point, the work area is cleaned and the walls and
machines are painted. The floor should be sealed so that it looks clean and shiny. Stripes should be painted on
the floor to mark passageways and standing areas for each machine. The team should then take pictures of the
newly cleaned work area to remind everyone of just how good it looks.
Next, procedures for standardized cleanup are prepared and the workplace begins to use visual management
techniques. A good starting point is the creation of visually identified team "territories". Work teams need to
have a place they can identify as their own - a place to meet, to review indicators of the status of their work, to
post information, and to display personal touches and symbols of their team identity, as well as examples of
their product.
Visual documentation should be drawn up expressing the standard way to do the job. This helps ensure that both
new and experienced workers will be able to produce consistent results. Visual process indicators also can be
used to show the actual "game score" - that is, the facility's objectives and how well the team is meeting them.
Making this information visible and available to all "objectifies" it. When something goes wrong, this
encourages both supervisors and workers to look at the situation and examine ways to improve it, rather than to
assign blame.
At this stage, the Five S team is ready to focus on discipline. Without discipline, it is impossible to maintain
consistent standards of quality, safety, clean production/pollution prevention, and process operation. The more
closely workers are able to follow manufacturing standards, procedures, and rules, the less likelihood there is of
errors, defects, waste, and accidents.
However, trying to impose discipline in an authoritarian manner will not get far in most firms today. Rather,
people should be motivated to want to follow the rules because the workplace rules are actually a set of shared
values. Shared values are achieved by coaching and team participation, not by orders and penalties.
Implementation of Five S provides coaching by getting the workers to do the simple things right. "Buying in" to
these basic values is the essential starting point to developing an excellent company.
Keeping Records
It is important to keep records not only of decisions made during Five S implementation, but also of the
problems encountered, actions taken, and results achieved. Only if past practices are recorded will people have a
sense of progress and improvements over time. The Five S oversight team should keep close tabs on this
information and review it during each of its progress meetings. Records should include photographs, videos,
check sheets, and a "museum room" that can be used to remind people of what things were like before the
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changes were made. All records can be kept in the museum room after the work has been completed.
These records also allow the oversight team to review and plan for the next department's implementation of Five
S.
Training
Five S activities are all directed at eliminating waste and effecting continuous improvement in the workplace.
Right from the beginning, team members will probably identify lots of Five S activities that need to be done. As
the team moves on, they will notice that there are always additional Five S problems to solve. These problems
can be addressed using the Systems approach. The team will find that the problems they identify are not
insurmountable if considered and solved one at a time.
A number of different Five S training modules may be required. These include awareness training, management
briefings, facilitator training, and Systems Approach training. Training approaches can include distance learning
techniques (such as interactive CD-ROM) and actual lectures. It is important ot have interaction during these
training sessions.
With Five S, it is essential that people be trained to devise and implement their own solutions. Progress that is
not self-sustaining (i.e. the kin that always has to rely on outside help) is not real progress. It is also important
that workers understand maintenance techniques and know how to use computers to create charts and graphs.
Some companies also invest in training all their teams in statistical process control. Interestingly enough, you
will find that the more problems workers are capable of solving, the more problems they will spot. Process
mapping is a great tool for workers to use to find opportunities for improvement as they proceed in the program.
Training should also include department-wide and/or company-wide meetings where people can announce their
results. This provides an incentive to workers. In addition, the exchange of ideas and information at these
meetings helps keep everybody "fresh" and allows workers to learn from one another.
Evaluation
As with so many things, it is very easy to get into a routine with Five S activities. They demand constant
everyday attention to routine details. Because the indificudal Five S tasks appear minor, it is easy to think that
you can put the routine detail off. This is a mistake, however, since the activities can have great cumulative
impact.
Workplace evaluations and other means are needed to keep everyone abreast of what is happening with the Five
S program and to spot concerns before they develop into major problems. In essence, you need to devise ways
that will get everybody involved in the process. The five S oversight team should receive reports from each
department. In addition, each department should provide its own internal oversight so that it can make
informative reports to the facility oversight team. Audit worksheets can be devised and used to keep records of
progress. Evaluation criteria can be devised by the oversight team and used throughout the implementation
process.
Two other techniques that some companies use during Five S implementation are patrols and cross-evaluations.
Patrols go around to the various departments and point out problems. This is similar to "managing by walking
around", but the patrol members do not need to be management personnel. They simply need to know what to
look for and have the authority to point out problems that should be worked on. Above all, they need to know
what questions to ask. Cross-evaluations involve having teams offer advice to other teams that are working on
similar problems. One advantage of this approach is the opportunity to exchange ideas and benefit form mutual
learning. The objective of all Five S evaluation techniques is to ensure that the implementation of the Five S
program is conducive to a total quality environment.
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Sustaining 5S
Many organizations make some early 5S improvements and then slide back into their old ways of doing things.
Other organizations continue to maintain their 5S programs for many years. What separates a successful 5S
program from one that is headed for failure? The fifth 'S' stands for 'sustain'; if implemented completely, a 5S
program will have longevity. There are three keys to successfully sustaining 5S: commitment, top management
support, and performance measurement.
1. Key #1: Commitment. The first key is to commit to all five S's. While this may appear to be obvious,
sometimes people say: "We are just going to implement 3S for now. We aren't ready for all five."
'Shitsuke' is teaching an attitude of commitment towards any undertaking, inspiring pride and adherence
to the established standards.
2. Key #2: Top Management Support. The first and second keys go hand-in-hand. Commitment is not
possible without top management's visible support for the program. All employees must believe that the
organization has committed to the program. One way is to conduct quarterly 5S visits in which
executives inspect each work area to 5S conditions and offer advice and support to the employees.
Another effective method for demonstrating top management support is for executives to mandate and
participate in visible promotion of 5S. Some ways to promote 5S include:
Designated 5S days: Select a day per month or per quarter to emphasize 5S throughout the
organization.
Slogans: Select a 5S related slogan, post it in public areas throughout the plant, pass out shirts
made up with the slogan to successful 5S teams, etc.
Public Announcements: In monthly or quarterly announcements/all-employee meetings, take
some time to emphasize the importance of 5S.
Seminars: Have employees participate in seminars throughout the year. Some of these should be
5S related.
3. Key #3: Performance Measurement and Reward System. The third key is to measure 5S performance in
each work area and set up a reward system to reward teams that achieve 5S success. Organizations that
have successful 5S programs measure their performance through weekly audits using checklists and
score sheets. Results of the audits are posted in public areas. This creates an atmosphere of friendly
competition and will help to instill pride in the teams you’ve set up. This measurement and competition
should be combined with a reward system.
Conclusion
Doing the simple things right truly tests the determination of management over time. Facilities often find that
high standards can be met for a while, but that workers drift back to old habits after a few months because
managers stop enforcing the rules as strictly as they did at the beginning. At this point, facilities often opt for
"campaigns" aimed at bringing workers back up to standard. But these campaigns rarely are effective.
Instead, it is better to involve everyone in the new disciplines so that they become the new norm for the facility
- and it becomes abnormal to behave otherwise. Once workers "internalize" the concept of tidiness, for instance,
having a messy work place is no longer acceptable.
Institutionalizing the new norms cannot be achieved without continuous and visible management leadership,
which means much more "management by walking about" than perhaps was previously the case. It is important
to first develop commitment and then support company workers in taking the initiative themselves. Introducing
basic disciplines will prove to have been successful when all company employees are involved and standards
improve over time. Managers must "walk the talk" in the implementation of five S.
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Controls the work floor conditions rather than the worker's behavior
Is relatively inexpensive for the company to implement
Makes the worker's job easier and safer
Promotes daily activity for continuous improvement
Fosters efficiency and productivity while improving work flow
Encourages a proactive approach that prevents problems and waste before they occur
Provides a practical method for dealing with the real problems that workers face every day
Fits with a facility's other efforts, such as total preventive maintenance, just-in-time manufacturing,
pollution prevention, safety initiatives, and lean manufacturing efforts.
Any program designed to "reform" a facility involves change. When making changes, it is always best to start
with the basics. This way, attitudes can be worked on and improvements made at the same time.
Article Information
Title: 5S
Subtitle: 5S
Author:
Article URL: http://www.qi.org.tw/Scrolls/5Soverview.aspx
Created: 2010-01-03 13:41
Updated: 2010-01-02 17:52
Keywords:
Description: Overview of the 5S movement
http://www.qi.org.tw/Scrolls/5Soverview.aspx 7/4/2010