What is 5S?
Over the years I have delivered many 5S sessions in both public and private sector organisations to different levels of people in those organisations and my first question to the groups is generally “Do you know what the 5S’s are?”, I have received mixed replies with varying quality, from the correct 5 to “erm is it Sun Sea Sand Sangria and Sex” which are obviously the deliverables of a girls holiday or “I do 3 of them before I go on a night out, are they Shit, Shower & Shave?” which is indeed a male process or a female process in some parts of the UK. So what are they, well the purpose of this post is for me to dispell some of the myths related to 5S and try and explain what they mean to me, as in my experience I have seen people apply 5S for little/no benefit other than a visually impactful benefit i.e tidying up however I see the true benefits of 5S are an enabler to maximising the flow of the work through the process AND allowing greater visibility of the visual standards in the workplace.
I have seen and worked in different organisations where they have developed their own 5Ss, but, the principle behind what they want to achieve by applying them is the same. I have known both Sort, Set, Shine, Standardise & Sustain and Sift, Sort, Sweep, Standardise & Sustain, I am sure there are probably more. If we look at the Japanese 5S’s these are seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu and shitsuke translated these are Sorting, Straightening or Setting in order, Sweeping or Shining or clenliness/systematic cleaning, Standardising, Sustaining the discipline or Self discipline.
The phases of 5S
Sorting
The first stage is all about removing all the unnecessary tools, parts, paper, books, instructions, posters etc so you can only do this when you define your exact requirements for that role in the process. Go through everything, an option you have is to tag everything you deem unnecessary store this in one area and hold for a period of time, then see if any other step requires the item(s) before disposing.
Straightening or setting in order
There should be a place for everything and everything should be in its place. The place for each item should be clearly labeled and/or identifiable. Items should be arranged to allow for efficient workflow, with equipment used most often being the most easily accessible. You should consider health and safety aspects such as bending etc to reach frequently used items and minimise this where possible.
Sweeping or shining
Clean the workspace and all equipment ensuring you keep it clean, tidy and organised. once you have defined the next phase (standard) ensure at the end of each shift, you clean the work area (if required) and be sure everything is restored to its place. This makes it easy to know what goes where and ensures that everything is where it belongs. Maintaining clenliness should be part of the daily work and not seen as a add on or additional duty.
Standardising
Once you have Sorted your work area and aligned it to the process by setting it in order then you have then cleaned the work area. You are now ready to standardise your current area, our definition of a standard is “an OK condition” the current best way. All work stations for a particular job should be identical where possible in terms of materials etc for the role. All employees doing the same job should be able to work in any place with the same tools that are in the same location in every station. Everyone should know exactly what his or her responsibilities are as the standard should be visually displayed.
Sustaining the discipline
The most difficult S is the 5th one to Sustain the Standard by maintaining and reviewing regularly. Once the previous 4 S’s have been agreed by the people who do the particular task this becomes the new way to operate. Ensure you maintain focus on this new way and do not allow a gradual decline back to the old way by applying PDCA, the standard is the PLAN, the current condition is the DO, your visual standard allows you to CHECK and the ACTion you take to close that gap either maintains or improves the standard.
These principles are transferable and I would also recommend you apply these principles to your electronic files & folderson your computer network and even to the number of meetings you have, you may identify other areas where you deem the principles applicable that you can try.
Like what you see? Click below to download our brilliant 5S – Workplace Organisation training workshop
On with the improvement
Lee
