The elements of 5S are:

1. Sort Out What is in the area to determine what is needed, what can be stored elsewhere and what can be disposed of.
2. Set in Order the area by determining a place for everything and putting everything in its place.
3. Shine and Check the area by giving it a thorough clean from top to bottom in order to set a new benchmark for housekeeping and cleanliness and to reveal the sources of dirt.
4. Standardise the workplace by establishing standards and procedures to constantly maintain the standard of the area. This can include checklists, simple tools to track regular cleaning tasks and setting clear roles and responsibilities.
5. Sustain the change through agreeing processes to implement ongoing improvements and audit results. This establishes a culture of continuous improvement based around the “plan-do-check-act cycle”.

The key benefits of 5s:

• 5S establishes a standard for how the workplace is organised and ensures this standard is maintained and improved. This can be the first step towards standard work where the way tasks are performed is standardised.
• 5S engages employees in improvement in a non-confronting way. Often it is the first time that front line employees have ever had an opportunity to provide input about how their workplace is organised. This then opens the door for broader engagement of teams in improvement.
• 5S is often the first step to towards operator engagement in maintaining equipment. Routine tasks to check, tighten and lubricate equipment can be added to routine cleaning tasks to lead to improved equipment performance.
• 5S provides a basis for introducing standard work and standard set up techniques. 5S sets an expectation that the workplace will be controlled and organised in a standard way and that processes exist to manage deviations from the standard. Once we have used 5S to standardise the way the workplace looks, it is easier to make the step to standardising the way that work is done through standard work. In regard to machine set up, 5S usually identifies the key tooling needed for setting up the machine and determines where this should be located. This naturally leads to a discussion of the way set ups are performed and the introduction of techniques such as “single minute exchange of die” (SMED).

TXM has some of the most experienced lean and 5S practitioners in the Asia Pacific. Our team have combined their experience to develop simple, practical and effective tools to sustain and improve 5S. Our clients are still maintaining and improving their lean production system years after our involvement has been completed.

 5S Articles

• Lean Housekeeping Part 1 – Sort, Set in Order and Shine
• Lean Housekeeping Part 2 – Standardise and Sustain

 5S Case Studies

• TXM Case Study – 5s in the Food Industry
• TXM Case Study – Multi-site 5s implementation in high volume packaging.