5S - a place for everything
For every minute spent in organizing, an hour is earned.
Benjamin Franklin had the right idea about organization, and we’re convinced he’d agree with the 5 S’s in manufacturing:
Sort
Set in order
Shine
Standardize
Sustain
While a messy shop can be a great place to create a unique piece of art, it’s terrible for making consistent, quality products. It will inevitably create an environment where waste runs rampant and profitability is difficult to achieve. Applying 5S to a factory is so important that it’s usually the first thing done when trying to improve, as a mess is either a symptom or a cause of waste, and getting organized helps bring that waste to the surface so it can be eliminated. Details on each “S” and how to implement them in your operation below.
#Sort
Take an inventory of all of the tools, parts, consumables, equipment - anything tangible - and decide if it really needs to be there. It’s easy for junk or rarely-used tooling and parts to start accumulating, and before long you have to walk around it or move it just to do value-added activity. It’s best to either throw it away, or if it’s still useful but rarely used, store it somewhere other than the immediate workspace and retrieve when needed.
But what if you don’t know if or when you will need something? We get it - documentation isn’t always the best, and sometimes it’s hard to know. When this happens, a “red tag event” is usually the right course of action. Put a red disposal tag on these items, and move them to a storage space away from the immediate workspace, and wait. If nobody calls for that part or tool after a month or so, you can be confident that it’s not likely needed and should be disposed of. If they do, then you can decide where it makes sense to keep it - potentially in a controlled tool crib or a separate supermarket area, or somewhere else where it can be accessed but not get in the way of regular day to day activity.
#Set in order
The immediate workspace of any operation is super-valuable real estate. Anything that’s not used frequently should be removed as noted above, and the parts and tools that are required should be organized for easy access. You want operators to be able to find and use whatever they need without having to waste time searching. Teams will often use shadow boards to help with this, both to clearly identify what tools are where, and when something is missing from the shadow board they can easily identify exactly what is missing. The point is that if everything has a place and you’re organized, it will be much easier to be efficient and you’ll avoid wasting time searching.
#Shine
Clean up! Nobody likes a messy workspace, cleaning up the area and removing any trash, dust, grease - anything that detracts from a clean workspace, makes working efficiently so much easier. Not only does it look bad, but it’s a safety hazard, hides waste, and nobody likes to work in a mess. All factories have people, and and keeping the space clean for them will work wonders for productivity and morale and make it easier to identify additional opportunities.
#Standardize
Once you’ve gotten everything in order and cleaned it up, spread the goodness and make it the same throughout your shop. Having stations look/feel the same with respect to organization will make it easier for your team to be efficient and move between jobs and learn and train on new roles. When anyone comes into a work station they will know where to look for tools, parts, computers, process instructions - anything needed. As well, it will make organizing so much easier once you have a standard method for doing so.
#Sustain
Just cleaning up once is not 5S, and if you don’t set up a system to sustain your gains they will quickly be lost. After you’ve gone through the initial exercise, incorporate 5S into your daily practice. Plan for a bit of time at the end of each shift for your team to quickly ensure the workspace is organized and clean before leaving for the day, so that everything is ready to go for the next shift. It will take a bit of your operating time each day (shouldn’t be more than a few minutes if done right), but this simple activity will pay itself back in droves as it helps you continuously eliminate waste.
Dive deeper with the related content over at lean.org
