5S In The Office – Much (Clean) Room For Improvement
Did you know that in American offices, an average of 6 weeks per
year
1 or 13%
2 of a workday are wasted simply
by searching for items? Taking a workday of 7 hours per day and 232
working days a year, would result in 211 hours per person a year.
Ultimately, assuming an average hourly rate of $60 an hour per
person, results in a total of $12,600 a year in wasted time!
These figures are immense and show that many companies can not only increase their productivity by optimizing their production site but often also have a high potential of improving performance in their offices.
The solution 5S: 5S was developed in post World War II Japan by Toyota. 5S is the name of a workplace organization methodology that uses a list of five Japanese words which, transliterated and translated into English, start with the letter S.
5S stands for 5 tasks:
"Set in Order" stands for identifying and arranging everything you need in the work area. Organize your files in a file cabinet, define letter trays and use easily readable file labels.
"Shine" means regular cleaning and maintenance of your desk, cabinets, keyboard and computer screen.
"Standardize" and simplify your order and your processes. This makes it easy to maintain them.
"Sustain" is probably the most difficult task of all five. To profit from your work of cleaning, ordering and standardizing you need to maintain your achievements.
All these tasks specifically refer to your computer. Your computer is probably the device with which you spend most of your time in the office. Have a look at your computer and see if you can sort your folders, organize your emails and make the computer shine from the inside and the outside!
The main aim of 5S is to simultaneously improve quality, efficiency, safety and systematic arrangement in your offices. If everybody in the company applied this methodology consistently you could create an improved working environment with less time wasted on locating relevant tools and material. Fewer mistakes will reduce your cost and assure a high and stable quality. Through "Sort" and "Set in Order" you can gain much more space, which can then be used to generate profits.
All of these tips will decrease or even eliminate all waste (see Figure 1) in your office and can, in turn, increase your profits. With 5S, you will not only increase your profits, but your reliability opposite your customers will increase as well.
Don't forget, 5S is a never ending process that should be seen as a duty by every single employee.
If you have questions, give us a call at 888-472-9655, prompt 1, ext. 6964 or email consulting.us@heidelberg.com
1 Wall Street Journal
2 Microsoft Study
These figures are immense and show that many companies can not only increase their productivity by optimizing their production site but often also have a high potential of improving performance in their offices.
The solution 5S: 5S was developed in post World War II Japan by Toyota. 5S is the name of a workplace organization methodology that uses a list of five Japanese words which, transliterated and translated into English, start with the letter S.
5S stands for 5 tasks:
- Seiri - Sort
- Seiton - Set in Order
- Seiso - Shine
- Seiketsu - Standardize
- Shitsuke - Sustain and Self-Discipline
"Set in Order" stands for identifying and arranging everything you need in the work area. Organize your files in a file cabinet, define letter trays and use easily readable file labels.
"Shine" means regular cleaning and maintenance of your desk, cabinets, keyboard and computer screen.
"Standardize" and simplify your order and your processes. This makes it easy to maintain them.
"Sustain" is probably the most difficult task of all five. To profit from your work of cleaning, ordering and standardizing you need to maintain your achievements.
All these tasks specifically refer to your computer. Your computer is probably the device with which you spend most of your time in the office. Have a look at your computer and see if you can sort your folders, organize your emails and make the computer shine from the inside and the outside!
The main aim of 5S is to simultaneously improve quality, efficiency, safety and systematic arrangement in your offices. If everybody in the company applied this methodology consistently you could create an improved working environment with less time wasted on locating relevant tools and material. Fewer mistakes will reduce your cost and assure a high and stable quality. Through "Sort" and "Set in Order" you can gain much more space, which can then be used to generate profits.
All of these tips will decrease or even eliminate all waste (see Figure 1) in your office and can, in turn, increase your profits. With 5S, you will not only increase your profits, but your reliability opposite your customers will increase as well.
Don't forget, 5S is a never ending process that should be seen as a duty by every single employee.
If you have questions, give us a call at 888-472-9655, prompt 1, ext. 6964 or email consulting.us@heidelberg.com
1 Wall Street Journal
2 Microsoft Study
Also in this edition:
