5S In Production – Save Space, Save Time, Save Money
In previous newsletters, topics
about 5S as a tool for Lean Management and how to apply 5S in the
office were discussed. Now let's look at how you can use 5S in your
production and the benefits you can expect. The goal of 5S is to
involve every employee in a process of simultaneously improving
quality, efficiency, safety and systematic arrangement.
Standardization and consistent review of the current status is done
to sustain achievements and thus increase reliability of processes.
5S stands for:
- Seiri - Sort
- Seiton - Set in Order
- Seiso - Shine
- Seiketsu - Standardize
- Shitsuke - Sustain and Self-Discipline
Examine these 5 tasks, developed through Toyota's Production
System, in a production setting:
"Sort" stands for cleaning up and organizing your work area. Think about how often you use your tools. Only keep tools you need daily at your work station. Tools needed once a week can be stored in the general working area with tools needed once a month in storage even further away. Look into your storage room and throw everything away that is old and no longer needed.
"Set in Order" stands for identifying and arranging everything you need in the work area. Organize your tools in cabinets, mark areas for garbage containers, and separate working areas from aisles by colored lines on the floor.
"Shine" means regular cleaning and maintenance of the organization in your work area and the surroundings.
"Standardize" stands for simplifying your work area's organization and your processes. This makes it easy to maintain them. Make your work area a visual work place that is self-explaining, self-ordering and self-improving. Therefore you can use visual tools showing the optimal status, check-lists, and cards with safety regulations.
"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. Frequent reminders for employees and assigning a "5S-Person-in-Charge," can support sustainability.
To implement 5S, it is reasonable to start with a "5S-Day" where everybody in the company sorts through, sets in order and cleans up. If done in depth, this will give you a good basis for standardizing and sustaining, which has to develop over a longer period. It is important to point out clearly that everybody should see 5S as a duty of their work and that the "5S-Day" is a starting point and a basis for a consequent continuance of 5S, not a one-time event.
If everybody follows this concept consistently, the outcome will be a clear and workflow oriented production site with a reduced throughput time, fewer breakdowns and a reliable production. This will increase the satisfaction of both your employees and your customers and can lead to cost reduction and higher productivity.
Especially in the production area, safety of staff plays a major role. Cleaning the work area, putting everything in order and standardizing processes offer you an easy way to make your production a safer environment for your staff.
If you want to learn more about 5S, have a look at our previous newsletters about 5S in the Office and Lean Manufacturing.
If you have questions, give us a call at 888-472-9655, prompt 1, ext. 6964 or email consulting.us@heidelberg.com
"Sort" stands for cleaning up and organizing your work area. Think about how often you use your tools. Only keep tools you need daily at your work station. Tools needed once a week can be stored in the general working area with tools needed once a month in storage even further away. Look into your storage room and throw everything away that is old and no longer needed.
"Set in Order" stands for identifying and arranging everything you need in the work area. Organize your tools in cabinets, mark areas for garbage containers, and separate working areas from aisles by colored lines on the floor.
"Shine" means regular cleaning and maintenance of the organization in your work area and the surroundings.
"Standardize" stands for simplifying your work area's organization and your processes. This makes it easy to maintain them. Make your work area a visual work place that is self-explaining, self-ordering and self-improving. Therefore you can use visual tools showing the optimal status, check-lists, and cards with safety regulations.
"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. Frequent reminders for employees and assigning a "5S-Person-in-Charge," can support sustainability.
To implement 5S, it is reasonable to start with a "5S-Day" where everybody in the company sorts through, sets in order and cleans up. If done in depth, this will give you a good basis for standardizing and sustaining, which has to develop over a longer period. It is important to point out clearly that everybody should see 5S as a duty of their work and that the "5S-Day" is a starting point and a basis for a consequent continuance of 5S, not a one-time event.
If everybody follows this concept consistently, the outcome will be a clear and workflow oriented production site with a reduced throughput time, fewer breakdowns and a reliable production. This will increase the satisfaction of both your employees and your customers and can lead to cost reduction and higher productivity.
Especially in the production area, safety of staff plays a major role. Cleaning the work area, putting everything in order and standardizing processes offer you an easy way to make your production a safer environment for your staff.
If you want to learn more about 5S, have a look at our previous newsletters about 5S in the Office and Lean Manufacturing.
If you have questions, give us a call at 888-472-9655, prompt 1, ext. 6964 or email consulting.us@heidelberg.com
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