5 S : Establishing a World Class Workplace

5S (FIVE S) is a simple and methodical way of eliminating inefficiencies at the workplace  to improve Productivity, Safety, Employee Morale and Customer Confidence. 

It comprises of 5 Steps - Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardize and Sustain. 5S helps in establishing World Class workplaces.

A look at the two workplaces below makes it easy to understand the impact of 5S.

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The Five S's

To know more about 5S lookup the Reference material given at the end.

5S is one of the easiest parameters to implement with a high return on investment of Peoples' Time & Resources.


5S in ZED Framework*

In the context of the ZED Framework there are three aspects to be addressed to achieve a respectable maturity Level (Beginner or Organized).

Plan: Provide 5S Training to more than 50% of Manpower (include Contractors/Casuals)
Deploy: Implement S1, S2 and S3 in the Plant.
Results: Achieve at least 80% Score in Internal Audits for S1 S2 & S3.

IMPLEMENTING 5S

There are 6 Steps in effectively implementing 5S in a workplace.
Step 0 - Establish the Strategy, Structure & Shared Commitment.

Step 1 - Implement Sort (S1).

Step 2 - Implement Set in Order (S2).

Step 3 - Implement Shine (S3).
Step 4 - Implement Standardize (S4).
Step 5 - Implement Sustain (S5).


STEP WISE IMPLEMENTATION GUIDELINES

Step 0 - Establish the Strategy, Structure & Shared Commitment
Start with establishing the Purpose of 5S, communicating it to all employees and building commitment to the Initiative. Implementing 5S requires everyone to be committed to the success of the initiative - CEO to lowest level frontline employee - even the watchman. Identify WorkGroups and assign them the responsibility for implementing 5S in their respective areas and Train them in 5S Techniques.

Goal: Everyone understands 5S - everyone is Engaged.

Visibly Demonstrate Leadership Commitment. 

• The CEO has to visibly demonstrate commitment to implementing 5S. Lip Service will merely lead to loss of Money, Employee Effort and Management Credibility. 
• Hence it is important that the CEO be actively involved in reviewing the progress on a weekly if not Daily basis. 
• CEOs who cannot devote a few hours every week to walking around on the shopfloor to encourage progress should wait for a suitable time to initiate this exercise.

Engage Frontline Workmen.

• Ultimately everything to do with 5S happens at the Workplace. All workers need to be educated on the Techniques and assigned responsibilities for implementation. 
• Reward & Recognition Programs go a long way in building and sustaining the momentum 

Designate an Internal 5S Coach/Facilitator.

• All Supervisors are 5S Coaches and should be able to guide their team members in implementing 5S in their respective workplace. 
• However every Plant should have at least one person who thoroughly understands the Methodology and can coach the Supervisors in implementing 5S the right way. 
• Formal Certification is good to have but not really essential as this Method is extremely simple to implement.
• The CEO should regularly interact with the Internal 5S Facilitator to understand and resolve issues and challenges in implementation. 

Step 1 - Implement Sort (S1)

Every Workgroup reviews all items & equipment kept in its workplace and segregates unnecessary Items/equipment from needed Items/equipment. Retain only what is needed and discard or shift what is not needed.

This simply means segregating what is needed in the workplace and what is not.

Goal: No unnecessary Item in the workplace

Keep only what is "Definitely Needed" in the workplace. Discard the rest or shift it to a suitable place away from the workplace.

Material which "might be useful" at "some point of time in the future" occupies unnecessary space and constitutes a Safety Hazard as well as obstacle to Productivity. A review of all things kept in the workplace is the ideal starting point for 5S.

Once implemented - CEO should visit all workplaces at least once a week and ask reasons for retaining items that do not seem to be needed in the workplace.

Step 2 - Implement Set in Order (S2)

All needed items should now be assigned specific location based on frequency of use. Items needed every hour are kept within an arms reach while Items needed less than once a month are kept at a walkable distance from the Work Area - usually a Central Store. All needed Items and Equipment are labelled appropriately to enable ease of Visual Identification and access.

This means making sure everything is kept properly and labelled for easy access & return.

Goal: "A Place for Everything - Everything in its Place"

Establish a Smart Workplace - Everything is easily accessible at the time of need, even a visitor can make out what is kept where. Everything is protected from dust, damage and deterioration. If anyone has to search for anything - S2 is not well implemented.

S2 applies to all parts of the workplace

• Equipments - Label key elements (such as Lubricating points, On/Off Switches etc)
• Floor - Walkways and Key areas marked with tape or paint. Cordon off operations which present any hazards (e.g. moving parts etc.)
• Cabinets/Almirahs: Use glass as far as possible so people can see what is inside without having to open. Put a list of contents on the door. 
• Desks / Drawers: Use Cutout Foam to store stationery. Label Drawers.
• Tools & ToolBoxes: Use Foam Cutouts to create specific place for each Tool. paste list of contentts on the cover to make it easy for people to save time in searching what is kept where. A picture is even better. Place Tools near equipments where they are used. Shadow Boards are useful for keeping tools. 

Step 3 - Implement Shine (S3)

Once all items have been assigned their places and labelled, the next step is to clean them and make sure they are kept in a usable condition. All Equipment, Cupboards and Drawers are regularly inspected and cleaned. Any problems or variances are handled immediately.

Goal: Everything is clean - Everything is ready to use.

This step requires cleaning workplace thoroughly and inspecting all places to ensure there is  no dirt or leakage. It is a good time to start looking at reasons why things get dirty and eliminate sources of dirt and clutter.

- Establish cleaning schedules.with responsibilities.
- Provide resources (Tools & Equipment etc) required for cleaning.
- Look for any abnormalities (machine vibrations, sounds leakages etc) and resolve them.
- Look for sources of waste/contamination and resolve them.

One of the biggest benefits of Shine is to make defects visible (e.g. oil leakages) before they lead to equipment breakdown.

Step 4 - Implement Standardize (S4)

Establishing Procedures to for achieving continued implementation & improvement of Sort, Set in Order and Shine Steps. Documenting and sharing Best work practices helps to ensure that improvements achieved in one part of the Facility are implemented in all other parts as well. This includes displaying checklists of status of activities planned and executed in the workplace.

Goal: Everyone knows how to do the right thing the right way every time.

Standardization helps in making sure that everyone follows the same procedures & practices. Best Practices developed in one part of the Company are implemented by everyone. Systematizing Practices helps in making the first 3 Ss a matter of routine.

Focus of S4

• Everyone knows their responsibilities.
• Everyone knows what is to be done, when and how.
• Inefficiencies and Time wastages are identified and eliminated.
• Work is made easier by finding better ways to do things. 

Step 5 - Implement Sustain (S5)

S5 focuses on ensuring Continued Implementation and Improvement in the workplace by using the first 4S Practices. The goal is to make 5S a way of life in the organization by sustaining the momentum over the long term. This is achieved through initiatives such as Regular Assessment, Training, Reward & Recognition etc.  Leadership commitment and support is key to sustaining the gains.

Goal: Everyone is Involved in 5S - Every Workplace is World Class

Some of the activities in this Step include

• Training employees on 5S - especially new ones. 
• Monthly 5S Assessments by a Cross Functional Team of senior leaders.
• Competitions to recognize & reward good practices, improvements etc. 
• Organization wide meetings are held to share results progress across WorkGroups.
• Put up Opportunity Boards - Things that can be done to improve on current levels of S1, S2, S3 & S4.
• Before After Pictures are posted on Workplace Team Boards.
• Using P-D-C-A approach to achieve further improvements.
• Monthly or Quarterly reviews of each workplace by CEO - Understand & Resolve Issues and Challenges, Appreciate & Recognize Good Work / Progress.

Reference Material
To know more about 5S you can lookup the following websites.

5S Overview - https://asq.org/quality-resources/lean/five-s-tutorial
5S Overview - http://leanmanufacturingtools.org/5s/
Basic concepts of 5S - https://www.jica.go.jp/activities/issues/health/5S-KAIZEN-TQM-02/ku57pq00001pi3y4-att/5S_Principle.pdf
5S Manual: https://www.lean.org/FuseTalk/Forum/Attachments/Five%20S.doc

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