Ten Steps to 5S

Plan

1.Plan a course of Action. Select a 5S champion who will drive the implementation through the business. Provide a resource center for necessary documentation and establish a schedule of roll out and expected progress.

2.Educate & inform those involved. Communicate to those involved what 5S is, what outcomes are expected. Try to ensure buy in and that none are left behind. Stress that blame will no longer be dished out to be replaced by root cause problem solving.

3.Choose, evaluate & record a starting area. Choose one area to roll out the 5S methods. Document & record this area thoroughly, with photographs and mappings for example. Be respectful of personal areas. Conduct a “base line” 5S appraisal. Establish the goals to be achieved with the team and post these in the resource centre.

 

Do

4.Sort. Items are categorised by use and unnecessary items removed from production

5.Set. Access is simplified and locations marked out for volumes and are clearly labelled.

6.Shine. Work teams establish 5 or 10 minute routines for cleaning up. Also visual sweeping to see if anything is wrong with Sort or Set.

7.Standardise. Reviewing the Sort, Set and Sweep activities to ensure best practice by all, particularly across shifts.

 

8.Sustain. Utilise the 5 whys and root cause problem solving to ensure 5S conditions are held. Assign responsibilities both .at the team and individual level

Check

9.Continuously Improve 5S. Progress the 5S by measuring and benchmarking the results achieved. Try to find a same sized local company that does 5S in a different sector.

Act

10. Make 5S a habit & deploy to other areas. Celebrate your successes and prepare to continue the 5S. Compare actual goals with the goal line sheet. Ensure 5S procedures established are adhered to.