Introduction to 5S

Implement 5S workplace methodology.

5S — a system that maintains an orderly workplace and using visual cues to achieve more consistent operational results — is often used in order to reduce waste and optimize productivity. While it’s known to substantially improve these things, it can also have a secondary impact: safety. Here’s what it stands for:



1. Sort: Remove any items that aren’t needed for current production operations.

2. Set in order: Arrange items in an easily found order and label them accordingly.

3. Shine: Sweep and clean everything, everyday.

4. Standardize: Implement the sort, set and shine steps into a constant method.

5. Sustain: Make these standards a habit and constantly strive to improve them.

By implementing this method, you can reduce the unnecessary materials, time and confusion that often lead to workplace injuries.

The 5S methodology is a proven set of principles to make your manufacturing plant more streamlined, efficient, and productive. EHS Today calls it ‘the place where safety and lean meet’. The idea is that safety is the ‘honory’ 6th s. Like icing on the cake of a work area that is safe, organized, and efficient. Assembly can verify, 5S supports just-in-time production, cellular manufacturing, total quality management, and Six Sigma—the pillars of a lean manufacturing plant. And the more organized, cleanly, and productive your work area? The happier and more productive your  workforce.

‘A place for everything and everything in its place’. This is a core pillar of achieving a lean manufacturing plant. The key? Labelling, storing, and logging equipment, tools, gear, materials, and miscellaneous items properly.

  • Label every important piece of equipment, gear, or tool
  • Denote the responsible of each item
  • Make every item used on a daily or weekly basis easily accessible
  • Create a color-coded map to save time finding equipment, gear, and tools
Sorting properly eliminates time wasted spent finding items or getting items out of the way that are obsolete. LISTA identifies the following kinds of wastes that can be eliminated: motion waste, searching waste, human energy waste, excess waste of inventory, waste of defective products, waste of unsafe conditions.

 

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