what is 5S? 

The term '5S' originates from five Japanese words starting with the letter 'S' –Seiri (Sort), Seiton (Set In Order), Seiso (Shine), Seiketsu (Standardize) and Shitsuke (Sustain With Discipline). The 5S System serves as a Lean Manufacturing Methodology that contributes to and improves your shop's efficiency via optimizing you facility's organization.

Implementing 5S In your shop is like laying down the foundation upon which your facility's future lean efforts can be built upon. Following 5S will require your efforts be sustained, meaning this methodology will have to be incorporated throughout your organization, thereby impacting everyone on your staff. To achieve a level of sustained success, everyone must embrace the 5S workflows and routines you put into place. Having the 'buy-in' of those that will be impacted most is crucial. As you launch 5S in your shop, the following steps are recommended:

• Involve Your Staff: Your staff's involvement greatly helps to facilitate the transition to 5S. Solicit your team's ideas and get their 'buy-in'! Very often, your staff's familiarity with existing processes makes them uniquely suited to offer suggestions about ways to improve them and their efficiency.
• Build A 5S Team: Assigning leaders that can actively manage, supervise and communicate 5S workflows is helpful to ensuring 5S is followed (and can be sustained) throughout your organization.
• Communicate: Invest in signage, shadowboards, lean kits and floor tape to clearly assign and communicate boundaries of workstations, safe walkways, and storage areas. Be prepared to create and assign a designated 'home' for each of your tools.
• Utilize A 5S Checklist: Use a 5S checklist like the one offered below to walk you through each step of implementing 5S.