5S - one of the first steps
5S is a powerful LEAN tool, a tool that provides the basis and then a healthy development for a KAIZEN approach to a workplace, a department, a company, and even at the level of civil society. 5S does not only apply to mass productions, large series, small or unique but also in services, administration, medical, banking, wherever there are people, flows and processes.
The 5S are the initials of the 5 Japanese words Seiri (Sort), Seiton (Arrange), Seiso (Clean), Seiketsu (Standardization), Shitsuke (Maintainers), which are the steps of this tool. In addition to these steps, in recent years there has also appeared a step called Anzen (Security), which provides the job security part, a step that is understood as a main condition in applying the steps described above. Due to this last step added, this tool is also known as 6S.
5S promotes the security, organization, cleanliness, standardization and development of a workplace, having direct effects in increasing the morale of the employees and implicitly in their efficiency. It is the basis of any process of continuous improvement and aims to eliminate waste and maintain order and cleanliness. It intermingles with the visual management for all that means areas in the company, access roads, materials, documentation, equipment and tools.
5S maintains the improvements obtained by frequent auditing, in teams, of the areas in which it was implemented, audits followed by actions for the correction of deviations. A superficial audit is the sure way to depreciate a 5S already implemented.
The advantages of using this method are:
- job security
- identifying losses
- supports obtaining the results according to the specifications through standardization
- increase the morale of the employees and their involvement in the process of improvement
- provides the basis for continuous improvement
- easy application of this method in all areas of activity, including offices
As with other instruments, there is a need for the permanent involvement of the management, both in the implementation phase and in the one of continuous maintenance and improvement.
However, 5S is not sufficient for the implementation of an operating system based on LEAN principles, it is only one of the first steps.
