Lean management: The Launchpad for Globalization,
Industrial Revolution and Impowerment
FIVE ‘S’ (WORKPLACE MANAGEMENT)
Introduction
Five ‘S’ is the silent informer of a company’s attitude to quality, workplace
management and people management. The earliest way to determine a
company’s attitude towards improvement activities is simply to walk
around the factory and offices to observe the house keeping practice. It
often tells us more about the company than any financial statement. One
can judge the level of improvement activities from the way tools are stored,
chips from machines handled, work table organized, inspection points
indicated, factory floor swept, machines cleaned, canteen and toilet
condition etc. The practices reflect the management’s general attitude
towards work and employees. One should understand the linkage between
the level of Five ‘S’ and the amount of defective products produced, the
number of machine breakdown, inventory level and so on. Therefore Five
‘S’ has been recommended by Liker J.and David Meier (2012) in their
Lean management: The Launchpad for Globalization,
Industrial Revolution and Impowerment
‘Toyota Way Field Book-page 395, as plant wide Lean implementation
strategy and tools.
The five steps
Five ‘S’ is an integrated concept for housekeeping and workplace
management. The Japanese terms for these five steps begin with letter 'S'.
The Five steps are:
(i)
SEIRI (Sort out): Organize or re-organization of items by sorting out
between wanted and unwanted items in place and removal of
unwanted items. Such place can be a shop floor, an office, a hospital or
a home.
(ii)
SEITON (Systematize): Arranging correctly, following correct method,
“A place for everything and everything in its place”.
(iii)
SEISO (Sweep & Shine): Cleaning up, getting rid of dust, dirt, grime,
foreign matters etc.
(iv)
SEIKETSU (Standardize): Standardization, to systemize the practices of
Seiri, Seiton, and Seiso and to maintain them. It should be an integral
part of working system.
(v)
SHITSUKE (Self-discipline): Everyone in the plant should understand
the inner meaning of each step and the clear differences between
them. Practicing Five ‘S’ should become a second nature to everyone. It
is necessary that everyone in an organization understands all the above
four steps clearly and everyone is involved in it.
Role of Five ‘S’
Workplace becomes clean and better organized. Shop floor and office
operation becomes easier and safer. Results are visible to every one –
insider and outsider. Visible results enhance generation of more and new
ideas. People are automatically disciplined. People take pride in keeping
clean and organized workplace. Results in good company image and
generates more business. A ‘good housekeeping’ reflects managements’
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positive attitude towards work. A company with good housekeeping
practices will have a good foundation for higher productivity, higher
quality, reduced costs, greater safety, higher employee morale etc. A good
Five ‘S’ level in the organization indicates a people – oriented, and also
practice – oriented approach where every individual spends at least one
third of his life. Five 'S' results in better organised way of handling of
machine, work tables, floor, item storage etc.
Visible results from Five ‘S’
From People: Employees will be disciplined to be more careful about
untidy workplace and motivated to improve the level of cleanliness. They
will be more conscious of improvement which leads to greater efficiency
and effectiveness.
From Machines and Tools: Machine troubles can be detected at an earlier
stage to prevent a major breakdown when machines are cleaned daily by
people who operate them. Life of machines and tools can be extended
significantly when they are handled with care and placed in the designated
locations.
From Materials and Work-in-Process: Flow of material will become
smoother and work-in-process will be under control. Floor space
becomes organized and possible areas for improvement can be easily
identified by quick observation. It results in reduced material handling.
Clean workplace will ensure that final products will be free from dust.
Miscellaneous: Floors and machines are not cleaned simply for sake of
appearance. Clean surfaces expose problems such as oil leaks and cracks so
that corrective actions can be taken as early as possible. Such early
detection of problems help to prevent major problem. In addition, clean
machines do not breakdown as often as dirty ones. The removal of clutter
along passage ways is also done for practical reasons. It prevents
obstruction to the smooth transportation of materials and work-in
progress. In organizing press-tools and dies, the chief aim is not to pile
them to achieve a neat look but the most frequently used dies closest to the
machine and what is achieved is an arrangement which minimizes handling
and hence reduces time wastages. The storage of unnecessary goods
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hampers production activities by increasing transportation distances and
by making it difficult to distinguish important items from unimportant
ones.
Search Free situation is brought in store by defining location of the total
space in x, y, z planes as practiced in a map to locate a town on the globe. A
table is prepared for ready reference and help to locate easily the item
stored. Also small items are arranged in transparent bins. Many more
techniques are used to facilitate search free situation.
Count Free situation is achieved by keeping bulk material in a specially
arranged manner. For example piling up is done in a way that say 100 bags
will be at one place, other 100 adjacent to it separated. Weight in every bag
is known so even the stock will be at once known without much difficulty.
Climb Free: Materials which are required often are arranged in such a way
that need for climbing on a ladder is avoided. Every item is placed at height
where hands can reach in a standing position.
Bend Free: Stacking of material some time is required in a manner such
that operator does not have to bend every time for lifting. Sometime
gravitation property of earth is utilized for allowing the next lot or piece to
slide down in front of the operator for further operation.
Air Free: Height of piling up and stacking is restricted to certain height so
that it does not block the air from windows and other openings.
Heavy Things on Lower Shelves: This is a logical solution to avoid strain as well
as use of fork-lift.
Use of Vertical Space: Space costs money, therefore vertical space must be
utilized keeping in view all other foregoing requirements.
Implementation of Five ‘S’
Rule No.1: Leaders must lead and everyone must be involved without
exception. Five ‘S’ applies to the office and shop floor and it “paves the
approach” necessary for all the improvements, which are the hope for the
company.
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Rule No.2: Everyone is trained in Five ‘S’ remembering that repeated seeing
an instruction or advertisement is necessary before one understands it.
Rule No. 3: For facility attracting environmental regulation, health and
safety - the procedures must be followed at all times related to cleaning,
moving, and disposal of equipment and material.
Rule No.4: The red tag system is for one time use only. It is not on-going
crutch for future clean ups. It is ensured that all inventory, equipment,
tools, fixtures and jigs are clearly labeled by suppliers before being brought
into the plant. Visual arrangements are made in storage areas, which
clearly indicate where items are stored and how many are stored there.
Strategy adopted for implementation of Five ‘S’
After basic work of sorting, segregation, or arranging work is done in a
department it becomes difficult for the same people to improve their area
further. To help them find further opportunities, a cross-functional team
assembles at a pre-planned time in a selected department with a SCRAP
empty trolley and every item not used for long time or found lying as
unnecessary items are loaded on the trolley. An analysis is made and then
removed away from the department. This system is repeated in every
department at fixed intervals. This activity brings life to the Five ‘S’ project.
It is more like a game trying to search hidden unwanted things.
Any such project can be successful only if it is well structured and
institutionalized. Therefore the organization is divided into several Zones.
Zone may include departments, toilets, scrap yard, roads, parking, canteen
etc. If there are ten zones in the organization, all such zones are marked on
a map-layout. For each zone a zonal in charge or OWNER of the zone is
nominated and declared. Every zonal in charge has his team to keep the
zone always neat, clean and well arranged. The best zone of the month is
identified by a committee and the zone scoring highest is awarded.
Photographs showing “BEFORE” and “AFTER” condition during Five ‘S’
project is very helpful as evidence and in drawing satisfaction to see the
difference in condition. It motivates the team to bring further
improvements continuously. SEISO calendar is prepared for carrying out
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systematic work. Format of Table 11.1 used for the calendar may have
details as below.
Table 11.1 SEISO Calendar
Concluding remarks
Results of case studies carried out during this research and also by the
different researchers in different environment and work processes agree
on many common positive observations as reported here. Five S promotes
team work and it demonstrates the concept of top-down and bottom-up
management in simplest but effective way as argued by Takashi Osada,
father of this concept. Although it is teamwork Five S starts with each
individual practicing it. Its features are common to all places and indicate
how well an organization is functioning. Five S promotes marketing of a
product effectively. A clean factory always attracts every customer and
helps to create confidence on the quality of the product marketed. Five S
improves quality of human behaviour. It is exemplified by the fact that no
one throws anything in a neat and clean temple and so is the case with all
clean places. Better and cleaner workplace gives better working
environment. Five S is sure way for safety. Spacious, bright and
unobstructed workshop will show flow of things at a glance. Keeping things
in proper way at the designated place, putting items on the basis of weight,
size, quality of material and applying visual management, colour coding for
paths and storage give a sense to observe safety rules faithfully to prevent
accidents. Therefore five S is one of the good manufacturing and
maintenance practices where total employee involvement is ensured. It is
easy to understand and practice.
Even though Five S is a simple concept it requires involvement of all to
institutionalize the system in workplace. It requires mandatory actions and
not voluntary. It needs to be practiced by everyone from top to bottom. For
any system to sustain, audit and certification is necessary. Some
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organizations tried to continue practicing in their own way but resulted in
collapse of the system. Certification and periodical audit keep the system in
place even after people change in the organization. Therefore precertification, self-assessment, and audit by core committee must be
conducted at fixed intervals. There after final audit and certification would
give recognition for the good work done. It also paves the way for
continuous improvement. There are periodical reviews and surveillance
audits every two or three years as agreed and decided.
Therefore Five ‘S’ is a very effective system of improving workplace. It is
not only cleaning or house- keeping. It is an ideal work-culture which is
developed in an organization step by step including good habits in all the
persons. In Japan many improvements were brought at industry and
country level with such effective systems like Five ‘S’. The Japanese attach
so much importance to this system that while doing Five ‘S’ they feel that
they are bringing improvement in their personal lives. They actually feel
that mind and body are subjected to Five ‘S’ activities and therefore mind is
getting cleaned. Unwanted thoughts and memories are being segregated
and washed out. New positive thoughts are arranged at the mental frame.
Perfect cleaning is done. Discipline or self-discipline first is brought and
conceived by mind and then it is practiced. Five ‘S’ is so important that it is
used as a base for launching many projects like; T.P.M, KAIZEN, LEAN etc.
Automotive and other industries have implemented Five ‘S’ in word and
spirit and benefits have been acquired like; increased in profitability,
customer satisfaction, improved inventory management, improved
employee morale, reduced number of accidents, improved team work
performance, established standard operating systems, reduced search time.
Therefore Five‘s’ must be practiced everywhere to bring improvements.
While concluding, the researcher finds it relevant to highlight and discuss
the process of Five S Certification based on the data and information
gathered. First of all, ISO Certifying agencies do not certify Five S
implementation status. For many years an organization registered under
societies Act 1350F, Quality Circle Forum of India (QCFI), is engaged in the
propagation of the concept in industry, Banks, Hospitals, Hotels, Schools,
other organizations and even schools. The same organization through
different wings used to organize training, audits and certification. Now the
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QCFI approached JUSE- Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers with a
proposal to consider awarding 5 ‘S’ Certification jointly. The proposal was
agreed. The message of the M.D and the design of the certificate approved
by JUSE are placed as Appendix A and Appendix B respectively. To apply
for the above 5-S certificate, the following procedure to be followed.
1.
The organization should be a valid member of QCFI
2.
The organization should have implemented 5S through QCFI or any
other sources
3.
Review shall be conducted by QCFI, Headquarters in following stages
Stage 1 – Gap analysis of 5S implementation by QCFI faculty for 2 to 4 days
depending upon the size of the plant. If required necessary training will
also be given.
Stage 2 – Pre-certification audit will be done by the QCFI trained auditors.
In case 75% score is achieved in pre audit, unit may go for final
certification audit. During this audit, non-conformance report will be given.
Then the organizations have to follow the procedure for getting the final
certificate from QCFI in association with JUSE.
Organization chart for 5S implementation
•
Organization layout map showing gate, surrounding areas and different
departments to give information about the unit and process flow
charts.
•
Photographs of each zones covering total area. Cabinets and cupboards to be in open position when taking photographs.
•
Photographs of all sub zone/zone wise rough audit sheets photographs
for latest two audits and management audit for the same zone.
•
Score board photographs showing the score of all the zones.
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•
Photographs of the head of the unit’s office and his/her secretary office (if applicable)
and at least two more offices of senior executives with their drawer and cup boards if
any.
•
Photographs of Gate, worker’s toilets, other toilets, roof, drinking water area,
canteen, notice board, two wheeler stand and car parking etc.
•
Implementation of 5-S in colony, shops, security, worship places, schools, nearby
adopted village (whatever is in the purview of the organization)
•
Achievements through 5-S implementation
•
Photographs of Jagruti group.
•
Photographs of home visits – one home of senior executive, one from middle
management executive and two of task performers.
•
Display of overall score boards and shield given to zones.
•
QCFI evaluation sheet with remarks for 1000 marks.
Stage 3 – Final Certification audit will be done after getting the above information
through soft copy and then visited by QCFI auditor for verification and overall evaluation.
If audit is satisfactory the report will be sent by QCFI to JUSE with documentary
evidences. After the perusal byJUSE team the certificate may be issued which will be sent
to the unit. This certificate will be valid for three years subject to 6 monthly surveillance
audit with minimum overall score of 70%.
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