Five S Tutorial

WHAT ARE THE FIVE S'S OF LEAN?

Originated as part of the Toyota Production System, the 5S method is derived from five Japanese terms beginning with the letter "S" used to create a safe and organized workplace suited for visual control and the application of lean concepts. The pillars of 5S are simple to learn and important to implement:

• Seiri:To sort and separate needed items (data, files, tools, instructions, and parts, for example) from unneeded items 
• Seiton:To set in order, organize, and arrange data, files, tools, and parts for ease of use
• Seiso:To shine by conducting a cleanup campaign, cleaning, and inspecting the workplace
• Seiketsu: To standardize the processes by which seiri, seiton, and seiso are conducted each day to maintain a workplace in perfect condition
• Shitsuke: To sustain the 5S process by forming the habit of always following the first four S’s without having to be told

The table shows the Japanese terms translated into the English language version of the 5S’s.

WHAT ARE 5S PROGRAM BENEFITS?

Implementing a lean 5S program:

• Reduces nonvalue-added activities
• Improves safety and morale
• Creates a foundation for continuous improvement
• Empowers employees to be responsible for their own work environments
• Improves productivity

5S can be facilitated and mentored to a team in a way that mirrors the future state or direction an organization wants to take its continuous improvement efforts. 5S can be mapped into plan-do-check-act; define, measure, analyze, improve, and control; lean fundamentals; or lean House of Quality.

The 5Ss steps image displays an interesting twist, substituting self-organize for the more traditional fifth S of sustain.

5S IN THE WORKPLACE

While 5S typically is associated with manufacturing, it can be practiced in almost any workspace. This includes physical work areas or virtual spaces, such as digital desktops or SharePoint sites. Extending 5S to non-manufacturing workspaces simply requires a focus on basic principles: minimizing wasted time, motion, and use of space while producing the product or delivering the service without error, in the safest and easiest manner possible.

Implementing 5S with knowledge workers or those who have less structured task lists and more freedom with their work can help manage the flood of information that many workers contend with daily.

1. Sort involves quickly assessing whether certain information is needed and disposing of it as soon as that is clear.
2. Set in order is a key element and requires assessing the needed information items and determining what type of action (if any) is required.
3. Shine is about minimizing your mess—for example, unsubscribing from mailing lists. It also can refer to minimizing the mess for others by limiting the distribution of emails and meeting invitations.
4. Standardize is a tricky one. The organization benefits from a standard approach to information management, but creative workers need the flexibility to adopt the standard approach using tools that work for them.
5. Sustain requires a maintenance and audit process to ensure the organizational process continues to function and does not start to accumulate useless data or repeatedly use wasteful practices.

The sample audit questions offer another perspective of what 5S in a non-manufacturing environment might look like.