Five S Tutorial
Overview
Five S (5S) stands for sort, set in order, shine, standardize, and sustain. This method results in a workspace that is clean, uncluttered, safe, and well-organized, which can help reduce waste and optimize productivity. The approach is designed to help build a quality work environment—physically and mentally. 5S achieves “a place for everything and everything in its place.”
The 5S method applies in any work area and is critical to maintaining employee morale and safety. It also is the basis of customers' first impressions.
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.
- Sort involves quickly assessing whether certain information is needed and disposing of it as soon as that is clear.
- Set in order is a key element and requires assessing the needed information items and determining what type of action (if any) is required.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Related Video
Utilizing 5S in Everyday Life
ASQ member Alexander Tucker is a Chemist at Capsugel. While quality is important on the job, he has been using the 5S tool in his home life. You won’t stop smiling as he humorously recounts the ways he has organized his bathroom, planned trips to the grocery store and even trained his dog to be a quality canine.
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Reviewers
Katie Labedz is president of Learning to Lean LLC in Hortonville, WI. She holds a bachelor’s degree in management information systems from Oakland University in Rochester, MI. An ASQ member, Labedz is an ASQ-certified Black Belt, Villanova University-certified lean and Six Sigma Master Black Belt, and Project Management Institute-certified project management professional. She is the author of How to Improve Absolutely Every Process (2023), The Learning to Lean CI Planner (2023) and How to Improve Absolutely Anything in Your Home, Office and Family Life (2021).
Frank Murdock is the principal consultant with FKM Consulting LLC in Ann Arbor, MI. He holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering science from Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN, a master’s degree in applied mathematics from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and a master’s degree in industrial engineering from Wayne State University in Detroit. Murdock, an ASQ member, is an ASQ-certified Six Sigma Black Belt and serves as vice chair of the ASQ Technical Communities Council on the ASQ Board of Directors. He is also professional development chair of the ASQ Lean Enterprise Division.
Reviewed November 2024.
References
Don Arp Jr., Garg G. Jing, Katie Labedz, Stephanie Parker, W. Pruitt, “Tool Talk,” Quality Progress, August 2024, pp. 12-25.
ASQ, “Lean Six Sigma Green Belt E-Learning,” 2023.
Katie Labedz, “5S Savvy,” Lean & Six Sigma Review, February 2022, pp. 16-21.
David Larsen, "Nuts & Bolts: 5S for Success," Lean & Six Sigma Review, May 2022, pp. 26-27.
Scott Marchand Davis, "Office Efficiency," Quality Progress, February 2018, pp. 16-21.
Luciana Paulise, "Adjust Accordingly," Quality Progress, April 2022, pp. 18-23.
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