What are Five 'S'

Five 'S' are derived from the first letters of the words

SEIRI means Organisation or sorting
SEITON means straighten or prepare correctly
SEISO means Cleanup or Cleanliness
SEIKETSU means Standardisation
SHITSUKE means Discipline

They are five integrated parts of House keeping or work place Management.

When were they introduced?

According to Takashi Osada author of the Five 'S', they have been there from a very long time. But we were not aware of them. If we look around the place, whether it is home or our work area we can always find lots of room for improvement.

What benefit we get by practising Five 'S'?

A clear work place is high in Productivity
A clear work place is high Quality
A clear work place helps in Cost Reduction
A clear workplace ensures Delivery on Time
A clear workplace is Safe for people to work.
A clear workplace will bring high Morale.

How to introduce Five 'S'?

Mr. Hiroyuki Hirano an expert in this suggests three step method.

Step 1: Tidy up first (active Five 'S')
Step 2: Making a habit of Five 'S'
Step 3: Taking Five S to a higher level. (Preventive 5S)

Details of Step 1

Preparation : Recording the present situation

Process 1: Eliminating unnecessary items
Process 2: Fixing Storage places
Process 3: Consolidating daily cleaning procedures
Process 4: Maintaining spotless workplace
Process 5: Visual control in the workplace

Finally can you see the improvements?

Details of Step 2

Preparation : Photographing the new look at the workplace

Process 1: Controlling stock level
Process 2: Making it easy to use and return things
Process 3: Making clearing and checking habitual
Process 4: Maintaining spotless workplace
Process 5: Maintaining standards throughout the organisation

Finally has 5 'S' became a habit?

Details of Step 3

Preparation Evaluating the factory where 5 'S' has become habitual

Process 1: Avoiding unnecessary items
Process 2: Avoiding disorganisation
Process 3: Cleaning without getting dirty again
Process 4: Prevents degradation of the Environment
Process 5: Systematisation Training

Finally has your factory become a first class 5 S factory.

Can five 'S' be carried out in office?

It can be and should be implemented in office as well as at home. Modern offices are easy place to implement them. But still we may face problem as people have individuality and their own style of functioning. This makes standardisation difficult. Takashi Osada suggest 'ONE' as best campaign. i.e one location for keeping things

One day processing.
One file.
One hour meeting.
One page memo.
One minute phone call.
One copy filing etc.

Organise periodical audit and evaluation performance. Fix targets.
Arrange competition at various levels (Inter and Intra).
Have proper knowledgable evaluators.
Collect statistical data.
Create a museum room.
Ensure continuous improvement.

How to make Five S to work effectively?

Top management support, but it is not necessary whatever top management accepts will be supported. We have to create a conviction.

Planning stage:

Have a budget. Give wide publicity. Announce a date. Ensure all the materials needed is available. At the initial stage take up one area. Ensure that it does not lead to problem. First step is 'SEIRI' Send away the unwanted. Second step is finding out the reason. Clean up and create a tidy place. Next step is keeping it that way. It may some times call for change in the layout. Final step is micro level improvement

Implementation stage:

Form a Five S council and decide the co-ordination. Prepare the working system which should include evaluation criteria, awards etc. Make it known to all. Have teams for improvement. Like for everything, management plays a crucial role. Take photographs before carrying out changes. There are some problem areas. Identify them. Have special attention for that.

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