Many of you will have heard of the Lean technique of 5 S. A method by which you can bring organisation to chaos and increase productivity and efficiency both in the office and the factory. If you are unacquainted with the technique here is a brief summary below and for those of you whose Japanese is a little rusty we have the English translations along side.
Seiri Sort
Seiton Set In Order
Seiso Shine
Seiketsu Standardise
Shitsuke Sustain
If you want details of exactly how this works then please Google it but the basics are that you cannot work efficiently or productively in a mess and so tidying up is a really good idea. This undoubtably works but the problem is that for many people it is not effective as they fall at the Sustain hurdle. For a short while all is well and then one really busy day leads to a full inbox, an untidy workshop, a desk that looks as though it has suffered the after effects of a small explosion etc etc.
To be truly effective we need a sixth S but one that appears before we start the exercise. In order to ensure that we can sustain the Sustain part we need to set up everything in advance. As with most projects the Set Up stage is vital:
Is everyone involved in the project in agreement with the aims and objectives (can they see the point?).
Do they have the necessary time available to start and complete the project and most importantly do they have the time available to Sustain the order and neatness? This is the first thing that needs to be organised. Don’t rely on the project producing the required time to enable it to be successful in the long term. This rarely happens by itself and is almost certainly the reason for failure in many, if not the majority of projects.
Is it something that will remain on everyone’s radar or will the enthusiasm wither on the vine? It is the responsibility of whoever sponsored the 5S project in the first place to ensure it stays high profile.
There you have it then. To make 5S effective you must generate the time to enact the project and then the time to maintain the project in advance.
5S to 6S
It’s a great project to start today.
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