Top Reasons You Should Establish a 5S Program

As soon as most business leaders hear about 5S, they conclude that it is really just a complicated housekeeping initiative. An audit or methodical examination of the 5S method reveals that it is much more powerful than simple housekeeping. Listed here are some of the top reasons you should be encouraging a 5s program at your workplace.

Increased Safety
Among the major motives companies utilize 5s is so that there is a place for everything and everything is in it's place. When clutter is cleared out and things are actually set in order safety hazards can be detected a bit more easily. Pedestrian lanes in manufacturing and distribution settings are definitely designated. Trip hazards are cleared away. Instruments and equipment are actually stored in clearly marked locations where they belong. A strengthened state of focus of the work environment triggers enhanced consideration to preventative maintenance. Daily 5s audits or waste walks by senior leadership should focus initially on safety and then on inhibitors to quality, delivery, and cost. Generally when waste is discovered it could be remedied by one of the facets of 5s.

Enhanced Quality
Quality problems can be more quickly identified in an environment that has an intense understanding of 5s and it's principles. When an activity or product is not delivering it's designed result, the 5s environment can make it painfully evident that something is wrong. Staff members are allowed to "stop and solve" and very little rework is usually needed for defective outputs from the defective process. The quality of the work performed increases. Folks that take great pride and care in their work environment will also take great pride and care in their work product. You can not expect six sigma levels of quality when you don't require basic details like sweepers to be replaced where they belong.

Improved Delivery or Strengthened Efficiency
Once things are set in order and standardized in a 5s environment, Performance and production increase tremendously. People are able to locate what they require when they need it. The operations in these workplaces are stable, capable, repeatable, and teachable. Individuals do not need to hunt for resources or raw material. The resulting savings in time little by little accumulates and output is at a higher level with the similar number of people in the value stream. Enhanced delivery and reduced cycle time may not feel like a big deal when you are shipping gadgets, but if you are a patient in an emergency room who is in severe discomfort you don't want people looking for the medicine you seriously need. There is a concentrated discipline focused around lean medicine.

Decreased Costs
Most people affiliate decreasing costs with eliminating employees. In a Lean environment the focus is on removing or reducing waste and respect for the employee. Efficiency is evaluated by output per employee. Assuming that you increase your output but the number of employees remains the same you have improved your efficiency. Reducing wasted motion of people and parts, minimizing wait times and in process stocks you can diminish your lead time.

It's up to you
The case for exactly why you should implement 5s is pretty clear. The very best thing you can possibly do is get started. Locate one area in your workplace and prioritize it. Draw a team together and initiate a sorting event in that area. Establish momentum off of that event and get started on starting your very own lean initiative for your workplace.

For more information about starting a 5s program at your workplace go to www.e5saudit.com.