5S Implementation Is Truly Worth It

5S implementation is one of the smartest things you can do for your business, without a doubt. Your clutter will vanish, you will know where every single thing is in your shop, and everybody will be happier and more productive. What more could you ask for!

Seriously, if you have not made the 5S program part of your daily operation, do it now. There is really no reason to delay, unless you are already highly organized and efficient. It could be that some exceptional manufacturing shop is just naturally that way, it does happen, but rarely.

There are obviously 5 parts to the program, sort, straighten, sweep, standardize and sustain. Once you have understood the concepts and decided to implement them, you will almost immediately see results, really.

How it works in real-life

The first time I was involved in a 5S training program was with a typical American plastic injection molding shop of about 10 mold makers. We had been in business as long as plastic molding was a business, so there was a lot of " stuff" laying around. It seemed that everything had a place, but only a few knew the secrets of where it all was.

I was highly skeptical of this idea at first because I had spun my wheels for so long on every new program that the managers learned at the latest seminar. Most of these programs just took our time and yielded little or nothing in the way of results. When I heard that it was Japanese, I got interested. At the time, they were decimating our auto industry and I figured they must know something we didn't.

Where can you find a good resource?

This is an excellent resource used by hundreds of business owners. You can download you own personal copy by clicking here here. It comes with a money back guarantee, and you are certain to find it extremely useful in your search for answers.

You can download it here

What do you need to get started?

Not much, mostly time and a will to do it. Once you learn the technique, it is a matter of educating your workers of the benefits and making it a permanent policy. It is essential that the decision come from the top down, otherwise it will be just another well-meaning program.

How long will it take?

 It took us about a week to actually finish the process. By the end of two days we had made a lot of progress, but it was essential that we complete the project entirely. I'm certain that things would have returned to "normal' if we had not followed all five steps. It is very difficult to change a shop culture, but it can be done.

There were some guys who were very negative, but once they began to see the results their complaints disappeared. Is it worth the effort? Yes, it is very much well worth the effort. The time spent as you implement 5 S will most certainly pay for itself in a short time. If you only added up the hours spent looking for things, you would quickly justify the expense; not to mention the satisfaction you feel from working in a well-organized and efficient environment.

5S is just one part of the lean manufacturing process. It is also essential that everyone follows through, so the benefits can be permanent. It is not enough to paint some outlines of wrenches and then leave them laying about randomly.

Make sure you have your workers involved.

Assign various people to "be in charge" of different areas. They will take pride in the ownership of their work area and watch over it like a watch dog. In this way your shop culture begins to improve and moral will almost instantly improve.

Another good book to get you started is called,"The 5S Manual." It is written by a consulting company and the book has been in the top 10 list at Amazon for a long time, in it's category. You can download your copy here!

• 5S Implementation Methodology
  
  5S implementation methodology reveals a plan on how to make this powerful lean manufacturing technique work for you. It is not enough to try a piecemeal approach, you need a plan.
• The Silent Killer-- You Need 5S Implementation In The Office
  
  Do you have a silent killer in your company? You almost certainly need 5S implementation in the office to succeed in your lean manufacturing program.
• Why 5S Fails
  
  On the whole kaizen, the Japanese management concept of continuous improvement, fails companies. No not in the method, but in the way western companies apply it. Read on as this article reveals the secrets that will ensure your attempts at applying kaizen will lead to success.
• 5S Sort
  
  Lean manufacturing 5S is a part of an overall lean manufacturing initiative. The goal of any production, manufacturing, or any business for that matter, should be to operate as lean as possible. And, one of the areas you can immediately address is the areas of organization and housecleaning.
• 5S Straighten
  
  In Lean Manufacturing 5S, there are certain steps that you must take in order to get your organization more efficient. And more specifically, there are 5 areas in the 5S initiative that will need to be followed for this to happen. The first step is the sort phase, where you decide what stays and what goes. The next step is to set, or straighten.
• 5S Shine
  
  OK, if you are on the "shine" section of your 5S implementation, then you have already covered the sort and straighten steps. You should at this point already have a place designated for all of the correct tools and equipment you need for the work space. You should also have a red tag area where the other equipment you are not using right now, or may not need, is located.
• 5S Standardize
  
  Lean Manufacturing 5S is one of the first lean initiatives you can put into place that will cost almost no money. There are already extra things lying around you can put into use to make the areas much cleaner and more organized. If you are at the "standardization" phase of this project, you have already done the sort, set, and shine steps.
• 5S Sustain
  
  In order for Lean Manufacturing to be truly effective, it takes an overall cultural change. It means harvesting a different philosophy and consistent each and every day. The employees are looking for the management at the top to lead by example, so be that leader.