5S Housekeeping

The 5s Housekeeping Approach Within Lean Manufacturing
What Is 5S?
5S is a set of techniques providing a standard approach to housekeeping within Lean Manufacturing.
It is often promoted as being far more than simply housekeeping and some of the elements described below certainly have broader implications.
It originated, as did most of the elements of JIT, within Toyota.
A cornerstone of5S is that untidy, cluttered work areas are not productive.
As well as the physical implications of junk getting in everybody's way and dirt compromising quality, we are all are happier in a clean and tidy environment and hence more inclined to work hard and with due care and attention.
Naturally enough, the elements of 5S are all Japanese words beginning with the letter S. Since theiradoption within Western implementations of JIT, or Lean Manufacturing, various anglicised versions of the terms have been adopted by different writers and educators. These are listed below against the individual elements and it can be seen that none are entirely satisfactory.
Lean Manufacturing Housekeeping 5S "pillars"
The individual items within 5S are known as the "pillars" and are:
1. 5s Seiri(Sort)
Seiri is the identification of the most successful physical Organisation of the workplace.
It has been variously anglicised as Sort, Systematisation or Simplify by those wishing to retain the S as the initial letter of each element.
It is the series of steps by which we identify things which are being held in the workplace when they shouldn't, or are being held in the wrong place.Put simply, we may identify a large area devoted to tools or gauges, some of which are needed regularly and some used infrequently. This brings all sorts of problems, including:
• Operators unable to find the item they need, being unable to see wood for trees. The time spent searching is a waste (or in Japanese speak a muda) and if we only held the items needed regularly in a prominent position wewould save time.
• Quality issues when gauges are not calibrated on time because too many are held.
• Safety issues when people fall over things.
• Lockers and racking cluttering the workplace making it hard to move around or to see each other and communicate.

Some of the standard texts also talk about the elimination of excess materials and WIP.
This is a complete restatement of allthe JIT goals of releasing capital, reduced movement, shorter cycle times and so on. The question may be asked: should we then see inventory and WIP reduction as part of the implementation of the lean approach or as an element of 5S? The answer, as ever, is that keeping inventory and WIP to a minimum is simple good practice. Whether we view it as JIT, or lean, or 5S or assign any other term isquite frankly irrelevant.
The major element of Seiri is simply a critical look at the area. Involving cross-functional teams, or looking at each other's areas, is an obvious first step. People tend to be blind to failings in their own work place and a fresh pair of eyes can be useful.
Another element of the standard approach is 'red tagging' where items are given a tag which says what the itemis, which location it is in and when it was identified in this location. We then leave the area for a while and anybody using the item notes this. We go back some time later and can readily identify things that haven't moved, or been used.
Items which have not been used can then potentially be disposed of. As a first pass we should perhaps create a quarantine area before throwing items away,selling them or reworking them into something else. Other items may be deemed necessary but used infrequently and so an alternative location can be found. If the operator needs a particular tool only once or twice a month then a 20-yard walk is not a problem - especially if the space thus saved on the workbench helps to make the workplace more productive, or helps address quality issues.
2. 5s...