5S as a tool has been leveraged by manufacturing companies for decades. Leaders driving operational excellence on the manufacturing floor would provide a list of benefits on how 5S delivers superb benefits on the production shop-floor. 5S adds to visual order, cleanliness, safety and standardization on the manufacturing floor.

But 5S can also provide great benefits to service companies. This simple yet powerful tool has the ability to transform service organizations.

5S is an approach for workplace organizations; it drives workplace efficiency and productivity improvement. Based on a simple set of principles, it not only helps to identify wastes in the workplace but also creates an environment wherein teams get involved in improvements. It is a movement to make sure that all the elements of a "workplace system" function in harmony in order to allow teams to deliver an optimum level of performance.

Practitioners often mistake the words "workplace organization" as a synonym for housekeeping. This is quite myopic and misleading as it leads one to believe that 5S is a tool for driving workplace cleanliness. Actually, the words "workplace organization" mean much more. They refer to the way the various components of a workplace system are managed and organized. This organization is with respect to components such as workplace procedures, rules, inventory management, policies, asset-ownership, infrastructure maintenance and so on.

Implementing 5S within a service business delivers the following benefits:

• Reduces process lead times
• Facilitates workplace organization
• Standardizes operating procedures
• Improves customer response times
• Installs policies / guidelines that drive workplace
• Contributes to cost efficiency
• Helps to identify wastes
• Builds a culture of continual improvement
• Removes workplace clutter
• Reduces waste in the workplace
• Improves look-and-feel

The brilliance of 5S is that it can be adopted by all throughout an organization. There are no burdens of complicated tools or difficult data analysis. 5S is a set of practices that needs to be practiced everyday until it becomes a habit. Whether it is a CEO or a janitor, everyone should practice 5S. As a matter of fact, when you embark on a 5S deployment,  organization should first have the CEO adopt this tool and apply it to his or her office.

Proceed with Caution: 5S Can be Difficult to Implement within a Service Business

5S in service businesses can be quite challenging as there are not too many success stories. People always look at 5S with suspicion and doubt its potency to deliver benefits to a non-manufacturing environment. Its simplicity often dissuades individuals who look for glamorous and complicated tools for driving improvements. Also, organizations find it difficult to engage white-collared workers who are made to believe that 5S is a merely a house-keeping tool so it should be done by the house-keeping staff.

This is where need a strong Lean change agent who understands the concept of "5S for services" well and has the ability to not only engage the CEO with its use but has his or her backing to have the entire organization adopt the tool. The Lean change agent communicates to all the power of 5S and how it can deliver benefits to the business.

Some think that 5S cannot be applied in a paperless office. This is not true. The 5S principles can also be used in the virtual space. The IT space is a great candidate for 5S deployment. Whether it’s investment banking, healthcare, hospitality, government, retail banking, information technology or education, 5S is applicable everywhere.

5S

The origin of 5S is from “CANDO” by FPS(Ford’s Production system). CANDO is the original precursor of 5S. CANDO stands at Clean up, Arranging, Neatness, Discipline & Ongoing improvement.

The intent of 5S is to have only what you need available in the workplace, a designated place for everything, a standard way of doing things, and the discipline to maintain it. Created in Japan, the 5S’s are: seiri, seiton , seiso, seiketsu, and shitsuke. Translated to English, we have:

Ø  Sort - remove all items from the workplace that are NOT needed for current production.

Ø  Set in Order - arranging needed items so that they are easy to find and put away using visual management. Items used often are placed closer to employee.

Ø  Shine - making sure everything is clean, functioning, and ready to go.

Ø  Standardize - the method you use to maintain the first 3S's.

Ø  Sustain - making a habit of properly maintaining correct procedures.
 

For the organization, this creates fewer defects, less waste, fewer delays, fewer injuries, and fewer breakdowns. These advantages translate to lower cost and higher quality. 
 

For the operator, the 5S’s create a superior working environment. They give the operator an opportunity to provide creative input regarding how the workplace should be organized and laid out and how standard work should be done. Operators will be able to find things easily, every time. The workplace will be cleaner and safer. Jobs will be simpler and more satisfying with many obstacles and frustrations removed.

 

Creativity & 5S

Creativity is needed in the design process, but not in maintenance or line production.

The one thing you don't want in production and maintenance shops is creativity. Everything must standardized, carefully designed procedures must be followed be, rules must be strictly enforced. Authority must be respected. Or people die.

 

5S Implementation:

5s implementation is easier said than done.

"Every day, our priority is 2s" says the manager of a very successful (and spotless) plant of a Toyota supplier near Nagoya City, Japan. "With a good 2s environment, we easily prevent accidents, create a good space for efficiency, avoid clutter, save time when locating items, and maintain a positive atmosphere and employee motivation, and easily distinguish the right from the wrong conditions which is key for the elimination of waste."

 

A real CASE STUDY from hospital:
A great 5s example of how bad 2s can have dire consequences:

A staff member at a ABC Hospital had some bad news of committing medication error which is risking the patient’s life. He found out that his mistake a month earlier in design had cost to the hospital of rs. 800,000.

The root cause: After doing root cause analysis, it was uncovered that the nurse hadn`t followed the proper 5s process. In any hospital set up, u will find look alike and sound alike medicines which have to be stored properly & creatively to avoid medication errors.
The background situation: Look alike and sound alike medicines in the hospital were casually placed; often in disorder.
What happened?: Most of the medicines were stored together in the medicine tray. Look alike medicine’s labels were also similar. He had taken the wrong medicine based the design of the medicines. Unknowingly, the nurse started administering and a hour later, wasted extra time of other professionals in treating the patient, wasted effort and wasted money, spoiled reputation of the hospital were the end results. The nurse told us he had learned a great lesson on not taking full responsibility - he had been careless and assumed that keeping up good 5s standards was outside his job description. What a mistake!

PRESCRIPTION: Dose of 5S daily

Ingredients: Sort, Set-In-Order, Shine, Sustain, and Standardize

Effects: For all trouble symptoms.

Usage: No matter how long you take the 5-S remedy, it is very effective, and there are no side effects.

Caution: Once implemented, never discontinue improving

5S represents Japanese words that describe the steps of a workplace organization process. 

1. Seiri (Sort)
2. Seiton (Straighten, Set)
3. Seiso (Shine, Sweep)
4. Seiketsu (Standardize)
5. Shitsuke (Sustain)

In simple terms, the five S methodology helps a workplace remove items that are no longer needed (sort),

organize the items to optimize efficiency and flow (straighten),

clean the area in order to more easily identify problems (shine),

implement color coding and labels to stay consistent with other areas (standardize)

and develop behaviors that keep the workplace organized over the long term (sustain).

 

Does 5s actually save enough money when implemented outside manufacturing? If yes, how?

 

Ans: There is no direct benefit in saving money but we can save indirect cost benefit in creating process efficiency and also we can reduce overheads.

 

Regards,

Bhargavi A

It is a misconception that 5S is just a housekeeping tool, whereas 5S is much more than that. The basic principle of 5S is 'a place for everything and everything in place'. This principle is very much applicable to non-manufacturing sector too and that too without any additional cost. Application of 5S in service industry helps in streamlining procedures, rules, inventory management, policies formation etc. Moreover it also helps in easy retrieval of information and getting rid of unnecessary information. In fact 5S can be applied in paperless office too and it definitely saves money since the cost incurred is very minimal.

Yes the 5S will save enough money outside manufacturing.

 

Lets see, how is it possible:

 

First let me explain what 5s means

Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardize and Sustain.

 

I will give the example of my own experience in banking service back operations for Account opening.

 

Sort - keep only necessary items in the workplace. In the account opening team - we will get account opening forms, account transfers, account closures etc..post completion everything will get dumped in the storage instead of segregation.. also it will get stored in the processor cabin draw as well. This sort helps us to keep only necessary items in the respective place. That means, the processor has to keep only necessary stationary items in the cabinet draw. Rest everything like processing form will be moved out. Also for the unprocessed forms will also get moved out from his place.

 

Set in order - arrange items to promote efficient workflow - the processed forms will be moved to the respective storage place. The unprocessed forms will be segregated and basis the cut off time processing, it will be prioritized and given it to the processor.

 

Shine - Clean the work area regularly, so that it will be neat and tidy.. This will avoid unnecessary cluttering in the processor bay and also in storage space

 

Standardize - set standards for a consistently organized workplace - this will enable all the processors/team to follow the same

 

Sustain - Maintain and review standards - do regular audits of the workplace and storage space to ensure sustenance and everybody is follow the same.

 

By following this policy - what are the benefits?

 

1. the team can able to meet the agreed turn around time with end clients.

2. By meeting the turn around time, there is no penalty being paid to end client

3. Productivity, Utilizaiton and through put will get improved (because everything will be in right place for easily traceable and accessible). Because of this, either I can reduce the resources of handling the same volume, so that i can able to reduce the cost or with the same resources I can handle more volumes, so that my revenue will get increase without additional cost

4. my response time will get increase by easily accessing the relevant documents.

5. Improve employee morale

6. Finally the client satisfaction will get improve.

Definitely it does help when we implement 5S outside manufacturing.

Steps	Meaning/ Tag line	How it is useful in outside manufacturing/monetary gain.
Sorting	Removing unwanted things from a work place “IF IN DOUBT MOVE IT OUT”	In an office, too much time is wasted on finding the file that you have been working on. When you search that file in your PC, you will find so many files/folders 80% of those files are of no use. So use the tag line “If in doubt move it out” There will be a lot of time saved by doing this. If we convert a person’s salary into INR/minute. We measure time saved by sorting we can easily calculate the savings due to 1st step of 5S. Taking an average salary of 50,000 INR /month, with 25 working days and a day of 8 hours. We get about 4 INR/minute. Now if a person waste about 30-40 minutes in a day searching for different files, we can save about 3000 INR/day.
Set In Order	Keeping things near the workplace based on it’s frequency of use “A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING AND EVERYTHING IN ITS PLACE…..”	For this step lets take an example of Operation theater in a Hospital. If 5S is not implemented in an operation there, and after a day or two doctors find that one of his Forceps is missing. What will you think about it? J Imagine doctor giving a call to every patient that had undergone operation asking them to get their checkup done immediately to find the missing Forceps. Now in this situation, if a person dies, wecant calculate cost. But if another operation is to be done to get the forceps back than it will cost minimum of 0.5 Mn INR.
Shine	Keeping the workplace clean “SEE IT CLEAN IT…”	For this step let us take an example of a restaurant. If we don’t keep our workplace clean, customers will question the Hygiene of the restaurant and never come back again. In office,
Standardize	A checklist is to be prepared to keep the first 3S from falling back “WHERE IS THE STANDARD…”	Think of Aeroplanes, if we have not implemented 5S in Aeroplanes, not defined minimum fule requirement, it will be stuck in middle of air without any fuel. If there are no standards on how first 3 s will be done in an Aeroplace. There will be so much dissatisfaction in customers, and everyday you might get news about accidents/incidents of Planes in Newspaper
Sustain	Create a 5S culture by cross functional audits of that area, so that first 4 s does not fall back “ CREATE A 5S CULTURE”

 

 

Overall I would say that 5S does benefit if implemented outside the manufacturing industry. Cost implications can also be calculated as shown by various examples.

5S is actually quite effective and helpful even outside manufacturing industry. Taking an example of an Telecom industry 5S if implemented can actually save money. How? Here is the answer to it - if proper sorting is not done considering the SIM cards that needs to be send to the distributors, stores or customers directly then there are high chances of getting muddled and circulating the wrong product or the defective ones which will double the amount of work along with duplicacy of work incurring more cost. So if sorting is done then waste can be eliminated well and both effort and money can be saved.

 

Next comes Set in Order -  if the products are not set in order then at the time of distribution and delivery things will not be available handy resulting in not meeting the set timeline which will again incur loss. If products are well maintained and set in order then efficacy of work will increase preventing revenue leakage to the business.

 

Shine-  How Shine can actually be a factor which can be a catalyst for high earning or save money.  Well if stores and mini stores are not kept clean and well maintained then definitely customers will not feel like getting inside it and that will not help business. Another arena where shine is important is in regards to the maintenance of the systems and devices used to keep data track and maintain records.  If proper and regular system maintenance is not done and if that results in crashing of the system then huge loss will be incurred due to data loss. Hence shine is actually a very important factor in terms of saving cost of the company.

 

Standardize- standardization is an important aspect in streamlining the business metrics and process. If proper SOP is not in place of the things that are being done then business becomes dependent on individuals and the activity becomes quite person specific.  So if the person in leaving the organisation then the business will suffer financially due to the activity not being done. Hence SOP is highly recommended for any and every business to operate.

 

Once standard process for 5 s is in place business must perform the ongoing work of maintaining those procedures and updating them as necessary.  Sustain refers to the process of keeping 5s running smoothly keeping everyone in the organisation involved.

There is enough information on how and why 5S is effective in manufacturing. While everyone may agree that 5S makes sense in workplace organization even in services, the question is - Does 5S actually save enough money when implemented outside manufacturing? If yes, how? 

(The 5 S)

There are five 5S phases: They can be translated from the Japanese as "sort", "set in order", "shine", "standardize", and "sustain" and 2 extended S . Let’s have a detailed view on each S, which will help us to relate with other industries -

1. Sort (Seiri)

• Make work easier by eliminating obstacles.
• Reduce chances of being disturbed with unnecessary items.
• Prevent accumulation of unnecessary items.
• Evaluate necessary items with regard to cost or other factors.
• Remove all parts or tools that are not in use.
• Segregate unwanted material from the workplace.
• Define Red-Tag area to place unnecessary items that cannot immediately be disposed of. Dispose of these items when possible.
• Need fully skilled supervisor for checking on a regular basis.
• Waste removal.
• Make clear all working floor except using material.
• Sort bad and good things.

2. Straitening or Set In Order or Stabilizing (Seiton)

• Arrange all necessary items so that they can be easily selected for use.
• Prevent loss and waste of time by arranging work station in such a way that all tooling / equipment is in close proximity.
• Make it easy to find and pick up necessary items.
• Ensure first-in-first-out FIFO basis.
• Make workflow smooth and easy.
• All of the above work should be done on a regular basis.
• Place components according to their uses, with the frequently used components being nearest to the work place.

3. Sanitation/ Sweeping/Shining/Cleanliness/Systematic Cleanliness (Seiso)

• Clean your workplace on daily basis completely or set cleaning frequency time to time
• Use cleaning as inspection.
• Prevent machinery and equipment deterioration.
• Keep workplace safe and easy to work.
• Keep workplace clean and pleasing to work in.
• When in place, anyone not familiar to the environment must be able to detect any problems within 50 feet

4. Standardize (Seiketsu)

• Standardize the best practices in the work area.
• Maintain high standards in workplace organization at all times.
• Everything in its right place.
• Every process has a standard.
• Standardize color coding of usable items

5. Sustain/ Sustaining the Discipline or Self Discipline (Shitsuke)

• Not harmful to anyone.
• Also translates as "do without being told".
• Perform regular audits.
• Training and discipline.
• Training is goal-oriented process. Its resulting feedback is necessary monthly.
• Self-discipline
• To maintain proper order
• Ensure all defined standards are being implemented.
• Follow the process, but also be open to improvement
•  

Two Extended ‘S’ are –

6. Safety & 7. Security

 

Variety Industries with 5S Applications:

Industry	Sort (Seiri)	Straitening or Set In Order or Stabilizing (Seiton)	Sanitation/ Sweeping/ Shining/ Cleanliness/ Systematic Cleanliness (Seiso)	Standardize (Seiketsu)	Sustain/ Sustaining the Discipline or Self Discipline (Shitsuke)
Health Care [Delivers health care services]	Helps for searching for medicine or for operation tools or other needed things	Helps to maintain a relational order say for operation first knife then splitter then cutter then stitching tools	Cleaning in proper way so that no germ will be there	To set a process how to do when to do a certain thing like operation sugar level/pressure level should under control	After operation maintain the situation so that patient improves
Education[Delivers Educations]	Sort all those material what are the thing to be in syllabus	Order those material in related order or chapter wise	Maintain cleanliness and a clean environment for study	Maintain standard for teacher /study material/students	Maintain a good environment for study and a good track record of student which will glorify your institute name
Government[Delivers work/services to society]	Sort out priorities to work on	Order those priorities for implementation, Example: road work	Maintain a clean audit book Example: road cost/deadline etc	Set a benchmark to achieve. Example: road – durability	Maintain the implemented state as much as possible. Example: maintain pothole free rode
Information Technology[Delivers services/applications]	Sort out priorities to work on as per client’s need	Order those so that it can comply with client’s need	Maintain a clean code base/clean service	Set a benchmark of code/ service/ product to deliver	Maintain the product/service such a way so that it continues to deliver as estimated

 

Here, I just gave few example of industries where 5S can be applied, actually 5S can be applied with most industries [which is related with any kind of DELIVERY] with little tweak as per the industry needs like ceramic industry etc .

 

Courtesy: Wikipedia and Google 

There’s the famous saying that goes a little something like: “If you want to have a happy life, you’re best to leave your work at work.” While that may remain true for most right-minded individuals, the reality of the situation at hand is that it’s not always possible. Some people work irregular hours, forcing them to conflict personal time with their hectic work life. Others may find themselves in a different situation entirely: working from home to best combat the harsh reality of two full-time working parents. Regardless of what the situation at hand may be, it helps to have access to a workplace that feels comfortable and inviting. By inserting yourself an environment that feels homey, you’re inherently easing the natural tension that comes with the territory of a typical workplace. 

The idea of creating a “natural” workplace seems to be a rather vague goal; after all, what exactly goes into making a workplace feel “natural” anyways A good place to start is by keeping your office tidy and organized. As a company that manufactures a variety of dry erase boards that can help you better organize your workplace, we like to think we have a pretty good idea as to what works when it comes to the ins and outs of organizing your office. That’s why we’ve put together a list of six tips for cleaning your workspace using the 6S methods our customers live by. 

 

Seiri (Sorting) 
The first step of any cleaning initiative should involve eliminating clutter from the designated area. The same can be said for the manufacturing industry as well; if your shop floor has a collection of unused machinery or unused shelf space, you’d want to get rid of it, wouldn’t you? So go ahead and pick up the stack of papers that have been sitting in the corner of your desk for the past six months, they are only adding to the problem. 

 

Seiton (Set In Order) 
According to a study conducted by a Boston marketing firm, the average American wastes up to 55 minutes a day on items they own but cannot find. This finding translates into what can arguably be seen as one of the most crucial elements of the 6S method within the context of the manufacturing industry: assigning an order to items on the shop floor. When done properly in a factory setting, every item should have a designated area for storage, providing order and accessibility to a workstation or item. The same technique should also be applied to your office! Items like document trays organizer serve as an exceptional tool for providing a sense of purpose to your workplace.

 

Seiso (Shine) 
The third S in the process, Seiso, involves cleaning everything in its entirety. Factories will commonly practice this method by taking before and after images of their shop floor, searching for opportunities where improvement can be made. Some managers even like to use the cleaning process as an inspection of their own work, ensuring that their shop floor meets company standards. You’re more than welcome to take before and after photos of your own office, but we think a solid round of dusting will do just fine for the office space. However, we do recommend you get in the habit of cleaning your office at least once a month. It should go without saying that the more frequently you clean your office, the less messy it will be. 

 

Seiketsu (Standardize) 
It’s one thing to have a routine schedule for your maintenance efforts, but guaranteeing that objectives are actually completed is an entirely different beast to tackle. That’s where seiketsu comes into the 5S process. Factories will often implement some sort of visual mapping into their manufacturing process in an effort to streamline workflow and educate those that may be unfamiliar with the day-to-day proceedings of the factory. Often times this may come in the form of a floor map, inventory tracker, or schedule system. As helpful as visual aids can be for the manufacturer in your life, standardization can be applied within the office space as well! Rather than having a floor map of your office space, you should look towards the likes of signs and calendars to help with your organizational journey. Marking important dates on your calendar—like your weekly seiso cleaning session—can be used as a motivational tool to help expedite the cleaning process. 

 

Shitsuke (Sustain) 
The final S in the 5S process can be interpreted as a culmination of sorting, ordering, cleaning and standardizing, as it revolves around the notion of self-discipline. In the manufacturing industry in particular, managers will often treat this final stage as a form of assimilating the newfound practices into the company culture. When attempting to sustain an office setting, you need to get into the routine of organizing your work zone regularly. This involves: ridding your workspace of waste, organizing your supplies, cleaning off your desk, tracking your progress, and perhaps implementing some form of reinforcement for the program itself. You want to create a place for everything; that means every item has a designated area, and a method for reinforcing where it belongs. For instance, once you’ve completed your weekly cleaning and you've removed an item from it's original location, with the help of a item-designated ticket designed to take its place, you’ll be aware of what—if anything—is missing or lost, and take action accordingly. The purpose of this exercise is to remind yourself of where items belong, and reinforce your organization habits. Here’s a bonus tip for sustaining an organized office: create an inventory checklist for your office that you keep nearby; after you’ve finished cleaning and completed the 5S process, check off items that need replenishment.

 

There's an old myth that claims it takes 28 days to build a habit, and while that may not be entirely accurate, this piece of advice still reflects the fundamental value in habitual learning. No one can pinpoint exactly how many days it takes to develop a habit; there are too many factors at play to accurately math it out. However, the point remains the same: The more you practice something, the more natural it will become over time. Incorporate the 5S method into your daily routine, and you'll live a better life. It's just that simple.