Benefits of 5S

 

How do you feel imagining a place that’s cluttered, untidy, dark & dingy – murky walls flaking off skins, grim files staking up amid the countless tiny particles of dirt that are floating around breathing a rusty odor – a store where components and parts are unsorted, unlabeled, and uncleaned – who’s teeming with deteriorated and expired items but no space for the useful ones – a factory who stockpiles everything – scrap and useful materials at the same location but never throws away a single nail … ? It must be a negative, repulsive, and exhausting. Isn’t it?

Even a single thought of such a place is sore to behold, let alone jotting down the unsafe conditions, risks, and hazards that lurk around behind the disheveled place, there are other drawbacks too

•  Dirty site may cause significant safety hazards such as slip and trip, sharp edges that may pierce through, cuts, etc. 
• Polluted places also affect human health – cause people to suffer from various allergies that may turn into chronic issues.
• Noncompliance with safety standards also costs companies a huge amount.
• Improper cleaning also causes equipment, component, and parts to contaminate with loose dirt and create a risk of premature failure.
• Contamination is a sign of poor quality that may negatively affect a company’s revenue.
• Customer will be disinterested if the product is contaminated and unreliable.
• Brand name gets tarnished.
• Unidentified and un-assorted items cause an increased time to repair a fault. 
• Places that are untidy, cluttered, and dark hit a negative effect on production, environment, and productivity.
• Decentralized storage areas are likely to cost more in terms of additional space required for storage items that are either scrap or rarely used, additional space means increased property tax and maintenance cost of the facility, etc. 

5S: 

Owing to avoid the downward spiral of chaotic practices and the adverse consequences – the only way out is a change. 5S is a Japanese way of improving workplace conditions – It’s a five-step formal program that allows organizations to systematically organize their workplace by identifying and removing unnecessary materials and wasteful practices, reorganizing their cluttered storage spaces, and making the site contaminant-free via thorough clean-up. 5S is a standard approach that reduces variations from [working] procedures and promotes the idea of consistency in all sets of functions by ensuring regular audits and check-ups. 

Actually, the 5S’s are Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu, and Shitsuke – 5 Japanese words and their equivalent derived-from-English words are Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain. 

Benefits of 5S:

5S program is a widely recognized process in lean maintenance and is the foundation block of eight basic principles of TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) – the first step towards continuous improvement – a practical way of educating employees on the concept of waste and useful material – a theological guide to enhancing productivity and well-being of employees.

Its successful implementation has multiple benefits and some of them are mentioned below: 

• 5S is a structured program that helps people in distinguishing wastes from useful items - is a great way of getting rid of wastes, unnecessary tools, unused supplies, and scrap materials.
• Clean and organized workplace increases the productivity of employees and gives them positive energy.
• Clean and sorted place helps in identifying and segregating prevailing site hazards from the hazards that are purely activity based.
• It is easier to spot an abnormality and inspect defects and recurring issues in a clean environment.
• 5S program radically fixes the damages and uplifts the façade of the edifice.
• With sorting, labeling, and setting everything in order with their IDs makes a part and tool searching process easier and less painful - storing the most frequently used items in a 30s reach also reduces the time that takes to collect the part.
• The powerful Seiton ensures that the store is sorted, labeled, and organized in such a way that it becomes easy to spot a missing part at a glance.
• Clearing up the clutter and disposing of the scrap reduces the possibility of accidents that ultimately improve safety at the workplace.
• Frequent cleaning safeguards tools or components from getting rust, abrasion, and chemical contamination and increases the life span of the equipment.
• 5S focuses to deliver high standard quality products in the most optimized way.
• Getting rid of scrap clears up the storage space that significantly reduces the maintenance cost of the facility.
• Scrap or unused items consumes a space that can be used for other beneficial purposes - may assemble another production line to generate more revenue.
• Standardization improves the work practices and promotes the idea of consistency and discipline among employees. it boosts the morale of employees and enhances their sense of pride in the workplace.
•  5S ensures that the tools and equipment are readily accessible and available so that the right tool is used for the job.
• The implementation of 5S helps in identifying and resolving the more persistent flow-of-material issues like stock-out items, missing tools, and inefficient issuance process.
• 5S instills a sense of accountability among each individual as it encourages the notion of keeping everyone engaged at the workplace by assigning each of them their responsibility.

Organizations that have implemented the visual management of 5S are reaping its tremendous gains. In a nutshell, the 5S program is indispensable for the continuous improvement of the organization.  

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