Toyota Motor Corporation first launched the 5S Methodology in Japan in the 1970s. To streamline the Just-In-Time production process, they adopted this methodology. The Just-In-Time approach to inventory management ensures that necessary commodities arrive just in time. This lowers the cost of carrying inventories.
The 5S Methodology is currently employed on a global scale. This practice improves productivity, eliminates waste, and keeps the workspace clean.
What is the 5s Methodology?
The 5S Methodology is a five-step process for assessing the working environment and determining what is important. The 5S Methodology aids in creating order, establishes processes and methods for carrying out routine tasks and cleans items that are unnecessary but still take up space.
The approach produces a tidy, secure, organized, and clutter-free workspace that increases output and reduces waste. When each employee is cognitively, emotionally, and physically content, a high-quality work environment and increased worker productivity are attained.
The 5S’s in the 5S Methodology
- Seiri
- Seiton
- Seiso
- Seiketsu
- Shitsuke
#1. Sort (Seiri in Japanese)
The 5S Methodology starts with sorting. Sorting is required of all supplies, items, tools, furniture, and related items in a workspace. The area is made cleaner and less cluttered by organizing the workspace. This procedure ensures that the working space has only the required materials.
Each piece of equipment in the workstation is assessed individually, and only the ones that help with the work are left there. People who work locally contribute to decisions on what is necessary or not. The red tag method can be used when it’s unclear how important a particular item is. In order to determine how long a working space can go without utilizing the item, the item description is filled out here, and the person’s name is tagged with the date and place.
The following questions help make an assorting decision:
- Who uses the material?
- How often is the product used?
- Will removing the product affect the daily operations?
- What is the product’s purpose?
- When was the last time this product was used?
- Is there a substitute for this product already present?
#2. Set in Order (Seiton in Japanese)
Once the manager removes unnecessary items, the working group strategizes how to sort the remaining items that matter to the operations in order.
The team chooses the configuration for placing these items that take up the least amount of room and leaves enough space for working and breathing. A logical arrangement can be ascertained by thinking about each task, frequency, the walking path, the arrangement causing the least wastage, and more. An ideal layout must decrease the walking, waiting, transportation, and motion time.
The following questions help make an arrangement decision:
- When are these items exactly used?
- Which logical position minimizes wastage in placing the item?
- Which items are most and least used?
- Who is using these items?
- Should an item be grouped or placed individually?
- Can a placement cut down waste?
- Is a particular placement adding to the wastage?
- Do we need more storage?
#3. Shine (Seiso in Japanese)
Shine is used to describe tidying up the workspace. In this stage, the place is thoroughly cleaned by sweeping, brooming, dusting, wiping each surface, etc.
Beyond basic cleaning, the shining stage calls for routine maintenance and inspection of machinery, tools, and equipment. Businesses may spot any potential issues and address them without affecting production when they prepare ahead for routine check-ups. This results in minimized wastage and losses.
Each employee is responsible for keeping the workspace clean by cleaning their desks daily.
The following questions help make a cleaning decision:
- How big is the working space?
- Can each employee clean their individual working space every day?
- Are there windows in the working space?
- How near or far is the working space from the main road?
- How often does the space need to be cleaned?
#4. Standardize (Seiketsu in Japanese)
This is the second to last step in the 5S Methodology. The manager standardizes the cleaning process once the excess items have been removed and the area is spotless. This methodology is diligently followed at first, but things return to their original state after some time.
The systematic procedure makes sure that the workspace is organized and that cleaning becomes a norm. Managers are responsible for keeping the equipment clean and in good operating order on a regular basis.
The standardized procedure entails giving each person and group a task to clean the workspaces, make cleaning schedules, give instructions, and establish a cleaning routine. Order is preserved by doing this. To complete this phase of the 5S Methodology, a checklist is useful.
The following questions help make a standardizing decision:
- Who is responsible for which task?
- Which individual uses the tools the most?
- How frequently does one need to clean?
- How often do people need to be reminded?
- Who is responsible for overlooking the main cleaning?
#5. Sustain (Shitsuke in Japanese)
Sustenance is the 5S Methodology’s final step. After everything is sorted, arranged, cleaned, and procedures are standardized, the businesses move forward with maintaining these procedures in the long run and updating them when required. Sustaining is important if the business wants to keep running in a clean way.
This procedure aids in the proper operation of the 5S Methodology and fosters a culture of cleanliness. When implemented correctly, the methodology becomes ingrained in the organizational culture and yields favorable effects for businesses.
The following questions help make a sustenance decision:
- How long has the 5S Methodology been applied to the organization?
- How has this impacted the organization?
- What is the process required to sustain the development?
An Additional S – Safety
“Safety” is a recent addition to the 5S Methodology. These days companies have started focusing more on the safety of employees and the working process. Safety is ensured when things are set up in a specific way to make workstations ergonomic, mark appropriate intersections, and give employees complete security on board.
Organizations with electrical equipment and appliances in the workspace will benefit from taking this action. They can alert people about hazardous products, put up a warning signs, clean chemicals, and label cabinets. Businesses cannot afford to have a dangerous layout since it puts workers at risk.
For this reason, it’s crucial to concentrate on the sixth S.
The first step towards achieving the last S is completing the preceding 5 S’s. Putting safety cues in place after that makes businesses the ideal place to work.
Benefits of the 5S Methodology
1. Increases Productivity
When an organization adopts the 5S Methodology, they remove unnecessary items that are taking up space in the workstation. A mind is more easily distracted the more clutter there is. Employee performance improves, and mental health improves in a clean environment. Consequently, applying the 5S Methodology aids in boosting business productivity.
2. Reduces Cost and Time
Getting rid of unnecessary things reduces the maintenance cost. Organizing a space more efficiently also results in a reduction of time spent traveling through those items. When unnecessary items lay on the pathway, it obstructs the path of employees and results in more time to reach the destination.
3. Enhances Employee Satisfaction
A cleaner space is better than a cluttered space and does not give an employee the mental bandwidth to perform effectively. Employee satisfaction is increased when their workstation is clean and organized as it motivates them to start their day on a positive note.
4. Builds a Better Work Environment
Better working conditions are provided by an organized workplace. Everything is easier to access when it is set up properly and has a setting. Items that have been organized using the 5S Methodology eliminate the need for employees to hunt for them. The overall efficiency of employees is increased by a tidy workstation.
5. Achieves Better Work Culture
A successful 5S Methodology implementation improves company culture and optimizes operations. It helps eliminate waste, increases equipment uptime, and instills self-discipline in employees, resulting in better productivity. The quality of products and services the company offers increases, and there is a positive attitude in the company’s working culture.
Example of the 5S Methodology
Let us assume that ABC Pvt. Ltd. wants to employ the 5S Methodology system in their operations to create a cleaner, safer, and more productive workstation.
The top management gives each manager the task of organizing the items around their workspace and the workspace of their team. Each manager removes four to eight objects from the area around their department’s workspace and either donate them to another department in need or discards them.
The managers organize the remaining products in the workstation such that they take up the least amount of space and guarantee the least amount of waste. The managers clean their own workspaces and desks once the arrangement is completed. Later, they call the janitor to do a deep cleaning of the area.
Every system and piece of equipment around the workstation, including lighting and fans, is regularly maintained, and it turns out that everything is operating as intended, with the exception of one printer. The technician fixes the printer per the manager’s instruction.
The management decides on a schedule for their staff to perform routine cleaning of their premises and equipment checks once a month after the shining procedure is finished. The manager reminds the team to follow the same procedure on a regular basis to ensure a safe, clean, and healthy working environment in the final step of sustenance followed by safety.
Managers ensure that working environments are safe by arranging things that do not come in between the walking path, and all-electric wires are also checked afterward.
Once the entire process is complete, and the workstation is decluttered, successful implementation of the 5S Methodology takes place.
How to Implement the 5S Methodology at Workplace?
Step 1: Analyse the Business’ Existing Performance
The first step toward implementing the 5S Methodology in the workplace is to analyze the existing performance of the business and each department’s contribution to the same. A manager must determine how their department contributes to the organization’s poor performance if business performance is low. This is an opportunity to implement the 5S Methodology.
The following points ensure processes are ineffective:
- If the team is struggling to locate documents, files and equipment physically and digitally
- If the team is not aware of their roles and responsibility toward keeping the workstation clean
- If there are papers, files, and documents in your workplace with dust and have not been used for many years
- If there are loose, unwanted, and saggy electrical cables on the desks
- If there are unlabelled files, documents, cabinets, or drawers
- If any content is not identified easily
Step 2: Break Down the Steps
If the department needs the 5S Methodology, break down each step in the 5S Methodology and assign roles and responsibilities to each team member.
Step 3: Devise an Action Plan
The next step toward implementing the 5S Methodology is to train staff with each step so that the process is carried out seamlessly. Once the staff is trained, create an action plan to implement the main process.
Taking a picture of the workspace and having a meeting with the team to discuss how it should appear is part of the action plan. Find items that can be quickly eliminated and others that can be discussed later. Mention steps in the action plan to clean and organize items in the workspace. Ensure that the action plan depicts the end goal.
Step 4: Mark the Floor
To organize the floor, create a floor marking first that lays out where the items need to be. By having a floor map, the manager can work according to the plan and ensure things are arranged similarly to achieve maximum satisfaction.
Step 5: Start With Easy Bits
The last step is to start with the easy bits to organize the workstation. Simple issues can be promptly discovered and resolved without outside assistance. The first step can be implemented with little effort, and the manager can get a good start on arranging and cleaning the area. The process can continue with taking medium to high-priority tasks and working on larger items to organize or eliminate. This way, the manager can implement the 5S Methodology successfully.
Final words
The 5S Methodology must be used by every organization to maintain a tidy, organized, and clutter-free workspace. Employees can work safely and effectively in an organized atmosphere that is free from distractions.
Managers can start the process with their teams in smaller spaces, such as the area around their cabin or the office where the department is located. When multiple small spaces are targeted, the entire business’ working space is cleaned and organized easily and quickly.