What is the 5 S?

The 5 S forms the foundation of Kaizen. A 5-S programme is usually a part of and the key component in establishing a visual workplace. It is both a part of Kaizen and a component of lean manufacturing. The 5-S programme focuses on implementing visual order, organization, cleanli­ness and standardization. The results that can be expected from a 5-S programme are improved profitability, efficiency, service and safety.

The principles underlying a 5-S programme at first appear to be simple and obvious common sense. However, many businesses ignored these basic principles until the advent of 5-S programmes. 5 S is the key to total quality environment. Japanese factories are well known for their cleanliness and orderliness. Therefore, the Japanese call their factories par­lours. The 5-S practice is a technique used to establish and maintain quality environment in an organization. The name stands for five Japanese words—seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu and shitsuke. The Japanese 5-S practice is useful not just for improving the physical environ­ment, but also for improving thinking processes. The English equivalent, their meanings and typical examples are shown in Table 9.1.⁴

1. The 5-S Movement

The 5-S movement takes its name from the first letter of the five Japanese words—seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu and shitsuke. As part of the visual management of an overall pro­gramme, signs that repeat the steps are often posted in the workshop.

Step 1 Seiri (straighten up): It is about separating the things that are necessary for the job from those that are not and keeping the number of the necessary items as low as possible and at a convenient location. Differentiate between the necessary and the unnecessary and discard the unnecessary in the areas such as work in process, unnecessary tools, unused machinery, defective products and documents. This can be achieved by:

• Stratification management: The key to good stratification management is the ability to make decisions about usage frequency and to ensure that the things are in their proper places. It involves deciding how important something is and then reducing the non­essential inventory.
• Differentiate between need and want.
• Applying the theory of one-is-best, for example, by using one set of tools/one day pro­cessing.

Step 2 Seiton (put things in order): Things must be kept in order so that they are ready for use when needed. An American mechanical engineer recalls that he used to spend hours searching for tools and parts in his previous job at Cincinnati. He realised the value of “seiton” only after he joined a Japanese organization and saw how easily the workers were able to find what they needed. Seiton is all about neatness. Neatness is a study of efficiency. It is a ques­tion of how quickly one can get the things needed and how quickly one can put them away. There are four steps in achieving neatness:

1. Analyse the status quo
2. Decide where things belong
3. Decide how things should be put away
4. Obey the put-away rules (putting things back where they belong)

Step 3 Seiko (clean up): Keep the workplace clean. Everyone in the organization should put cleaning into practice, right from the managing director to the cleaner.

Step 4 Seiketsu (standardization): It means continually and repeatedly maintaining neat­ness and cleanliness in the organization. As such, it embraces both personal cleanliness and the cleanliness of the environment. The emphasis is on visual management (put up appropri­ate labels) and standardization.

Step 5 Shitsuke (discipline): Discipline means instilling the ability of doing things the way they are supposed to be done. Discipline is a process of repetition and practice. The emphasis here is on creating a workplace with good habits. Everyone should follow the procedures in the workshop.

The logic behind 5-S practices is that organization, neatness, cleanliness, standardization and discipline at the workplace are basic requirements for producing high quality products and services with little or no waste and with high productivity. This is the reason why it is important to combine the Japanese 5-S practice in TQM.

2. Implementing the 5 S in an Organization

The five steps in implementing the 5 S in an organization are:

Step 1: Get the top management’s commitment and be prepared.

Step 2: Draw up a promotional campaign.

Step 3: Keep records.

Step 4: Undertake 5-S training.

Step 5: Evaluation.

3. Conducting a 5-S Audit

Auditing helps evaluate the performance level of each “S” and identifies the gaps so that fur­ther improvement can be initiated to achieve the desired level of performance. Prepare a sys­tematic audit sheet for each “S,” covering all elements like scoring criteria, for instance on a scale of 1 to 5, the area to be audited, the owner of the area, date of audit, auditor’s name and level and the opportunity for improvements (OFIs).

Level 1: Self-audit by the 5-S practitioners/area owners.

Level 2: Peer audit.

Level 3: Final audit by the unit head/facilitator/external expert.

Provide due weightage for awareness of the 5-S concepts and their physical deployment at the workplace.

• Be unbiased during the audit.
• Check all the area or sample area as applicable.
• Check for all the activities involved.
• Give attention to areas of negligence, safety and hygiene aspects.
• Focus on following the implementation strategy.

Approach: Interview all members for awareness on concepts and the benefits in terms of result indicators.

Deployment: Area covered all activities by all people.

Assessment and review: Self-audit system and continuous improvement.

Result: Tangible and intangible quantification.

• Scheduled audit to be carried out during implementation to know the gaps in terms of OFIs (opportunity for improvements) and upgrade level of house-keeping continuously.
• Surprise audits may be organized at frequent levels (six months) by an external agency to assess whether the performance is sustained or deteriorating so as to alert teams for sustenance.
• Conduct three level audits for each step, say, after joint operation of 1 S, 2 S, 3 S, 4 S and 5-S activities, respectively.
• Do not move on to the next step until the present step is satisfactory and certified.
• Certify only if the score is above 90 for level 1, above 85 for level 2 and above 80 for level 3.
• Ideal maximum score is 100.
• Scoring points to be given in whole numbers 1 to 100 or 1 to 5 as defined below.

One mark for almost zero implementation.

Two marks for implementation in exposed areas.

Three marks for partial implementation in hidden areas.

Four marks for full implementation in hidden areas.

Five marks for very effective implementation deriving desired result indicator values.

Make the audits more objective than subjective with enough specific remarks to guide the practitioner to improve.

M 1-S Audit

The ideal status is to have zero unnecessary items at the workplace.

• Give five marks if not a single item is found as unnecessary in the area during audit.
• Give four marks if one item is found as unnecessary in the area during audit.
• Give three marks if two items are found as unnecessary in the area during audit.
• Give two marks if three items are found as unnecessary in the area during audit.
• Give one mark if four items are found as unnecessary in the area during audit.

4. 2-S Audit

The ideal status is to have a place for everything. The retrieval time should be less than 30 seconds.

• Give five marks if the locations of all items are marked and the items are in their respective positions.
• Give four marks if 80 per cent locations are marked and the items are in their respective positions.
• Give three marks if 60 per cent locations are marked and the items are in their respective positions.
• Give two marks if 40 per cent locations are marked and the items are in their respective positions.
• Give one mark if 20 per cent locations are marked and the items are in their respective positions.

5.  3-S Audit

The ideal status is a neat workplace and preserved items are perfectly neat and clean with no dust, dirt, grime and foreign matters.

• Give five marks if the area and the items are neat and clean.
• Give four marks if 80 per cent of the items and area are neat and clean.
• Give three marks if 60 per cent of the items and area are neat and clean.
• Give two marks if 40 per cent of the items and area are neat and clean.
• Give one mark if 20 per cent of the items and area are neat and clean.

6. 4-S Audit

The ideal status is that all the procedures, formats and practices are standardized.

• Give five marks if all the procedures, formats and practices are standardized.
• Give four marks if 80 per cent procedures, formats and practices are standardized.
• Give three marks if 60 per cent procedures, formats and practices are standardized.
• Give two marks if 40 per cent procedures, formats and practices are standardized.
• Give one mark if 20 per cent procedures, formats and practices are standardized.

7. 5-S Audit

The ideal status is “1 S, 2 S, 3 S and 4 S are practised by all in all areas with self-imposed discipline.”

• Give five marks if discipline is effective in all the areas.
• Give four marks if discipline is effective in 80 per cent of the areas.
• Give three marks if discipline is effective in 60 per cent of the areas.
• Give two marks if discipline is effective in 40 per cent of the areas.
• Give one mark if discipline is effective in 20 per cent of the areas.

8. Implementation Strategy

The following strategy can be used to implement a 5-S programme:

• Create awareness through workshops for all members
• Form the teams and assign ownership areas
• Equip the teams with tools and techniques
• Implement in a step-by-step manner
• Carry out three-level audits regularly
• Proceed to the next step only after completing the previous step satisfactorily
• Use a model area and implement all the 5 S practices, then replicate horizontally or start simultaneously at selected all areas by compressing the implementation time

9. Benefits of a 5-S Programme

All types of businesses benefit from having a 5-S programme in place. Manufacturing and industrial plants are the businesses that can realise the greatest benefits. However, any type of business whether a retail store, or a power plant, a hospital or a television station and all areas within it will realise the benefits incurring from implementing the 5-S programme. Some of the benefits of implementing a 5-S programme are:

• Builds a culture for creating a neat, safe, healthy and clean workplace with a conducive environment.
• Systematizes day-to-day working and improves the work efficiency.
• It inspires associates to maintain discipline in the workplace and also motivates them to carry home good practices by which their family members are also benefited.

Source: Poornima M. Charantimath (2017), Total Quality Management, Pearson; 3rd edition.