5SPhilosophyAnyonewhohasrecentlyopenedanewmachineshophascertainlyhadthesethoughts:HowcanIimproveefficiency,workorganization,quality,safetyandhousekeepingandprotectmyinvestmentatthesametime?ToddSkaggs,PresidentofMetaltekMfg.Inc.,decidedthatthe5Sprocesscouldeffectivelyimpactthewayhiscompanydidbusiness.BasedonJapanesewordsthatbeginwithS?The5SPhilosophyfocusesoneffectiveworkplaceorganizationandstandardizedworkprocedures.5Ssimplifiesyourworkenvironment,reduceswasteandnon-valueactivitywhileimprovingqualityefficiencyandsafety.Sort(Seiri)–整理thefirstSfocusesoneliminatingunnecessaryitemsfromtheworkplace.Aneffectivevisualmethodtoidentifytheseunneededitemsiscalledredtagging.Aredtagisplacedonallitemsnotrequiredtocompleteyourjob.Theseitemsarethenmovedtoacentralholdingarea.Thisprocessisforevaluationoftheredtagitems.Occasionallyuseditemsaremovedtoamoreorganizedstoragelocationoutsideoftheworkareawhileunneededitemsarediscarded.Sortingisanexcellentwaytofreeupvaluablefloorspaceandeliminatesuchthingsasbrokentools,obsoletejigsandfixtures,scrapandexcessrawmaterial.TheSortprocessalsohelpspreventtheJICjobmentality(JustInCase.)SetInOrder(Seiton)–整顿isthesecondSandfocusesonefficientandeffectivestoragemethods.Youmustaskyourselfthesequestions:1.WhatdoIneedtodomyjob?2.WhereshouldIlocatethisitem?3.HowmanyofthisitemdoIneed?StrategiesforeffectiveSetInOrderarepaintingfloors,outliningworkareasandlocations,shadowboards,andmodularshelvingandcabinetsforneededitemssuchastrashcans,brooms,mopandbuckets.Imaginehowmuchtimeiswastedeverydaylookingforabroom?Thebroomshouldhaveaspecificlocationwhereallemployeescanfindit."Aplaceforeverythingandeverythinginitsplace."Shine:(Seiso)–清扫Onceyouhaveeliminatedtheclutterandjunkthathasbeencloggingyourworkareasandidentifiedandlocatedthenecessaryitems,thenextstepistothoroughlycleantheworkarea.Dailyfollow-upcleaningisnecessaryinordertosustainthisimprovement.Workerstakeprideinacleanandclutter-freeworkareaandtheShinestepwillhelpcreateownershipintheequipmentandfacility...
