espi Communication Board

Sort – (Seiri) - "Sorting" means to sort through everything in each work area keeping only what is necessary at the work space. Materials, tools, equipment and supplies that are not frequently used should be moved to a separate, common storage area. Items that are not used should be discarded or recycled.  Don't keep things around just because they might be used, someday. With 5S sorting you are taking the first step toward making a work area tidy, organized, and arranged so that it is easier to find the things you need. The result will be that waste is eliminated and additional space will become available. Obsolete fixtures, molds, jigs, scrap material, waste, and other unused items and materials are disposed of or recycled. Broken equipment and tools are either repaired or thrown out.

An additional benefit is that, it makes it easier to spot maintenance needs such as an oil leak. It also improves safety and eliminates clutter and confusion.  5S sorting... it's simple, common-sense, and it begins a journey that results in eliminating waste, and improving safety, quality, and productivity though the implementation of the five basic principles of 5S.

5S Sorting itself involves five steps: 

5S Sorting – Cleaning
The purpose of "sorting" is to identify unnecessary items and eliminate them from the workplace. The team should go through every area of the workplace; inside cupboards, under benches, behind machines (even inside the machines) to remove all items that are considered clutter. By nature we tend to collect and hoard things just in case we need them later and start to accumulate items until those items begin to get in the way of our production. During this activity it can be surprising how much has accumulated in the area. You will also find many items that people have just forgotten, and no longer know what they are.  *Basic 5S Principle: Don't keep things around just because they might be used, someday.

5S Sorting - Classifying

As you are cleaning up you'll uncover all of the tools, equipment, materials and supplies presently accumulated at your workplace. As each item is uncovered, classify it. If the item is clearly scrap then throw it away! If it has value, but does not belong in the area then move it to a quarantine area often called a red-tag area. If the item is too large to move or is attached to services and would require the attention of maintenance to remove it, identify with a red-tag (more on red tags below.)

5S Sorting - Ownership

In some cases, as items are found or classified their ownership may be obvious. For example, pallets might be collected in one area so they can be returned to the shipping department. It may be immediately obvious where a tool belongs and that tool can be directly returned to its correct storage location. In other cases determining ownership may require asking some questions or doing a little research. Once ownership is determined the owner can decide what to do with the item - store it, pass it on to another work area or department, or dispose of the item. However, in some cases the ownership of an item may not be readily apparent. This brings us to the fourth step - red tagging.

5S Sorting - Red Tagging (Example above)

The Red Tag process in 5S can be can be conducted in a number of different ways. The red tag is a simple but highly obvious label that is used to identify items that people believe should be removed from the work cell. Red Tags can be used within a “blitz” approach to 5S to identify items that operators cannot physically remove from the working area themselves; other items being removed to a “red tag” area rather than being left within the cell. If 5S is conducted over a longer period or for ongoing applications of Sorting the Red Tag is used to identify items that people do not believe are required, if no one has a need to use the item within a specified period (usually 30 days) then the item is then removed from the cell.

5S Sorting - Recycling / Reassignment

Red tagged items that are not claimed after a reasonable amount of time, such as 30 days, may be recycled, disposed of, or if they are still useful they can be reassigned. A simple approach for reassigning items is at the end of the 30 day red tag period, to provide a seven day period in which any supervisor may take any red tagged item with an expired red tag. These items are then reassigned to that supervisor's work area.

In some cases the five steps of 5S sorting may happen simultaneously. We can clean, classify, determine ownership, and red tag in just a few seconds. In other circumstances the process may be more involved and the steps more distinct. But the objective is the same, clean up and get rid of unused items.

Join us next week for 5S Techniques - Seiton (Systematize)