Monday, April 7, 2014



The Lean / 6-Sigma process is proven to be an effective method that can make your operations more productive and profitable. As a result of utilizing this, your company can become more competitive. We believe that implementation of these philosophies is timely and a very good opportunity to improve everybody's quality of work and life. The application of Lean techniques is so versatile that they can be used whether you have a large manufacturing plant, small shop, fast food business, service or social service operation, or any other imaginable business. Anything you do can be improved.  A good starting point is through a commonly used Lean tool, 5S. Over the next 5 weeks we will focus on the 5 main principles of the 5S process.

5S Principles - Workplace Organization
5S is the name of a workplace organization method that uses a list of five Japanese words: seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu, and shitsuke. Translated into English, they all start with the letter "S" and are respectively Sort, Systematize, Shine, Standardize, and Self Discipline. The list describes how to organize a work space for efficiency and effectiveness by identifying and storing the items used, maintaining the area and items, and sustaining the new order. The decision-making process usually comes from a dialogue about standardization, which builds understanding among employees of how they should do the work.

A sixth principle, "Safety", is sometimes added. There is debate over whether including this sixth "S" promotes safety by stating this value explicitly, or if a comprehensive safety program is undermined when it is relegated to a single item in an efficiency-focused business methodology.

A seventh principle, "Security", is also now added by some. To leverage security as an investment rather than an expense, the seventh "S" identifies and addresses risks to key business categories including fixed assets (PP&E), material, human capital, brand equity, intellectual property, information technology, assets-in-transit and the extended supply chain.


Join us next week for 5S Techniques - Seiri (Sort)


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