Go Lean with 5s Lean

There are certain things that can be implemented into any business in order to make it run more smoothly and to improve your capacity to make your customer happy.   I don’t know any business owner that is not interested in improving the organization of their workers, as well as improving the efficiency, safety and quality for everyone that is involved.   In order to do this properly, lean manufacturing techniques must be implemented, which would include taking into account the 5S lean philosophy.

The 5S lean philosophy is one that can help you to improve the work procedures that take part in your business and to maintain a level of organization that benefits everyone, both inside and outside of the business.   It is based on certain principles that take into account five different items that in the Japanese language begin with the letter S.   Here they are and what they can do for your business.

Seiri – This is a process that will help to eliminate anything from your workplace that is unnecessary.   This is at the beginning of the process, because it can help to clear out a lot of the items that may get in the way of you seeing exactly how to further improve your business and to make it more lean.

Seiton – Storage is what this particular part of the 5s system is about.   If you’re not properly implementing storage within your business and making sure that everything is within arms reach, you’re really not going to be as efficient as possible.   For this particular principle to work well, good communication from everyone involved would be necessary.   This can help you to see not only what is necessary in order to get the job done but you will see clearly see how many you will need to keep on hand at any given time and where the item will be located so that it is convenient.

Seiso – The next step in the 5S system process is cleaning.   Although you took care of part of this when you organized the area by reducing anything that was not necessary, further cleaning is needed in order to make sure that everything will run as smoothly as possible.   This is not a one time deal, however, and follow-up cleanings are going to need to be implemented so that everything is going to be running as smoothly as possible.   This is not only true of the equipment that is used but it is also true of the general work area, which can also help with the health of your employees.

Seiketsu – The fourth step in the 5S process is going to be to set the standards that are necessary to make sure that everything continues to work smoothly.   These standards generally dictate how the work is going to be done and how people will work together in order to accomplish it.

Shitsuke – Finally, you need to set these things in motion for the long-term and to make sure that everybody is on board.   This is probably the most difficult part of the 5s system to implement but once it is implemented properly, you will have a smooth running operation from that day forward.

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