5S is the backbone of lean manufacturing and an essential part of any company's lean journey. The 5S methodology, which includes sorting, simplifying, sweeping, standardizing and sustaining, reduces waste and brings order and efficiency to operations. Standardizing work is particularly difficult but important, as it ensures conditions do not deteriorate and facilitates implementation of the other S's. Maintaining standards requires discipline from all personnel, including management, and their commitment is needed for the lean systems to advance and evolve the company culture.

1. 5 S,the backbone tostandardization
The 5S initiativeisone of the most difficulttoaccomplishinyourleanjourney. The effortstosort,
simplify,sweep,standardize and sustain are the backbone of lean. Manycompaniesroll safetyasthe
6th S, but inreality thatis a mistake. 5Sis about the leanmanufacturingof business. Forbusinesses to
treat the safety of employeesonthe same plane asleanisa critical mistake. Inthe hierarchy of business
and employeeneeds,employeesafetyisthe mostcritical andfarmore important thanefficiencyandis
the baseline of the hierarchy. The emphasis onthe 5S is overlookedandconsideredbymany tohave
aspectsthat are optional andnotnecessaryfor productivityimprovements. Nothingcouldbe farther
fromthe truth.
Sortingisnecessaryforseveral reasons. Firstasorted facility reducesinventorywaste,eliminatethe use
of un-standardized toolsorparts,andeliminates confusiontoemployees whoare atdifferent training
levels. Italsoincreasesusable space bythe elimination of storage forunnecessary items,obsolete
tooling, andduplicate materials. Havingthe correcttoolsvisually noticeableineachworkplace allows
boththe operatorsandsupervisorstorealize any shortages thatmayexist. If youlookat effective
assembly operations,toolsare placedin the properplacesbefore,after, andduringproduction. Have
youeverhad the home projectanddid notreturnthe hammerto the properplace at the endof a
project? Thenin a couple of monthswhenthe nextprojectisstartedyou flounderedtofindwhere you
leftthathammer. The same issaidfor the wrenchon an assemblyline. Afterthe dailyproductionis
complete,if anoperatorleavesthe wrenchinanundesignatedlocation,theywill have trouble starting
the nextday's production ontime. Therefore, efficienciesare dwindled fromtheiroptimum.
Communication betweenshiftsandworkersbecomes more effectiveinawell sortedenvironmentand
much of the extraneousdiscussions andfrustrations disappearas everythingiswhereitshouldbe
located. Finally,apoorlysortedoperationeffectsthe quality of product. Tool substitutions are
minimizedasall the propertoolsare alwaysavailable toeveryone. The applicationof any incorrect
parts or subassemblies are eliminated.
Simplifyingthe operationsare key tothe leanprocess. Thiseffortalsoreducesinventoryasdesigners
attemptto use commonhardware that isreadilyonhand. This preventsspecialordersforunnecessary
products. Thisalso eliminates waste due todifficulty inusingunique itemsandimprovesqualityas
optionsformisapplication becomemore limited. Butthe simplificationgoes furtherthandesign. It
includesthe arrangementof the workspace and encompasses shadow boxingtoolsand standardizing
the besttoolsfor the job. The developmentof simplejigsandfixturesimprovesthe quality of product
as a standard methodof locatingfeaturesisinplace. Jigscanbe designedwiththe same basicsand
mere detail changeovers accommodate mixedmodel production. Asamanager,we shouldalso drive
the organizationtothe simplestfunctionalitybyreviewingeachstepof the operations withengineering,
operationsandquality concurrently. Donotmerelyacceptthe designfrom research anddevelopment
as seldomisefficiencyandproductivitytakenintoaccount.

2. Sweeporshine isessentialforseveral reasons. Firstandforemastisensuresasaferworkplace. The
clutteredworkplace isone thatis doomed fortripsandfalls. Cleanand brightworkplaceshave a
psychological effectonworkersthatis positive andisone where we are proudto employourselves.
The lack of lightingcanleadtopoor morale and inefficientwork. Shine canalso assure thattoolsare in
the properconditionforusage at all times. The lack of lightingalsoallows undetected visual defectsand
therefore the brightandshinyworkplace islessapttoproduce andship nonconforminghardware. I
paintedall mymachineswhite inacompany. Initially,the thoughtof white machinesthat remove metal
was frownedupon because itwasnotsustainable. Aseachmachine showedaleak,the leakwasfixed
to preventthe needtorepaint. Thattriggered animproved TPMprogram whichreduceddowntimeby
21%.
The most difficultis the standardizationof work. Thiseffortintegratesthe sort,weepandshine and
simplifyingefforts. Itensures conditions donotdeteriorate tothe formerstate and facilitates the
implementationof the aforementioned. The standardizationof work ensures thatwork isperformed
the same way time aftertime and integratesanimprovedqualityandpredicabledelivery plan. Itis
difficulttocreate the standardization of workand it is verytime consuming. Youmust segmentyour
workplace into sub-sectionssothatsmallersuccessescanbe declaredandcelebrated. Itisessential
that the formatfor the standardizationiseasytoimplementandthatany software youuse isreadyto
use for itspurpose. Do notuse ad hoc programs as the documentationand implementationis difficult
and stranglingthe organizationwithcomplicated programs will exhaustpersonnel. Eventually,your
standardwork will allowyoutopredicthow manypeople are neededto attaintakttime forwork cells
and will assistin allocationof resourcesnecessarytoattaincustomer commitments.
Making a habitof properlymaintainingcorrectproceduresand installingthe disciplinetoregress
requiresthatall personnel including managementpayattentionto detail. The consequencesof not
allowingemployeestocorrect standard workwhenneeded,toclean,sort, straightenthe workplace,
and allowingan environmentof sustainmentwilldeteranyadvancementof the leansystemsyourputin
place. It will evolve aculture where employees willconsideryourjourneyas anotherprogramthat went
to the wayside andwill make anyrevitalizationof the effortmore difficult.