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Saturday, January 31, 2009

What is Five S?

5S is a basic, fundamental, systematic approach for productivity, quality and safety improvement in all types of business.

What is a Five S?

A Five S program is usually a part of, and the key component of establishing a Visual Workplace. and are both a part of Kaizen -- a system of continual improvement -- which is a component of lean manufacturing.

Improve manufacturing with a 5S ProgramThe Five S program focuses on having visual order, organization, cleanliness and standardization. The results you can expect from a Five S program are: improved profitability, efficiency, service and safety.

The principles underlying a Five S program at first appear to be simple, obvious common sense. And they are. But until the advent of Five S programs many businesses ignored these basic principles.


What types of businesses benefit from a Five S program?
Everyone and all types of business benefit from having a Five S program.

Manufacturing and industrial plants come to mind first, as those are the business that can realize the greatest benefits. However, any type of business, from a retail store to a power plant -- from hospitals to television stations -- all types of businesses, and all areas within a business, will realize benefits from implementing a Five S program.


What are the Five S's?
Use the following links to learn more about 5S
  • Sort - the first step in making things cleaned up and organized
  • Set In Order - organize, identify and arrange everything in a work area
  • Shine - regular cleaning and maintenance
  • Standardize - make it easy to maintain - simplify and standardize
  • Sustain -maintaining what has been accomplished

What will it cost me?
The shipyard industry is spending nearly a million dollars to develop a Five S program the industry can use, and to implement that program at two shipyards. On the other hand you can implement a Five S program without adding an extra dollar to your budget.

%S focuses on creating visual orderRealistically you probably will need to spend some extra money to get your Five S program going. There will be training time; man-hours spent to get your facility cleaned up and organized; equipment purchases, such as buying a quality labeling system; and time spent on sustaining your Five S program once it is in place.

Your actual costs will depend on where you are now - for example what is the condition of your facility? The further you are from meeting the goals of a Five S program, the more it will cost to implement one and the greater the benefits you'll see as a result of your Five S program.

(Graphic Products)

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