5S - Keys to a More
Productive Workplace

"Can uncluttered minds with fresh ideas function in cluttered workplaces? The answer is obvious-and the solution so simple." --Norman Bodek

We have not seen any approach to improvement that is simpler or more powerful or that can be implemented at lower cost.

5S is an approach to workplace organization, orderliness, and cleanliness that can improve a company's image, eliminate wasted time and motion, create a safer place to work, and improve morale. Studies have shown that people often spend half their time at work looking for things! Often we don't even notice the waste, but it is real nonetheless. 5S helps to eliminate that waste and allows people to work smarter, not harder.

Today many organizations such as Toyota, General Motors, and Boeing have implemented 5S programs with astonishing results. But it is an approach that is ideal for small organizations with limited budgets and the public sector as well.

5S can be used as a preliminary step to process improvement and is often used as the first step in implementing lean principles. Because workplace organization and orderliness are intuitively beneficial, it is helpful in getting employee buy-in to improvement efforts.

A number of tools and approaches are available to support 5S implementation including:

• Implementing the red tag strategy to achieve organization
• Implementing the signboard strategy to achieve order and visual control
• Developing and using 5S audits
• Integrating 5S with improvement efforts and suggestion systems
• Building discipline in the workplace

MASET, LLC    P. O. Box 649    Maricopa, AZ 85139
Phone: 520-568-6355     Fax 520-568-6354