Understanding the Philosophy and Power 5 S

5S  is a company-wide participation program involving everyone in the organization. It is a very effective approach for motivating people, and improving  productivity and the work environment.

Objectives of a 5S Program;

• Developing Kaizen-minded people at workplace.
• Building good teamwork through participation.
• Developing managers and visors for practical leadership.
• Improving infrastructures for introduction of advanced Kaizen technologies.

The Origin of The Term 5S is a set of five Japanese words. Each word starts with a sound of “se” or “shi”. They are Se-i-ri, Se-i-to-n, Se-i-so, Se-i-ke-tsu, and Shi-tsu-ke.

1. Seiri is the sorting out and discarding of unnecessary items in the workplace.
2. Seiton is the arrangement of necessary items into good order so that they can be easily selected for use.
3. Seiso is cleaning up one’s workplace completely so that there is no dust on floors, machines or equipment.
4. Seiketsu is maintaining one’s workplace so that it is productive and comfortable by repeating Seiri-Seiton-Seiso.
5. Shitsuke is training people to follow good work habits and the strict observation of workplace rules.

In connection with the 5S, found there are at least "Three Different Types of Workplace" ;

A  3rd class workplace:

has people who make a mess and no one cleans up.

A 2nd class workplace:

has people who make a mess and another group of people clean up.

A 1st class workplace:

has people who don’t make a mess and yet everyone cleans up.

Therefore, to succeed the 5S program within a company, several major factors;

1. Continued commitment and support by top management
2. 5S starts with education and training 
3. There are no observers in 5S, everyone participates
4. Repeat the 5S cycle in order to achieve a higher standard