5S

Three secrets for sustaining

5S success
In 50 Words
Or Less There are secrets about 5S that
The key to sustaining
lean experts often overlook because nobody ever
results gained through
the 5S method is to clued them in. Before revealing the secrets, how-
begin by standardizing
and systematizing, not ever, there are a few questions to answer: What is
sorting.
By scoring early suc-
5S? Why is 5S important to implement? And, why
cesses, you can build do so many North American organizations fail in
on employees desire to
compete and find new 5S implementation?
areas to 5S.
A manufacturer and
5S is a management technique that helps
one of its customers organize a workplace by making it free of clut-
used the approach to
improve its bottom line. ter, more visual and safer. The Ss correlate to
Japanese terms that mean sort, shine, set in
 LEAN

by John Casey S
S
S
S S

order, standardize and systematize (or sustain). In

short, its cleaning up any work area and getting it
organized. It sounds so simple, and it appears very
obvious. Who could argue against the basic concept
of keeping your workplace orderly?
North American organizations frequently initiate
a 5S program and engage in a massive cleanup effort.
For many, they find the disorganization returns a few
months later. What a waste. The typical 5S effort that
falls on its face (see Figure 1, p. 20) generally follows
this pattern:

October 2013 QP 19
 Leadership decides the plant is a mess and starts an
initiative to organize. The leaders appoint a champion
to take on the initiative for the organization, and that
person will passionately begin the process. The cham-
pion starts in a small pilot area and begins the process
by asking people to:
1. Sort what they need.
2. Shine up the work area by cleaning up the dirt.
3. Set things in order, or determine a logical place for
everything and put each item in its place.
At this point, the organization stops and celebrates
the feat a little because the area is obviously tidier. Of-
ten the organization skips the process of standardizing
and systematizing, and moves to another area. This is
where atrophy sets in.
After one area is completed, the champion moves to
the next, repeats the process and cleanup effort. With
all the noticeable improvementplus the perception
of a better workplacethe organization gains some
momentum and the pace of activities begins to pick
up, allowing the 5S process to become a picture of suc-
cess.
At the end, the champion and leadership will feel
pretty good, and theyll ask everyone to Keep it this
way. The workplace environment is obviously better
and safer. Why wouldnt anyone want to sustain the
gains? But time passes and, eventually, gains are lost.
Then they ask themselves, Why did the effort re-
vert back to the original state? Why did we do it in the
first place? Certainly a clean shop makes people feel
better, but is that why management wants 5S?
The 5S cycle / figure 1
1. Sort
5. Systematize 2. Shine
4. Standardize 3. Set in order
20 QP www.qualityprogress.com
Secrets revealed
5S increases profits because it exposes waste that can
be eliminated. The operations that win are the most
efficient in production, where the problems can be
seen and solved most quickly. When a strong 5S pro-
gram is in place, it is extremely easy for leaders to walk
around and see whether people are operating to the
plan and using the best practices. When everything is
in its place, a leader knows everyone has exactly what
he or she needs and has a baseline to start additional
continuous improvement projects.
Profit is the trigger for management. The secret is
that the 5S process, which, when properly implement-
ed, exposes waste, leading to increases in profitability.
This seems so obviouswhy does the effort be-
come atrophic? When you look at the Japanese ap-
proach, they taught 5S in the sort, shine and set in
order sequence. What they didnt realize is there is a
significant cultural difference between some Japanese
and North Americans.
In Japan, conformity is something to be treasured.
Many North Americans often do their own thing, and
conformity is not always cherished. To many Japanese,
excesses are unnatural. Many live in limited space.
They must store just what they want and need because
they dont have enough space for excess. Many North
Americans are accustomed to wide open spaces. Some
people have so much extra that they must rent storage
facilities to house the items. They adopt a culture of
individualism and excess.
Because of this dichotomy, the North Americans
drifting back to their former comfort level explains
why atrophy occurs following 5S projects. Herein lies
the second secret: What some North Americans lack
is a self-imposed system of reviewthe fifth S, or sys-
tematize.
What is the system that many North Americans
like? Its scoreboards. They want to winits in their
culture. While they dont really like to conform, they
naturally like to compete and beat the next person. 5S
doesnt appeal to their basic motivations and inclina-
tions for friendly competition. The secret is that North
Americans must instead start concentrating on the sys-
tematic reinforcement within 5S to achieve the profits
that they are seeking.
Now for the third secret: Often, the 5S process
starts at the wrong step. North Americans must know
the standards and how they will be measured. An or-
 lean

ganization should start with the standardization step

(see Figure 2). Management must start by defining the
5S cycle secret to success / figure 2

standard (for example, the cleanliness specification).

Operators must know what is expected when stan- 3. Sort
dards are in place, and then the 5S process can start to
work. This is best done with a combination of words
and pictures.
The secret is to start at step four by defining your
2. Systematize 4. Shine
standard and move to step five (systematize) by having
a process to systematically measure the orderliness.
Do these steps before you go to step one (sort). Try it,
and youll be surprised.

Disheveled and disorderly 1. Standardize 5. Set in order

There was a problem at Standard Grinding and Manu-
facturing (SGM), a computer numerical control (CNC)
machining company in Skokie, IL, that produces preci-
sion and complex components for the aerospace, hy-
draulic and medical equipment industries. SGMs ship-
ping area was a hub of constant activity with hundreds
of loads regularly coming and going.
With limited space, shipments and documents
were routinely misplaced. Workers always seemed
to be stepping over one another searching for mis-
placed boxes and paperwork. SGM had attempted 5S
in the past, but things always drifted back to a state
Start
here
of mild disorder. The symptom was a cluttered ship-
ping area. The problem was sustaining the organiza-
tion at this work center.
One of SGMs major customers is Honeywell Aero-
space, which deploys supplier development engineers
(SDE) who consult with its suppliers (such as SGM)
and works with them on continuous improvement

The Unique Approach of Lean 5S at SGM

Standard Grinding and Manufacturing (SGM) was hungry for a better way to implement lean 5S because previ-
ous attempts had stagnated. The following approach worked for SGM:
SGM established a lean 5S internal audit team. Members of the original team were specifically chosen and
consisted of group leaders, supervisors and managers trained in lean 5S.
The team visited a facility recognized as a lean 5S leader. Employees at Honeywell Analytics in Lincolnshire,
IL, a Honeywell Operating Systems (HOS) silver-certification facility, recognized for its continuous improve-
ment efforts, helped the SGM team develop its long-range vision and objectives.
SGM created a lean 5S company policy, or lean 5S mission statement, to unify and standardize the objective.
SGM created its forms, checklists, questionnaires, metrics, policies and documents before the sort and shine
events. In other words, the internal audit team was first formed, and then standardize and systematize steps
were established.
The internal audit team initially coached and educated employees. Scoring and metrics then became con-
tinually more stringent after the 5S expectations and culture had taken root.
SGM encouraged a sixth Ssafetyas opportunities arose.
SGM encouraged continuous improvement and friendly competition within the company at every
opportunity. J.C.

October 2013 QP 21
 THE SHIPPING AREA at Standard Grinding and Manufacturing is the hub of constant activity as hundreds of incoming and
outgoing shipments are processed daily at this station. The area before the 5S initiative (left) was cluttered and disorga-
nized, overloaded with needless boxes and misused tables and shelving. Following the 5S exercise (right), more space
was created to allow employees to function more efficiently.

projects, especially lean Six Sigma.
During one visit, Honeywells SDE, Curtis Oswald,
was discussing shipping area orderliness with SGMs
quality engineer, Donald Reynolds, and described how
most North American organizations start with sort,
shine and set in order. Because previous 5S projects did
not take root in the factory, Oswald and Reynolds de-
cided to launch another effort, but this time in a differ-
ent sequence: Begin with standardize and systematize.
When they proposed the concept to SGM General
Manager Howard Natal, the discussion centered on
cost. Every time we tried this in the past, it always
felt like we were just spending money. I didnt want to
throw money out the window again for a temporary
boost in housekeeping, Natal said. I wanted some-
thing that would stick. Oswald and Reynolds idea was
different and had the permanence Natal was seeking.
They started by creating a layout of the shipping
area and went around the department and asked for
everyones input. This had a snowball effect. One idea
built on another, and they started to generate team ex-
citement: Everyone wanted to get started.
Next, Oswald and Reynolds took the key strategic
step. Before the 5S could start, they created a measure-
ment system, which included a scorecard, an internal
audit team and a weekly review schedule. With the
standard (the shipping area layout) and the system, the
team knew what to do and how it could define success.
SGM had even taken the step to create a bilingual 5S
mission statement (see Lean 5S Mission Statement).

Lean 5S Mission Statement

At Standard Grinding Manufacturing (SGM), we are committed to lean 5S manufacturing for the benefit
not only of our customers but to our employees as well. The SGM team is actively involved in promoting
an environment of cleanliness, standardization, organization, improved efficiency, a better working envi-
ronment, teamwork, quality and safety.
En Standard Grinding Manufacturing, estamos comprometidos a inclinarse fabricacin de 5S en benefi-
cio no slo para nuestros clientes sino a nuestros empleados as. El equipo de SGM participa activamente
en la promocin de un entorno de: limpieza, normalizacin, organizacin, eficiencia mejorada, mejor
ambiente de trabajo, trabajo en equipo, calidad y seguridad.

22 QP www.qualityprogress.com

IN THE SHIPPING AREA, seen from above before the 5S project (left), the scales were nearly lost in the clutter. After the
5S activities (right), workers dedicated a separate table to hold the scales. Workers are now better able to handle peak
congestion periods, and the company has seen a 65% drop in shipping errors since the 5S changes took hold.
The 5S mission statement set the stage for the cul-
ture change at SGM. Everyone needed to be involved,
Reynolds said. Having a bilingual statement signals
that no one is excluded. Ownership of a lean 5S project
gives the workers pride and a sense of achievement.
They want to sustain what theyve accomplished.
When the sort, shine and set in order activity got
started, everything just flowed naturally. Decisions
became easy. If we needed something, we had desig-
nated a place for it. If it didnt have a place, the item
became a target for disposition, Reynolds said.
The sort and shine steps happened so naturally
almost automaticallyby this point. We found old
credenzas and lots of nonstandard sizes and heights of
tables. We took care of that and the flow of product is
way up, Reynolds said. The work is just easier. Safety
was a natural byproduct, too. We are seeing a 65% re-
duction in shipping errors and a much faster flow of
product. The standard and the system broke the pack-
rat syndrome, and SGM started disposing of things that
hadnt been used for many years.
See the sidebar, The Unique Approach of Lean 5S
at SGM (p. 21), for a breakdown of the specific steps
SGM took to implement the 5S method.
The work in the shipping area now is much easier.
The clutter is gone, and the group can handle the peak
congestion periods with relative ease. Because the
staff members created the system, became involved in
lean
defining the standard and created a process in which
they self-measure, the sustainability is real. See photos
of the transformation above.
This approach to 5S implementation greatly re-
duced the fear of change and of the unknown, Oswald
said. Teamwork and a winning attitude was the end
result. SGM did a great job. It was very rewarding.
The best part is that people compete with one an-
other and try to set new records for orderliness and
simplicity. Whats remarkable is that the departments
are starting to compete with one another, including in
self-started initiatives in the maintenance department.
Now the team at SGM has a new problem: Which
area does it select for 5S next? QP
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The author thanks Curtis Oswald and Donald Reynolds for their input in
crafting this article. Oswald is a senior supplier development engineer at
Honeywell Aerospace and is based in Chicago. He holds a bachelors degree
in mechanical engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.
Oswald is an ASQ member. Reynolds is a quality engineer at Standard
Grinding and Manufacturing Co. in Skokie, IL. He holds a bachelors degree in
mechanical engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology. Reynolds is
also an ASQ member.
JOHN CASEY is a senior director of supplier perfor-
mance management at Honeywell Aerospace in
Tempe, AZ. He holds an MBA from the University
of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Casey is an ASQ senior
member and the past chair of the ASQ Automotive
Division. He is the author of Strategic Error-Proofing
(CRC Press, 2008).
October 2013 QP 23