CIENCIA

The 7S
Y

VIRTUD
CENTRO ESCOLAR
UNIVERSITY
 The practice of 5S in this school The First Discipline: Sort
7S comes from 7 Japanese words Sort means clearing the work area.
that have been translated into English. It means that any work area should have
While the actual English translation may only the items needed. All other items
vary depending on the organization should be cleared (sorted out) from the
practicing it, the meaning remains the work area. To clear the area means to
same. The 7S are as follows: organize the work place so that it
becomes a more effective, more efficient
place to perform any work.
1st Discipline - Sort This are steps to follow to practice the
2nd Discipline - Set in Order first S or Sort:
3rd Discipline - Shine
1. Define what is needed in a work
4th Discipline - Standardize area. Look not just at equipment and
5th Discipline - Safety tools used but also at the materials,
6th Discipline - Security supplies an even paperwork. To
define what is needed in a work area
7th Discipline - Sustain
is not something that can be done
effectively by one person working
alone; a team effort representing all
person in the work area is the best
way to do it.

 
2. Disposition the items. When the 4. Sell or donate the item. Look for
team has already identified them, opportunities to sell or donate it.
consider the other items currently in
the work area. This can be done 5. Throw it away. Before throwing it
with the use of tags. Determine if away, be sure that safety and
they are still needed in the work environmental concerns have been
area anymore, determine where taken into consideration.
they could be stored. There is also a
need to determine the frequency of
use of the items. The less frequently
an item is used, the farther the work The Second Discipline: Set in Order
area it should be stored.
Set in Order means designating a
proper location for an item. Everything
3. Take action. When the items have
in the work area should have a place and
already been dispositioned, it is time
everything should be in its place.
to take action to clear the workplace
and move tagged items to a
1. The frequency of use of the item and
temporary holding area. The holding
its proximity must be considered in
area should be put in a place
determining its storage location. The
accessible to others who can
ones used many times during the
examine the items, confirm that
day or at least ones every two days
they do not need to be kept in the
must be stored in the work area. The
area, or discuss why they think an
ones used once a week may be
item is needed in the work area.
stored in certain designated areas.
2. The storage area must be spacious.
Whatever area the items are stored
in, their spaces should be out of
paths are passageways and away
from electrical equipment. There
must be enough room around the
object to access so that the items
can be easily and safely stored.
Heavy items that are accessed
manually should be stored too high
or low.
3. The safety of the equipment must
be taken into consideration.
Electronics or flammable items must
be placed accordingly.
4. The waste containers must be so
located that they are convenient and
accessible and must not stand in the
way. They must be given
considerable spaces.
5. For permanent paper work areas,
related materials must have
designated locations. Whatever is
placed in such areas must also be
properly labeled.
The Third Discipline: Shine
Shine means keeping the workplace
clean. To observe the cleanliness of the
work place is to exert housekeeping
efforts, improve the appearance of the
work area, maintain the cleanliness of
the place, and more importantly do
preventive housekeeping so us to keep
the work area from getting dirty.
1. Clean the workplace and the items in
that workplace. It is important to
take the time to plan what needs to
be cleaned, what will be cleaned,
and who will do the cleaning.
 Any equipment that is kept clean
performs more efficiently and has less
unscheduled downtime. Cleanliness is a
plus factor in productivity and safe
performance. Practically, everything in
the work place must be cleaned, but it
would be of great help if time is really
spent to specifically list down what will
be cleaned. Cleaning the work area
does not mean just cleaning the
equipment and area directly around it.
It means cleaning the whole area
including the floors, the walls, and even
the ceilings and the lighting fixtures.
Even areas under and on top of
equipment and areas which are not
normally seen, should be cleaned.
These areas are often overlooked or
ignored.
Proper cleaning tools are needed
for housekeeping in the same manner
the proper tools are needed in doing
actual jobs.
Housekeeping equipment supplies
should be kept in designated locations
near where they will be used.
Cleaning schedules are helpful.
However, continual cleaning of a work
area is the best approach. If an area gets
dirty faster than it can be kept clean,
there is a need to find out the root cause
and correct it.
2. Set scheduled cleaning, schedules
and responsibilities for common
areas. A formal schedule is best for
establishing who will do what and
when it will be done. A posted
schedule checklist is a helpful tool.
The Fourth Discipline: Standardize
Standardize means everyone is
doing things the same way. It is not only
the committee that is involved in the
effort. Everybody must be involved,
creating the best practices and
motivating everybody to imitate those
practices the same way, everywhere,
and every time. There is also a need to
standardize work area layouts and
storage techniques. To standardize is to
put the system in place to ensure that
everyone does the things the same way.
How does the sort is practiced must be
standardized. So must the set in order
and the shine. The following are ways to
standardize them.
1. Ensure that roles and responsibilities
are clear and consistently applied.
2. Ensure that everybody knows how to
apply 7S technique and imitate or
apply them in the same way.
3. Do not allow the effort to become
static; make it continuously evolve
and grow.
4. The rules and responsibilities of
everyone must be straightforward.
Leaders must lead by example. The
managers and supervisors must
commit to the initiative, provide time
for the workforce to develop and
implement 7S changes, provide
guidance with those changes, and
support the 7S changes.
5. Member of the workplace must be
embrace 7S principles and practices
and help implement the 7S in the
work area.
 The 5th Discipline: Safety
Safety is the condition of being
protected against physical, social,
spiritual, financial, political,
emotional, occupational,
psychological, educational, or other
types or consequences of failure,
damage, error, accident, harm,
or any other event that could be
considered non-desirable.
Action Steps:
• Error Proofing (Poka-yoke)
• Safety related instructions &
symbols
• Alert, Warning, Hazard area
identification and labeling with
proper symbols
• Safety trainings to employees
Resources required:
• Safety related instruction and
Symbols
• Personal Protective Equipments
(PPE)
• Safety Trainer or Expert
Target Outcomes:
• Avoid errors or mistakes
• Reduces accidents
• Safer working environment
 The Sixth Discipline: Security
As organizations come to rely more
heavily on information technology,
the security of that information is
becoming a vital component of a
quality management system”.
The adoption of information
technology and all the opportunities
and risks that brings has brought the
topic of security to the forefront.
Basically, we want our information to:
• Only be accessed by the right
people (Confidentiality)
• Be correct and only subject to
change by authorised people or
processes (Integrity)
• Be available to read and use
whenever we want (Availability).
The Seventh Discipline: Sustain
Sustains means embedding the 7S
into the culture. One might think that
after going through the effort to “sort,
set in order, shine and standardize”,
the fifth S, Sustain, would be easy. But
unfortunately, sustain is the most
difficult of the 7S’s.
The 7S’s involve a culture change. And
to achieve a culture change, it has to
be embedded into the organization by
everyone at all levels.
1. Communication is necessary to
reinforce the 7S’s. Sustaining
requires keeping everyone involve,
continually reinforcing what and
why the 5S is important. This can
be done by communicating to all
the 7S

initiative, the message and by
emphasizing to every one his role
and responsibility.
2. Leadership is necessary to
sustaining the 7S effort. It
requires not only leadership
but also commitment, and
allocation of the time and
resources necessary to keep
the effort going.
3. Recognition of job well done
becomes inspiration to
others. It is the fuel that
keeps the effort dynamics.
4. Implement an organization-wide 7S
effort.
• Start with the Leadership Team. As
with any improvement effort,
implementation d the 7S must start
of the top of the organization. Only
top management can create the
improvement needed and give the
effort the visibility and importance
it needs for long term viability.
• Build the infrastructure. The effort
should fit within an organization’s
existing improvement structure.
Divide and conquer by establishing
7S existing subcommittees for
Communication, Training, Project,
Support, and Best Practices.
• Launch communications, Conduct
short, focused and frequent
communication sessions with all
employees on what, why, how, when
and who of the 7S initiative. Deliver
the message in several formats
including group meetings, using the
organizations’ internet or website,
bulletin board postings, and internal
newsletters.
• Train teams in 7S technique.
Develop a plan to train everyone
in basic 7S concepts and then the
generic training with just-in-time
training in work-area-specific
practices.
Note that the initial teams may need
to be trained in problem-solving
techniques and root case analysis.
Additionally, there may be need to
provide training for the leadership
team in communication skills,
recognition strategies, and facilitation
skills.
5. Begin 7S Pilots.
The first pilot work areas to receive 7S
treatment should be the ones with high
visibility. For example, select work areas
in which nobody wants to work because
they are so congested or dirty.
6. Established best practices.
Creations and used for a Best Practices
Database can help multiply the impact of
7S success by providing the means of
share success throughout the
organization.
7. Develop a Full Roll-Out Plan.
Get ideas form members of the pilots
about how to strengthen the 7S process
and use those ideas to develop a roll-out
plan, define the sequence of events,
establish roles, responsibilities and
performance measures.
REFERENCES
8. Continually evaluate and adjust.
Modify and strengthen the
infrastructure; select new tools to https://qudoscert.com/2017/12/04/i
add to the “arsenal” ; develop mportant-information-security-qualit
improve methods to measure in y-management-systems/
communicate progress; and
challenge work areas to constantly https://ijiet.com/wp-content/upload
improve. s/2015/12/4.pdf