5S (Sort, Straighten, Shine, Standardize, Sustain) as Part of a Lean Six Sigma DMAIC Project Execution Roadmap (DMAIC = Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control)

A primary reason for 5S in a Lean Six Sigma deployment should be is the creation of standardized work. 5S offers a basic housekeeping discipline for both the shop floor and office, which contains the following steps: sort, straighten, shine, standardize, and sustain.

5S should be considered in two ways in a Lean Six Sigma deployment. 5S could be considered an everyday continuous improvement activity for individuals and small groups. Or, it could be considered as a key process input variable (KPIV) that could impact a 30,000-foot-level project/operational metric. When a 30,000-foot-level improvement project metric involves lead time, quality, or safety issues, 5S should be considered as a tool that could prove to be beneficial in the DMAIC roadmap improve phase. The sustain portion of 5S should be part of the control phase within a DMAIC roadmap. Activities for each of these steps are:
- Sort: Clearly distinguish the needed from the unneeded tools, supplies and material. Tag items (see Figure 36.3) if not used within a month, unnecessary to perform job, broken or not useable, or insufficient for intended purpose.
- Straighten: All items in the work area have a marked place and a place exists for everything to allow for easy and immediate retrieval.
- Shine: The work area is cleaned and straightened regularly as you work
- Standardize: Work method, tools and identification markings are standard and recognizable throughout the factory. 5S methods are applied consistently in a uniform and disciplined manner.
- Sustain: 5S is a regular part of work and continuous actions are taken to improve work. Established procedures are maintained by checklist. After cleaning an area, we all can identify with frustration after some period of time of not being able to find something.

The above is a modified excerpt from the book-volume, Integrated Enterprise Excellence, Volume III Improvement Project Execution: A Management and Black Belt Guide for Going Beyond Lean Six Sigma and the Balanced Scorecard, copyright 2008.

This book and others in the IEE 4 book-volume series are available at book resellers such as Amazon.com.

Forrest Breyfogle
Forrest@SmarterSolutions.com
www.SmarterSolutions.com