Definition of Workplace improvement through 5 S Concept

In continuation with the Workplace Concepts - positive and negative- there are some methods followed by some countries like Japan, which can be a long term solution. We are going to see Improvement of Workplace through 5S Concept. In the recent decades, the world, particularly the western side is amused by the behavioural difference between employees of the east and the west. We have witnessed for a long time now, that, in management of business organisations, the major contributions like scientific approach of management are contributed by the western management gurus.

But, the sustainability, loyalty and dedicated hard work of Japanese employees have made the employers eyebrows of other countries rise in amazement. Recent news mentions that, during the recent tsunami hit in Japan, in some organisations, Japanese employees were ready to work without pay for three months, to enable the employer to rebuild the organisation.

Many Japanese Management concepts have gained a notable place in today’s world management concepts. The concept of 5S is one among them. Originally the 5 ‘S’ stands for Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu, Shitsuke. In order to understand and remember it better, 5 English words starting with ‘S’ were found suitable to the meaning of these Japanese words by various management authors.

They are,

Sort (Seiri)

Straighten(Seiton)

Shine(Seiso)

Standardize(Seiketsu)

Sustain(Shitsuke)

The brief meaning of these 5 words is

Seiri

Sorting of wanted and unwanted materials and Removal of unwanted materials from the work place. This step is important to assess the needs and design the work place with more efficient space management.

Seiton

Arranging of the materials segregated as wanted in such a way that they can retrieved when in need without any necessity to search and struggle. This process focuses maximum efficiency by organizing tools & equipment. In turn, a properly organised material gives an efficient workflow with minimized movements and optimum productivity.

Seiso

Tidying up the work place, leaving no dirt or garbage anywhere. When every shift ends, work areas are cleaned and materials, tools and equipment are returned to their allotted locations. The success of 5S lies in making this activity a daily routine rather than a enthusiastic start with twice a day basis for a week, then going down slowly to once in a week. This creates a bonding between the machinery, workplace and the employee. When the machine looks afresh even after a year, certainly the employee is going to feel pride for his cleanliness and maintenance skills. When properly rewarded for this act, he will feel loyal to the organization and still work better to keep up the level.

Seiketsu

Maintaining the clean environment by making cleaning as a continuous process. This requires that work practices are followed in a uniform and consistent manner. Many companies have followed the first three Ss many times, only to see conditions slowly deteriorate. This part of ‘S’ is the remedy to that. Standardizing the first three ‘S’s is the forth ‘S’. The following need to be done for standardising:

Assigning responsibilities and work allotments of sorting, arranging and cleaning up activities,

Fixing up time period, duration, interval frequency,

Documenting and monitoring the activities and

Creating and maintaining reward system for performers of these activities

Shitsuke

When the above components are accomplished, creating a sustainable workflow to make the four ‘S’ a discipline and commitment. Actually, this is the toughest part of implementation. Sustaining this initiative with sincerity and commitment needs committed leader and managers, who will encourage and work towards to keep up the system. Without this strong focus and determination, it will be like a fraction of time frame to slide back to the previous condition of non-maintaining, unorganised, shabby and messy work floor. Without a willful, cooperative employee team this would be a dream. An audit system to regular monitoring of the system would help, along with a reward system which identifies the committed employees and appreciates them.

What does the organisation achieves through the implementation of 5S? I know you would ask. Good. Even though 5S relates to production management, the following are the important points we should note as for as performance management is concerned.

A clean and hygienic work place – Benefit? Before I give you theanswer, you answer my question.

Which of the following you like better while preparing for your MBA exams to perform well in the exams?

A shabby, messy, unorganised book shelf, where you have to search your notes for half an hour each time

A clean, organised book shelf with no unwanted books and easy to pick whatever book you want in a second.

Hope you got the answer. A clean work place elevates the spirit of employees in the start of their shifts than a dirty, untidy work floor. Imagine a car mechanic’s shed. If cleaned everyday and tools arranged in order, the mornings would be brighter and better than an oily, dirty, spanners spilled floor. As a result, the productivity gets boosted up.

Healthy and Safe Work Place – A cleaned, organised work placecreates a healthy work place. Often we can see that safety standards when not maintained, leads to disasters. Fukushima Daichi nuclear plant disaster and the non-maintenance of safety standards, (a paradox to the concept, happening from the same land where this concept was given birth) is an example of continuous process of keeping the workplace organised and abiding by the rules and set procedures.

Quality Conscious – The well organised work place need not tohave any compromise on quality and hence, the e quality of products are tend to go up.

Overall growth – when the products can be manufactured on timewith high quality, the overall result will be the growth organisation. When an entire organization embraces the ideals of 5S it is easy to see a transformation in efficiency of the company

Morale – when everything is set in a smooth motion towardsgrowth, the morale of the employees grow too, leading to still better performance.

Apart from all the above said benefits, a good 5S system, when implemented, decrease the following in the work floor:

Damage to the company assets like tools, machineries and other materials

Spillage and wastage of raw materials, finished products or any other materials

Deterioration of machineries and other assets

And the following gets increased:

Quality products and quality conscious employees