Lean 5S: Alliteration at its finest! (#49)


Today we are going to dive into the last stage of your Lean 5S Visual Management Event: Sustain.

In a Lean 5S event there are five stages; Sort, Set, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain. Check out our other 5S blogs for in introduction into the entire series!

Once we have completed the first four phases, we must SUSTAIN our progress! This is the most important step in the entire Lean 5S Event! Standardizing (4th stage) will allow for us to develop the process using controls and feedback so we can audit the process to ensure the success of the 5S event.

Sustaining change is the hardest action to control and continue in pretty much any aspect of life; especially in an organization’s life. It is common for people to slide back into old habits because that is what they are used to; it’s easier that way and regrettably, many companies do not even make it to the 5th stage in their 5S Event.

But what a critical stage it is! The 5th stage is where the company shapes and preserves the capacity of Lean 5S. How do we do that you ask? You get people excited about it!

Standardizing (4th Step) is basically where you audit your process. Many people want to jump right in to auditing their process or they want to let auditing do all of the grunt work to sustain 5S results for the long run.  However, your employee’s need to know why this is beneficial for them. They need to know why it is important and will make their lives at the company better.

So how do we do that? We often see that organizations with a solid 5S program will advocate friendly competition to help sustain 5S efforts. Several of the organizations we have worked in will host 5S competitions every two months. In these competitions; those departments holding the highest 5S Audit scores will win and will receive a prize; which could be free lunch, gift cards, etc. Some companies pass out yearly trophies at company events. Some awards go to the department that has shown the most improvement.

As you can see, your employees are the most important aspect of having a successful 5S lifespan. Providing them something to work for that interests them will help build the habit of sustaining 5S efforts. Once that habit is created, then sustaining those efforts becomes second nature.

Employee’s will value their work as representation of their best efforts and what is best for their job. Their team morale will skyrocket. They will implement 5S into other aspects of the company; like picking up trash they find on the floor and throwing it away.

5S is the first step towards making a true transformation to a Lean Six Sigma Company.

If you are interested in hosting a Lean 5S event, contact us!  


About Six Sigma Development Solutions, Inc.
We are Certified as an Accredited Training Organization with the International Association of Six Sigma Certification (IASSC)
“The IASSC Accredited Training Organization (ATO) designation validates Six Sigma Development Solutions, Inc. has demonstrated adequate management systems, courseware with a high degree of correlation to the subject matter contained in the IASSC Bodies of Knowledge, delivery schema consistent with such content and highly qualified instructors.”
We Provide Public Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Certification Training Courses in 34 Cities across the globe.

We Provide Onsite Lean Six Sigma Certification Training. Some of the training's we provide are: Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt, Lean Six Sigma Champions Training and Lean Certifications for Healthcare, Finance, I.T, Manufacturing, Processing, Logistics, Retail Sales and Government.
SSDSI will come to your site to train for your choice of the Lean Six Sigma Certification Levels. Onsite training is more cost effective than open enrollment training when training larger groups of team members.
Benefits of Onsite Training:
The Training is focused on Your Opportunities
SSDSI uses your opportunities in class (vs. generic examples)
You will get the experience of a seasoned Lean and Six Sigma Master Black Belt who will help mentor you while completing your Lean and Six Sigma Project
You can train up to 20 employees for one fixed cost (this cost includes course ware and the instructors travel & lodging)
Our courses are full of games, simulations, and active learning to help the adult learner
SSDSI can customize the training to meet your company’s particular training needs
Call Kevin Clay at 214-731-3176 or email at kclay@sixsigmadsi.com for more information

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