Lean 5S: Brick the New Path (#52)

This blog will describe the Fourth “S” in the Lean 5S Visual Management Event: Standardize. It is the fourth blog of a five blog series.

As you have previously read, in the first “S,” Sort, we have cleaned away unnecessary items to create space.

In the second “S,” Set in Order, we have organized the items that will remain. Everything has a place and should remain in its place.

In the third “S,” Shine, we have created a culture of tidiness within the organization. Typically after the third “S” most company’s Lean 5S Visual Management Event will end.

A Lean 5S Visual Management Event is typically a 5 day event. Once the week is complete there is always plenty of talk that the results of the event will remain intact. However, a visit six months down the road will show that the area has returned to its original state.

So why does 5S so often fail?

Answer #1 is that there is a lack of framework and foundation that supports Lean, which in turn supports 5S. If the employees are not educated of the purpose of Lean and 5S, and if they do not buy in to the efforts, then the event and its results will be far less important than the current production.

If the Unit Leader or Team Manager doesn’t think the 5S implementation is important, their team will not think it is important either. 5S won’t remain maintained in the organization if it isn’t supported 100%.

Answer #2 is that the fourth and fifth “S” are not performed effectively. Several companies that have 5S events only finish three of the five “S’s” (Sort, Set in Order, and Shine).

The fourth “S,” Standardize is next. To be successful in making a process the standard, there needs to be an accountability for that standard. We like to think of the term accountability in a positive sense. I.E., if the operator does well in their process responsibilities, they need to be held accountable by reward and recognition. If the operator performs incorrectly in their process responsibilities, that is a sign that there was a problem in the process. This error should then be corrected, and the operator retrained.

To have this accountability, we need to create control and feedback. For the fourth “S,” this control is by a formal 5S Audit; which is custom created for each functional area and clearly characterizes how each functional area needs to look like. A formal 5S Audit should be conducted by an un-biased group. These audits will happen less frequently the further your implementation presumes.

We at Six Sigma Development Solutions, Inc. assimilate the auditing process into our Standard Operation Procedures and our ISO documentation. It is also advised that the company adds 5S criterion to evaluations for employees and the team.

Having proper feed back is a very critical part of Standardization. If a specific area does not receive a passing score during the audit; then the accountability process should be upheld. If the functional area didn’t pass, we can assume that something is wrong with the process. Did all of the employees receive proper training? Did they have enough time to finish their 5S duties every day? You can find these questions in the Reaction Plan in the Six Sigma Control Plan.

Feed back is a continuous process. An employee can make a mistake several times; however with consistent feed back that employee will ultimately turn “doing things right” into a habit. When this habit comes from a set standard, it will have miniscule variation from other employees who operate in the same process.

What is your experience with a 5S Implementation?

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.

Our Training Centers are located in: Albuquerque, New Mexico | Anchorage, Alaska | Atlanta, Georgia | Austin, Texas | Boston, Massachusetts | Calgary, Canada | Charlotte, North Carolina | Chicago, Illinois | Cincinnati, Ohio | Cleveland, Ohio | Columbus, Ohio | Dallas, Texas | Denver, Colorado | Detroit, Michigan | Dubai, UAE | El Paso, Texas | Fort Smith, Arkansas | Honolulu, Hawaii | Houston, Texas | Indianapolis, Indiana | Jacksonville, Florida | Kansas City, Missouri | Las Vegas, Nevada | London, England | Los Angeles, California | Louisville, Kentucky | Memphis, Tennessee | Mexico City, Mexico | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | Minneapolis, Minnesota | Montreal, Canada | Nashville, Tennessee | New Orleans, Louisiana | New York City, New York | Northwest Arkansas | Orlando, Florida | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | Phoenix, Arizona | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | Portland, Oregon | Raleigh, North Carolina | Salt Lake City, Utah | San Diego, California | Seattle, Washington | St. Louis, Missouri | Tampa, Florida | Toronto, Canada | Vancouver, Canada | Washington, DC

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