Standardize is to establish standard processes and clear rules to maintain work place order. Review your rules continually so you can revise them to eliminate waste as customer focus/needs change. Standardization reduces variation; increase yields & give us predictable results. Standardization leads to Process Control and make it easier to teach, learn, remember, measure, test, document, change, grow. Standardization makes you flexible.

This standardization includes the 5S’s procedure.

1. Review and document the sorting activities and insure that:
   1. Criteria have been established and are adequate?
   2. Insure a holding area has been set up?
   3. Is there a tagging and review procedure established?
   4. Are surplus items reviewed before they are surplused?
2. Review and document the simplifying activity
3. Review and document the sweeping activities. Did you get both visual and physical sweeping activates that insure a safe and clean work place.
4. Review and make sure that a schedule has been established.

This standardization can be in the form of a standard procedure, check sheets or what I call run rules. Many times, we write procedures that are usually length to cover all the information. But what I feel is also needed are run rules. These run rules are “cheat Sheets” for running things. They are usually one page long and cover the key requirements of doing a good job in the area. Some times you will see them at a cashier in a store that just it taped to the cash register and says “Smile” or “Have a Nice Day”. They are for sure very important in insuring you are creating value for your customer.

Well there you have Standardize of the 5S’s . It, like Sweep, is short but an extremely important step, so do not forget it. Remember that the 5S’s are not a one and done. You should do this on a regular basis (That is why we standardize). Many companies create a dashboard for the 5S’s so a department knows how well they are doing. If you have questions or comments please leave them here or send me an Email.

Bersbach Consulting
Peter Bersbach
Six Sigma Master Black Belt
http://sixsigmatrainingconsulting.com
peter@bersbach.com
1.520.829.0090

Sweep mean to clean the area. Some call this “S” Shine. Everyone should have a list of cleaning activities that they should do on a regular basis. If everyone is doing this then they will see problems faster and easier with clean equipment or work areas. Dirt like WIP (work in process) insulates us from problems. I have seen where very slow leaks in fluids on a machine have gone undetected and caused a piece of equipment to fail needing major repairs. But I have also seen where operators cleaning their equipment found those leaks early and had them fixed which reduced repair costs and down time. As you see in the above example “Sweep” means also to inspect what you are cleaning to look for wear, things needing refilling, or other issues and get them fixed before it becomes a major problem.

We should be proud of our work area their tools and equipment. Clean areas mean quality work. Welcome visitors, encourage auditors in your area. Always be audit ready. It will speak volumes to your customers.

Things that should be included in a list for “Sweeping” are:

• Cleaning the computer
• Empty Trash and Recycle bins
• Clean Tools
• Dust the Desktop
• Sweep floors
• Empty the shredder or hole punch
• Clean out files

Well there you have Sweep of the 5S’s . It is short but an extremely important step so do not forget it. Remember that the 5S’s are not a one and done. You should do this on a regular basis. Many companies create a dashboard for the 5S’s so a department knows how well they are doing. If you have questions or comments please leave them or send me an Email.

Bersbach Consulting

Peter Bersbach

Six Sigma Master Black Belt

http://sixsigmatrainingconsulting.com

peter@bersbach.com

1.520.829.0090

Simplify is really simplify access. Make things neat. Here we specify a place for everything and everything is put in it’s place.

After we have sorted everything out in step one , we now need to organize what is left. To do this we identify the places with tape or paint where things should be placed. Label the places for the things and label the things that go in the places. Include offices as well.

Provide a standardized address to every location in your work area. Here are a few basic steps to Simplify.

1. Preparing for labeling – Here we review the area that we are about to label things in. We review each work area/station and identify were things should be placed for easy access. We need to keep things used several times a day so that they can be retrieved with in 30 seconds or less with the minimum of motion from the operator of the work station. During this preparation we will need to find some one to be a “Label coordinator” to order and get all the materials needed to label everything in the area.
2. Label all the items and/or their location . You can use masking tape at first to see if things are laid out right and to give time to get the labeling materials in. Label everything that is needed in the work area; this includes but is not limited to Contents in Draws, Garbage cans, Stationery, tools Books chairs Tables, etc.
3. Outline where all the large items go. Outlining is where you place Tape or paint lines on the floor or table top (etc.) for the large item. The outline area needs to have a label for what should be in it. Things that you might outline are Movable carts , Garbage Cans, Walkways, Stationary items in a cabinet, Desks, Chairs, Equipment, Copiers, material pallets, etc.
4. Create shadow board for smaller items. Many times you will see a peg board with the shapes of tools painted on them, this is a shadow board. When you do a shadow board do each tool or item in a different color so you can paint that item with the same color. Items that you can shadow Board are: Hand tools Desk supplies, Mops, Shovels, Rakes that get hung on the wall etc.

Once you complete this step everyone should find that it is easier to do their job as all of their needs are close and available. I once had a client that manufactured Satellites and each satellite was assembled in a bay from start to finish. Each step of the assembly process would move in and out of the assembly bay. Workers would roll in their 5-6 feet tall multi-drawer tool boxes. They stated they needed all their tools. The company was constantly buying tools for their employees as they continued to loose their tools. Some when home and never came back, some were borrowed by a fellow worker, some were just hidden in that bottom drawer way in the back. It was getting very expensive so the company did the 5S’s. In the Simplify step the company gave everyone their tool boxes to take home and then they made Shadow Box trays with the tools needed for each step. As a Satellite completed a step of the process the old step tool trays were stored in cabinets and the new ones were brought out for use. Even with this added setup time things moved faster through there assembly. People were happier and working with less stress all because the tools were there when they needed them. Believe it or not there were no complains from anyone. It really works.

Well there you have Simplify of the 5S’s . Remember that the 5S’s are not a one and done. You should do this on a regular basis. Many companies create a dashboard for the 5S’s so a department knows how well they are doing. If you have questions or comments please leave them or send me an Email.

Bersbach Consulting
Peter Bersbach
Six Sigma Master Black Belt
http://sixsigmatrainingconsulting.com
peter@bersbach.com
1.520.829.0090

In a nut shell this first step is to sort through and sort out. In this first step a team needs to eliminate all unnecessary items from the work area. Here we look closely at everything we own. As we look at everything we have to decide if it is “needed” or not. If it is not needed we remove it from the work area. The question here is defining “Needed” and what do we mean by removing it if it is not needed. So let me puts some steps together and give you some details.

1. Form a team consisting of work area members. This team should be from 5 to 10 members. Plus the members need to try to be unbiased about what they are going to do.

2. The team now goes through the area and identifies all the items in the area which will not be needed for the next month. Needed mean that it will actually be used in that month. A month is the standard but in special situations you may make this time frame different. If a work area is seasonal it may be “not needed in the month of fall.” The area should include office areas as well.

3. Tag all item identified above as not needed with a “Waste Tag”. This tag normally is Red and has the following information on it. (Note: Never tag a people)

• • Item Name
  • ID Number (if it has one)
  • Quantity
  • Date tagged
  • Tagged by who
  • Reason for tagging
  • What is the item (Machine, Equipment, Raw material, tools, supplies, work in progress, finished material, other)
  • Reviewed By (we talk about this later)
  • Disposition (we talk about this later)

4. Rapidly remove tagged items to a holding/ review area but off or out of the process area.
5. Upon the completion of the area waste tagging, the area supervisor and the team lead will get together and separate the tagged items into two groups:

• Items to be retained and stocked – These are items tagged as not needed for the month ( or what ever period of time was set by the team) but will be needed less frequently in the area. These items are then stored a distance from the area relative to the frequency of use.

• Monthly – Next to area.
• 6 months – Building stores
• Yearly – Long term storage

• Items to be discarded –These items are sold, given away or scrapped but never stored anywhere on site.

6. Once the two groupings have been made the final decision is coordinated with management and the “Tag Team”.

7. Last is to coordinate the movement of the tagged and grouped materials.

Well there you have Sort of the 5S’s . Remember that the 5S’s are not a one and done. You should do this on a regular basis. Many companies create a dashboard for the 5S’s so a department knows how well they are doing. If you have questions or comments please leave them or send me an Email.

Bersbach Consulting
Peter Bersbach
Six Sigma Master Black Belt
http://sixsigmatrainingconsulting.com
peter@bersbach.com
1.520.829.0090