An Introduction to 6S

Tim McMahon
August, 2008
What is 6S?

• Definition
– An easily identified place for everything, and everything in its place, clean, safe, and
ready for use.
• Workplace organization and standardization
• It’s NOT JUST HOUSEKEEPING!
• Foundational building block of Lean

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6S Terminology

Sort • When in doubt, move it out

Set In Order • A place for everything and everything in its place

Shine • To clean and inspect

Standardize • Make up the rules and follow them

Sustain • Make it part of everyday life

Safety • No job is so important that we can not stop to do it

safely

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Importance of 5S

• The 5S system sounds so simple that people often dismiss its importance.
However, the fact remains that:
– A neat and clean factory has higher productivity
– A neat and clean factory produces fewer defects
– A neat and clean factory meets deadlines better
– A neat and clean factory is a much safer place to work

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Why 5S?

• Promotes a higher quality of work and products.

• Identifies problems more quickly.
• Promotes stronger communication among staff.
• Empowers employees to sustain their work area.
• An organized workplace reduces wastes and lowers costs.
• Creates a more comfortable and safer work environment.
• Change the mindset of employees and facilitate continuous improvement.

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Sort

Sort
•The first thing to do is clear the clutter.
•Remove all items from the workplace that are not needed for current production
(or clerical) operations.
•Leave only the essentials. “When in doubt, move it out.”
•Break the “just in case” mentality.
•Use the Red Tag Technique.

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Sort

• Red Tag Strategy:

– Is a simple method for identifying
potentially unneeded items in the
factory, evaluating their usefulness,
and dealing with them appropriately.
– For an item with a red tag, ask 3
questions:
• Is the item needed?
• Is the item needed in this quantity?
• Is the item needed at this location?

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Sort

Sort
• Use Red Tag Guidelines to determine usefulness of location based on frequency
of use.

Frequency of Use Action

Never Place in holding area

Seldom(once/year) Store in a remote location

Infrequently (less than Store at facility

once/month)
Once/week Store in work area

Once/day or more Store at workplace

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Sort

• Once items are identified they need to be evaluated and dealt with:
– Hold it in a red tag holding area for a period of time – meaning they can’t stay there
forever.
– Relocate it
– Store it
– Keep exactly where it is
– Dispose of it
• Throw it out
• Sell it
• Return it
• Distribute it
• Keep a log of red tag items and results

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Sort

• In order to implement the red tag strategy effectively a red tag holding are must
be created.
• Red Tag Holding Area
– Provides a safety net
– Helpful when need or frequency of need is unknown
– Is an “emotional buffer” – when an item is set aside and watched for an agreed upon
period of time people tend to be more ready to let it go when that time is over.
– Can be centralized, local to a department, or both.

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Sort

• Here are some unneeded items that tend to accumulate:

– Defective or excess quantities of small parts and inventory
– Outdated or broken jigs and dies
– Worn-out bits
– Outdated or broken tools
– Old rags and other cleaning supplies
– Electrical equipment with broken cords
– Outdated posters, signs, notices, and memos

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Sort

• Here are some locations where unneeded items tend to accumulate:

– In rooms or areas not designated for any particular purpose
– In corners next to entrances or exits
– Along interior and exterior walls, next to partitions, and behind pillars
– Under the eaves of warehouse
– Under desks and shelves and in desk and cabinet drawers
– On unused management and production scheduling boards
– In tool boxes that are not clearly sorted

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Sort

• Sort Reduces:
– Crowding of factory or workspace
– Time wasted searching for parts and tools
– Costs to maintain unneeded inventory and machinery
– Hidden problems due to excess stock on hand
– Difficulty in improving the process flow

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Set in Order

• Now that the area has been cleared of out of unnecessary items, it is time to find
a “home” for the items that will remain.
• Set In Order means to arrange needed items so that they are easy to use and
label them so that anyone can find them and put them away.
• “A place for everything and everything in its place!”
• Note: Sort and Set In Order work best if implemented together.

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Set in Order

• Set in Order is the core of standardization.

• Standardization means creating a consistent way that tasks and procedures are
carried out.
– When we think standardization we should think “anyone”.
– Applies to both machinery and operations.

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Set in Order

• Principles of storage to eliminate waste:

– Locate items in the workplace according to their frequency of use.
– Store items together if they are used together, and store them in sequence they are
used.
– Make storage places larger than the items stored there so that they are physically
easy to remove and put back.
– Get items off the floor and top shelves.

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Set in Order

Set in Order
• Implementing Set In Order
1. Decide on the best locations for jigs, tools, dies, parts, equipment, and machinery.
2. Identify the locations so that everyone will know what goes where, and how many of
each item belong to each location.

“Make it Visual”

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Set in Order

• A Visual Workplace is an area where anyone can enter and in 5 minutes or less
know the who, what, when, where, how, and why of the work area without talking
to anyone or opening a book or turning on a computer.

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Set in Order

• Use visual controls to help set in order

– A visual control is any communication device used in the work environment that tells
us at a glance how work should be done.
– Examples:
• Where items belong & how many
• Standard procedure (I.e. work standards)
• WIP Status

Key Point: Visual controls help to detect

abnormalities immediately!!!

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Set in Order

• Some techniques for visual identification include:

– Floor markings
– Signboards
– Color coding
– Outlining
– Shadow boards (tool cutouts)
– Limit lines (min/max height or width
– Modular shelving
– Arrows

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Set in Order

• Floor marking guidelines

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Set in Order

• Eliminates waste in production and clerical activities such as:

– Excessive searching and returning
– Unnecessary motion
– Human Energy (frustration of not finding items)
– Defects (e.g. wrong part used)
– Excess inventory
– Unsafe conditions

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Shine

• We can define shine as keeping everything swept and clean.

• Clean also means inspection.

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Shine

• The removal of dirt, grime, & dust from the workplace.

• Purposes of Shine:
– Keep critical items in top condition, ready to be used, all the time
– Keep workplace clean and bright so everyone will enjoy working.

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Shine

• Shine also helps…

– Make defects more obvious
– Prevent injuries (slipping, shavings in eyes)
– Make machine maintenance easier (fewer breakdowns)
– Reduce contamination which can affect machines, parts, and people
– Keep things in top condition so they are ready to use when needed
– Increase morale by having a bright, clean workplace

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Shine

• Steps to implement shine:

1. Determine cleaning tasks (what, where)
2. Determine who cleans
3. Determine when and how often to clean
4. Determine the method cleaning
5. Determine cleaning materials (use Set In Order)
6. Start to cleaning

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Standardize

Standardize
• Create a consistent way that tasks and procedures are done
• Set-up rules for the first 3 of the 6S’s (sort, set in order, shine) so they are
properly maintained
• Standards must be simple and easy to follow
• People usually think 6S fails at Sustain, but it typically fails at enforcing the
rules

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Standardize

Standardize
• The main purpose is to:
1. Prevent setbacks, or backsliding in your efforts
2. Reduces 6S time by making it more effective and efficient
• Determine and spread best practices
• Develop methods/procedures
3. Make implementing first 3S’s a daily habit

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Standardize

• Problems that arise when standardized cleanup is not well implemented:

– Conditions go back to their old undesirable levels even after a company wide 6S
implementation campaign.
– At the end of the day, piles of unneeded items are left from the day’s production a lie
scattered around the production equipment.
– Tool storage sites become disorganized and must be put back in order at the end of
the day.
– Debris constantly falls on the floor and must be swept up.
– Even after implementing Sort and Set in Order, it does not take long to start
accumulating more supplies than needed.

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Standardize

• Three steps for making the first 3S’s a habit are:

– Step 1: Decide who is responsible for which activities and assign them.
– Step 2: Integrate 3S activities into regular work duties.
– Step 3: Perform periodic checks to see how well the 3S condition is being maintained.

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Standardize

• Develop written and visual standards for each of the 6S activities

• Develop standards for signs, signboards, and labels
• Use the standards to hi-light abnormalities
• Develop a checklist to ensure conformance
• Get everyone to think proactively
– how to keep it from getting dirty

Production activities should automatically produce the 6S as part of their

normal process

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Standardize

• When a problem is re-occurring it is time to take the implementation of

standardization to the next level; PREVENTION
• Preventive Orderliness
– Make it difficult or impossible to put things in the wrong place
– Eliminate the need to return items
– Eliminate use of certain tools
• Preventive Cleanliness
– Prevent things from getting dirty in the first place
– Treat contamination problems at the source
• Get to root cause – 5 whys and 1 how

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Sustain

Sustain
• Sustain means to make a habit of properly maintaining correct procedures
(Discipline).
• Discipline means to commit to maintaining a course of action even when
outside forces will challenge the effort.
• Discipline is best taught by example.

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Sustain

• Here are some things that happen when sustain is not well implemented:
– Unneeded items begin piling up as soon as implementation of Set in Order is
completed.
– No matter how well planned Set in Order implementation is, tools and fixtures, do not
get returned to their designated places after use.
– No matter how dirty equipment becomes, little or nothing is done to clean it.
– Items are left protruding into the walkways, causing people to trip and get injured.
– Dirty machines start to malfunction and produce defective parts.
– Dark, dirty, disorganized workplaces lower workers’ morale.

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Sustain

Sustain
• Create conditions to promote discipline:
– AWARENESS and understanding of 6S
– You need to have or make enough TIME to perform 6S
– STRUCTURE to support how & when to 6S
– SUPPORT from management
– Rewards and Recognition
– Satisfaction, Fun, and Excitement

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Sustain

• Management helps 6S become habit by:

– Educating employees about 6S concepts, tools, and techniques
– Creating teams for 6S implementation
– Allowing time for 6S implementation
– Providing resources for 6S, such as supplies
– Acknowledging and supporting 6S efforts
– Encouraging participation of all employees, listening to their ideas, and acting on them
– Promoting ongoing 6S efforts
– Tracking the progress of the improvements so that employees can see the fruits of
their labor

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Sustain

Sustain
• Employees sustain by:
– Continuing to learn about 6S implementation
– Helping to educate others about 6S
– Being enthusiastic and positive about 6S efforts
– Participating fully in 6S implementation efforts

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Sustain

• Tools and Techniques for Promoting Discipline:

– 6S Slogans
– 6S Posters
– 6S Storyboards (Photos)
– 6S Newsletters
– 6S Maps
– 6S Department Tours
– 6S Pocket Manuals

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Safety

• Create a safe place to work.

• Safety is priority #1.
• Prevent accidents and injuries while
enhancing safety consciousness.
• Safety and quality go hand-in-hand.
• Safety improves as the other S’s are
established.

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 Safety

Safety
• Tools and techniques to increase safety consciousness:
– Basic safety awareness training
– Hazard identification
– Understanding of policies and procedures
– Incident tracking, investigation and elimination of root causes
– Visual aides for safety equipment and protocols
– Machine guarding
– Conduct safety audits/evaluations

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Safety

• Typical safety concerns to consider:

– Lift & Carry weight
– Push/Pull weight
– Pinch points
– Trip & Stumble opportunities
– Competition for space
– Improper use of equipment, tools & fixtures
– Repetitive Motions
– Access and availability of safety / emergency equipment
– Use of personal protective equipment (PPE)

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Resources

Resources
5S for Operators: 5 Pillars of 5 Pillars of Visual Workplace
Visual Workplace Hiroyuki Hirano
Productivity Press
1995
1996

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“Now!...Thatshould clear up a few
things around here!” 43