5S

Three secrets for sustaining

5S success
In 50 Words
Or Less

The key to sustaining

results gained through
the 5S method is to
begin by standardizing
and systematizing, not
sorting.
By scoring early successes, you can build
on employees desire to
compete and find new
areas to 5S.
A manufacturer and
one of its customers
used the approach to
improve its bottom line.

There are secrets about 5S that

lean experts often overlook because nobody ever
clued them in. Before revealing the secrets, however, there are a few questions to answer: What is
5S? Why is 5S important to implement? And, why
do so many North American organizations fail in
5S implementation?
5S is a management technique that helps
organize a workplace by making it free of clutter, more visual and safer. The Ss correlate to
Japanese terms that mean sort, shine, set in

LEAN

by John Casey

order, standardize and systematize (or sustain). In

short, its cleaning up any work area and getting it
organized. It sounds so simple, and it appears very
obvious. Who could argue against the basic concept
of keeping your workplace orderly?
North American organizations frequently initiate
a 5S program and engage in a massive cleanup effort.
For many, they find the disorganization returns a few
months later. What a waste. The typical 5S effort that
falls on its face (see Figure 1, p. 20) generally follows
this pattern:

October 2013 QP 19

Leadership decides the plant is a mess and starts an

Secrets revealed

initiative to organize. The leaders appoint a champion

5S increases profits because it exposes waste that can

to take on the initiative for the organization, and that

be eliminated. The operations that win are the most

person will passionately begin the process. The cham-

efficient in production, where the problems can be

pion starts in a small pilot area and begins the process

seen and solved most quickly. When a strong 5S pro-

by asking people to:

gram is in place, it is extremely easy for leaders to walk

1. Sort what they need.

around and see whether people are operating to the

2. Shine up the work area by cleaning up the dirt.

plan and using the best practices. When everything is

3. Set things in order, or determine a logical place for

in its place, a leader knows everyone has exactly what

everything and put each item in its place.

he or she needs and has a baseline to start additional

At this point, the organization stops and celebrates

continuous improvement projects.

the feat a little because the area is obviously tidier. Of-

Profit is the trigger for management. The secret is

ten the organization skips the process of standardizing

that the 5S process, which, when properly implement-

and systematizing, and moves to another area. This is

ed, exposes waste, leading to increases in profitability.

where atrophy sets in.

This seems so obviouswhy does the effort be-

After one area is completed, the champion moves to

come atrophic? When you look at the Japanese ap-

the next, repeats the process and cleanup effort. With

proach, they taught 5S in the sort, shine and set in

all the noticeable improvementplus the perception

order sequence. What they didnt realize is there is a

of a better workplacethe organization gains some

significant cultural difference between some Japanese

momentum and the pace of activities begins to pick

and North Americans.

up, allowing the 5S process to become a picture of success.

In Japan, conformity is something to be treasured.

Many North Americans often do their own thing, and

At the end, the champion and leadership will feel

conformity is not always cherished. To many Japanese,

pretty good, and theyll ask everyone to Keep it this

excesses are unnatural. Many live in limited space.

way. The workplace environment is obviously better

They must store just what they want and need because

and safer. Why wouldnt anyone want to sustain the

they dont have enough space for excess. Many North

gains? But time passes and, eventually, gains are lost.

Americans are accustomed to wide open spaces. Some

Then they ask themselves, Why did the effort re-

people have so much extra that they must rent storage

vert back to the original state? Why did we do it in the

facilities to house the items. They adopt a culture of

first place? Certainly a clean shop makes people feel

individualism and excess.

better, but is that why management wants 5S?

Because of this dichotomy, the North Americans

drifting back to their former comfort level explains

The 5S cycle

why atrophy occurs following 5S projects. Herein lies

/ figure 1

the second secret: What some North Americans lack

is a self-imposed system of reviewthe fifth S, or systematize.

1. Sort

What is the system that many North Americans

like? Its scoreboards. They want to winits in their
culture. While they dont really like to conform, they
naturally like to compete and beat the next person. 5S

5. Systematize

2. Shine

doesnt appeal to their basic motivations and inclinations for friendly competition. The secret is that North
Americans must instead start concentrating on the systematic reinforcement within 5S to achieve the profits
that they are seeking.
Now for the third secret: Often, the 5S process

4. Standardize

3. Set in order

starts at the wrong step. North Americans must know

the standards and how they will be measured. An or-

20 QP www.qualityprogress.com

lean

ganization should start with the standardization step

(see Figure 2). Management must start by defining the

5S cycle secret to success

/ figure 2

standard (for example, the cleanliness specification).

Operators must know what is expected when stan-

3. Sort

dards are in place, and then the 5S process can start to

work. This is best done with a combination of words
and pictures.
The secret is to start at step four by defining your

4. Shine

2. Systematize

standard and move to step five (systematize) by having

a process to systematically measure the orderliness.
Do these steps before you go to step one (sort). Try it,
and youll be surprised.

Disheveled and disorderly

There was a problem at Standard Grinding and Manufacturing (SGM), a computer numerical control (CNC)

1. Standardize
Start
here

5. Set in order

machining company in Skokie, IL, that produces precision and complex components for the aerospace, hydraulic and medical equipment industries. SGMs shipping area was a hub of constant activity with hundreds

of mild disorder. The symptom was a cluttered ship-

of loads regularly coming and going.

ping area. The problem was sustaining the organiza-

With limited space, shipments and documents

tion at this work center.

were routinely misplaced. Workers always seemed

One of SGMs major customers is Honeywell Aero-

to be stepping over one another searching for mis-

space, which deploys supplier development engineers

placed boxes and paperwork. SGM had attempted 5S

(SDE) who consult with its suppliers (such as SGM)

in the past, but things always drifted back to a state

and works with them on continuous improvement

The Unique Approach of Lean 5S at SGM

Standard Grinding and Manufacturing (SGM) was hungry for a better way to implement lean 5S because previous attempts had stagnated. The following approach worked for SGM:
SGM established a lean 5S internal audit team. Members of the original team were specifically chosen and
consisted of group leaders, supervisors and managers trained in lean 5S.
The team visited a facility recognized as a lean 5S leader. Employees at Honeywell Analytics in Lincolnshire,
IL, a Honeywell Operating Systems (HOS) silver-certification facility, recognized for its continuous improvement efforts, helped the SGM team develop its long-range vision and objectives.
SGM created a lean 5S company policy, or lean 5S mission statement, to unify and standardize the objective.
SGM created its forms, checklists, questionnaires, metrics, policies and documents before the sort and shine
events. In other words, the internal audit team was first formed, and then standardize and systematize steps
were established.
The internal audit team initially coached and educated employees. Scoring and metrics then became continually more stringent after the 5S expectations and culture had taken root.
SGM encouraged a sixth Ssafetyas opportunities arose.
SGM encouraged continuous improvement and friendly competition within the company at every
opportunity. J.C.

October 2013 QP 21

THE SHIPPING AREA at Standard Grinding and Manufacturing is the hub of constant activity as hundreds of incoming and
outgoing shipments are processed daily at this station. The area before the 5S initiative (left) was cluttered and disorganized, overloaded with needless boxes and misused tables and shelving. Following the 5S exercise (right), more space
was created to allow employees to function more efficiently.

projects, especially lean Six Sigma.

During one visit, Honeywells SDE, Curtis Oswald,

thing that would stick. Oswald and Reynolds idea was

different and had the permanence Natal was seeking.

was discussing shipping area orderliness with SGMs

They started by creating a layout of the shipping

quality engineer, Donald Reynolds, and described how

area and went around the department and asked for

most North American organizations start with sort,

everyones input. This had a snowball effect. One idea

shine and set in order. Because previous 5S projects did

built on another, and they started to generate team ex-

not take root in the factory, Oswald and Reynolds de-

citement: Everyone wanted to get started.

cided to launch another effort, but this time in a different sequence: Begin with standardize and systematize.

Next, Oswald and Reynolds took the key strategic

step. Before the 5S could start, they created a measure-

When they proposed the concept to SGM General

ment system, which included a scorecard, an internal

Manager Howard Natal, the discussion centered on

audit team and a weekly review schedule. With the

cost. Every time we tried this in the past, it always

standard (the shipping area layout) and the system, the

felt like we were just spending money. I didnt want to

team knew what to do and how it could define success.

throw money out the window again for a temporary

SGM had even taken the step to create a bilingual 5S

boost in housekeeping, Natal said. I wanted some-

mission statement (see Lean 5S Mission Statement).

Lean 5S Mission Statement

At Standard Grinding Manufacturing (SGM), we are committed to lean 5S manufacturing for the benefit
not only of our customers but to our employees as well. The SGM team is actively involved in promoting
an environment of cleanliness, standardization, organization, improved efficiency, a better working environment, teamwork, quality and safety.
En Standard Grinding Manufacturing, estamos comprometidos a inclinarse fabricacin de 5S en beneficio no slo para nuestros clientes sino a nuestros empleados as. El equipo de SGM participa activamente
en la promocin de un entorno de: limpieza, normalizacin, organizacin, eficiencia mejorada, mejor
ambiente de trabajo, trabajo en equipo, calidad y seguridad.

22 QP www.qualityprogress.com

lean

IN THE SHIPPING AREA, seen from above before the 5S project (left), the scales were nearly lost in the clutter. After the
5S activities (right), workers dedicated a separate table to hold the scales. Workers are now better able to handle peak
congestion periods, and the company has seen a 65% drop in shipping errors since the 5S changes took hold.

The 5S mission statement set the stage for the cul-

defining the standard and created a process in which

ture change at SGM. Everyone needed to be involved,

they self-measure, the sustainability is real. See photos

Reynolds said. Having a bilingual statement signals

of the transformation above.

that no one is excluded. Ownership of a lean 5S project

This approach to 5S implementation greatly re-

gives the workers pride and a sense of achievement.

duced the fear of change and of the unknown, Oswald

They want to sustain what theyve accomplished.

said. Teamwork and a winning attitude was the end

When the sort, shine and set in order activity got

result. SGM did a great job. It was very rewarding.

started, everything just flowed naturally. Decisions

The best part is that people compete with one an-

became easy. If we needed something, we had desig-

other and try to set new records for orderliness and

nated a place for it. If it didnt have a place, the item

simplicity. Whats remarkable is that the departments

became a target for disposition, Reynolds said.

are starting to compete with one another, including in

The sort and shine steps happened so naturally

self-started initiatives in the maintenance department.

almost automaticallyby this point. We found old

Now the team at SGM has a new problem: Which

credenzas and lots of nonstandard sizes and heights of

area does it select for 5S next? QP

tables. We took care of that and the flow of product is

way up, Reynolds said. The work is just easier. Safety
was a natural byproduct, too. We are seeing a 65% reduction in shipping errors and a much faster flow of
product. The standard and the system broke the packrat syndrome, and SGM started disposing of things that
hadnt been used for many years.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The author thanks Curtis Oswald and Donald Reynolds for their input in
crafting this article. Oswald is a senior supplier development engineer at
Honeywell Aerospace and is based in Chicago. He holds a bachelors degree
in mechanical engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.
Oswald is an ASQ member. Reynolds is a quality engineer at Standard
Grinding and Manufacturing Co. in Skokie, IL. He holds a bachelors degree in
mechanical engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology. Reynolds is
also an ASQ member.

See the sidebar, The Unique Approach of Lean 5S

at SGM (p. 21), for a breakdown of the specific steps
SGM took to implement the 5S method.
The work in the shipping area now is much easier.
The clutter is gone, and the group can handle the peak
congestion periods with relative ease. Because the
staff members created the system, became involved in

JOHN CASEY is a senior director of supplier performance management at Honeywell Aerospace in

Tempe, AZ. He holds an MBA from the University
of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Casey is an ASQ senior
member and the past chair of the ASQ Automotive
Division. He is the author of Strategic Error-Proofing
(CRC Press, 2008).

October 2013 QP 23