Five Steps to organize your workspace: Organize for efficiency

Do you want to become organized? Do you want to spend less time retrieving documents, files or items?

The answer is to follow the (5S) program. Originally designed by the Japanese, the program is a simple road map to get organized and save time looking for tools, files, spare parts, etc... Lean is about eliminating waste in processes and one of them is time spent looking for things! So What is a Five S Program?

A Five S program is usually a part of, and the key component of Visual Factory (Workplace) Management (VFM). And 5s and VFM are both a part of Kaizen -- a system of continual improvement.

5 S focuses on creating visual orderThe Five S program focuses on having visual order, organization, cleanliness and standardization. The results you can expect from a Five S program are: improved profitability, efficiency, service and safety.

The principles underlying a Five S program at first appear to be simple, obvious common sense. And they are. But until the advent of Five S programs many businesses ignored these basic principles.

What types of businesses benefit from a Five S program?
Everyone and all types of business benefit from having a Five S program.

Improve manufacturing with a 5S ProgramManufacturing and industrial plants come to mind first, as those are the business that can realize the greatest benefits. However, any type of business, from a retail store to a power plant -- from hospitals to television stations -- all types of businesses, and all areas within a business, will realize benefits from implementing a Five S program.

A clean, neat, arrangement of the workplace which provides a specific location for everything, and eliminates anything not required.

 5 S is the starting point for ALL improvement activities! Each S stands for a Japanese word. The following are the words:

 1 Seiri Remove unneeded /Sort

2 Seiton Arrange for ease of use /Store

3 Seiso Cleanup campaign/ Shine

4 Seiketsu Maintain the system /Standardize

5 Shitsuke Make 5S the Culture / Sustain

 Good Luck with your 5S program.