Lean Manufacturing:
5S Training and Implementation

Gain Efficiency with the 5S System for Workplace Organization

Improving the organization of your workplace is a simple, low-cost way to improve the efficiency of your operations. Catalyst Connection’s one-day 5S Training Workshop can show you an easy way to get started with five straightforward steps to an efficient, organized workplace: sort, set in order, shine, standardize and sustain. Our 5S Implementation services can assist you in applying these principles to your operation to realize immediate benefits by reducing unnecessary effort, and promoting a cleaner, safer work environment.

Disorganization and a lack of order in the workplace can hamper productivity as your employees waste time looking for tools, materials, and equipment. Dirty equipment makes it difficult to recognize and correct minor equipment problems before they become major breakdowns. Both of these conditions contribute to defects and accidents.

The 5S System for Workplace Organization helps you transform your operation in all of these ways:

• Sort out unnecessary items, removing them to an area where they are needed, or discarded
• Set in Order necessary items, placing them at hand, with defined locations
• Shine equipment by thoroughly cleaning and examining it regularly for early detection of wear, leaks, and other precursors of major breakdowns
• Standardize organization and gain visual control throughout your operation, simplifying training and rotation of personnel
• Sustain the gains through communication and discipline, achieving ongoing improvements as employees embrace the changes and make them part of their daily activities

5S Training

In a simulated shop environment, your participating employees will be asked to build a product. They’ll soon realize that their work space is crowded, that excess items are making process flow difficult and that the tools they need are hard to find. Through a series of alternating presentation and application phases, our advisors will then detail the 5S methodology for developing and maintaining a productive work environment so that your employees will learn to:

• Perform an in-depth audit of their workplace organization and standardization
• Organize their workplace by applying the 5S concepts
• Standardize procedures, including environmental health and safety, to maintain and control an organized workplace
• Measure the difference in appearance and functionality before and after 5S implementation

Your employees will come away from the training with a strong sense of how the 5S approach can improve your operations. They’ll understand 5S concepts, terminology and implementation methodology and will be prepared to transform your workplace and reorganize it for 5S leadership.

5S Implementation

Working with a team of your personnel, a Catalyst Connection consultant will facilitate the transformation of a selected area in your operations. We guide your employees through each of the five steps so they learn how to apply the principles of 5S.

Implementation includes:

• Using the Workplace Scan method to quantify the condition of the area, identify the greatest opportunities for improvement, and provide a benchmark for measuring future improvements
• Applying the red-tag method for identifying unnecessary items, removing them from the area, segregating them for review by authorized personnel, and determining the appropriate disposition
• Use of on-hand and low-cost materials to create logical, easily recognizable locations for the tools, materials and other items necessary for the operation
• Thorough cleaning of all equipment so that dirt and debris do not mask the condition of belts, hoses, and wires, or the source of leaking fluids
• Brainstorming by your team to evaluate the conditions they have achieved, incorporate other ideas and develop standards for these activities that can be applied in other areas

In addition to a transformed area where wasted effort is significantly reduced – and both safety and quality are enhanced – your team will have gained an understanding not just of the principles of 5S, but how to make it happen. They will be prepared to lead the effort to continue the transformation in the rest of your operation.

Results

This one-day workshop has prepared employee teams from manufacturing companies throughout southwestern Pennsylvania to:

• Increase their company’s overall efficiency, productivity, competitiveness and profitability
• Simplify the work environment, eliminating wasted time and obsolete materials
• Establish best practice controls for continuous improvements
• Obtain organization-wide understanding, commitment and buy-in for the 5S methodology
• Lead initiatives that have improved communications, increased levels of customer service and satisfaction, enhanced plant safety and heightened employee morale

CONTACT: F. Tracy Alim, Vice President,Consulting, 412.918.4284