International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering

Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 4, Issue 10, October 2014)

Study of 6s Concept and its Effect on Industry

Vinodkumar S Gautam1, Akash R Shah2, Ankitkumar N Parmar3, Asso. Prof. Vijay D kedariya4
1,2,3
UG student, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Om Institute of Technology, Shahera/GTU, India
4
Head of Department, Mechanical Engineering, Om Institute of Technology, Shahera/GTU, India
Abstract— Quality is never ending quest and continuous 3. Shine: keep neat and clean environment.
improvement process is a never ending effort to discover and 4. Safety: Create a safe place to work.
eliminate the main reasons which creates problems. These are 5. Standardize: Standardize the sorting, inspection,
achieved not by implementing as one huge improvement but cleaning and safety practices.
by using one by one improving stages for improvements. That
6. Sustain: Make 6S a way of life.
type of improvements are achieved by various continuous
improvement concepts such as Kaizen, PDCA Cycle, Quality
Circle, JIT, 5S etc. From all above concepts Kaizen requires
very large amount of potential steps. So it is at some degree
difficult to every industry for achieving one huge
improvement in one step. That is why, as a foundation of
„Kaizen‟ we study 6S concept. 6S concept is not a new concept,
but is derived from 5S concept having one more “S” as
“Safety” with organization, with environment and with
health. After implementing 6S concept, organization/industry
achieve effective organizational improving performance such
as, reduced wastage, reduced defects, increase productivity,
less making accidents, improve workers/employees morale for
work with organization etc. As a result of that,
organization/industry achieves more consistent improvement
result of work place with reduced hazardous pollution for
environment and reduces production cost with increased
product services. Fig.1: 6S methodology cycle

Keywords—6S, continuous improvement process, kaizen, Objective of The Study :

5S, productivity, EHS. To provide a quality base product by basic knowledge of
6S concept, to establish an initial understanding of 6S in
I. INTRODUCTION order to-
The practice of 6S is commonly used among the  Make quality product in proper time within improve
industries of the world in order to enhance human workplace condition
capability and productivity. 6S methodology is a systematic  Reduce inventory
technique used by organizations comes from 5S of five
Japanese words; Seiri (sort), Seiton (set in order), Seiso  Reduce searching time for parts/equipment‘s
(shine), Seiketsu (standardize), and Shitsuke (sustain) and  Reduced accidents
the sixth S refers to ‗Safety‘. As safety plays a very  Increase discipline relation with top management to
important role in the industry, 6S is the key to organize a employees to workers
workplace for efficiency and decrease wasting and
 Neglect the failure and breakdowns of machines or
optimize quality and productivity via monitoring an
material handling equipment (MHE)
organized environment and keeping the environment safe
from accidents. It also provides useful visual evidences to  Make safe and motivate working environment for
obtain more firm results. improving the organization/industry performance.
Six Pillars of 6S are-
1. Sort: Separate what is needed in work area and II. LITERATURE REVIEW
eliminate the unneeded items. Title: The 5S methodology as a tool for improving the
2. Set-in-order: Organize the remaining needed organization (2007)
items.

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 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 4, Issue 10, October 2014)
Author: J. Michalska, D. Szewieczek The successful implementation of 5S requires that
According to this paper, 5S implementation results in everyone understand why it is being used and what the
increasing of an efficiency, safety and reduction of the expected results are, as the removal of familiar (although
industry pollution. The proceedings to research clearly unneeded) items and the reorganization of processes can be
show that training of workers about the 5S rules is very extremely unsettling.
essential. The important task is to divide activities on Title: Performance Improvement through 5S in Small
some main steps and to maintain the continuous Scale Industry: A case study (2013)
improvement. It is also important to understand the need of
executing the routine inspections of usage the 5S rule. Author: P. M. Rojasra, M. N. Qureshi
This inspection is executed by helping of so-called check This paper explains the implementation of 5S
list and created on its basis the radar graph of the 5S, methodology in the Krishna Plastic Company,
which serves to estimation of the workplace. Udhyognagar, Amreli, Gujarat. Out of the available various
Title: The 5S strategy for continuous improvement of the lean manufacturing techniques, 5S offers good potential
manufacturing process in autocar exhausts (2008) for required improvement. Ten week study is carried out in
the company. The results after the 5S implementations
Author: Gheorghe DULHAI states that production system efficiency is improved from
This paper presents a continuous improvement strategy, 67% to 88.8% in the successive week.
process-oriented and aiming to improve manufacturing at
auto car exhaust. The improvement of auto car exhausts III. METHODOLOGY
quality, using the ―5S‖ rules, is accomplished at the Explanation of 6S:
initiative of the inferior levels of the organization
coordinated and helped by the superior management. The 1S - SORT:
efficient implementation of the ―5S‖ strategy leads to a Sort refers to the practice of going through all materials,
subsequent improvement of the exhaust‘s quality. tools, machines etc., in work area, identifying needed and
Title: Inventory Control and Spare Part Management unneeded items from them and keeping only the
through 5S, KANBAN and Kaizen at ABC Industry essential/needed items. The unneeded items are then stored
(2011) offsite or discarded. It helps to maintain the clean
workplace and improves the efficiency of searching and
Author: R.T. Salunkhe, G.S. Kamble, Prasad Malage receiving things. It also shortens the time of running the
In this paper, the objective of spare part management is operation and provides easy access of needed items to
to ensure the availability of spares for maintenance in workers.
minimum time with the help of different management Sorting is often called ―red-tagging‖ because it calls for
techniques like 5s system, Kanban system and different a simple red tag to be placed on items that are not needed
Kaizens. The 5s system helps to understand the actual for work. This is a two-part process in which employees
condition of spares in store department. It also helps to identify what is not needed, and managers and supervisors
manage the spare parts effectively giving satisfactory then take responsibility for disposition of those items.
results. The result shows that the improvement in Establishing red tag criteria prevents confusion among
reduction of searching time and also control the cost of workers and reduces wasted effort. The management
inventory significantly accomplished through 5s, Kanban should discuss and create guidelines on how to decide what
and kaizen systems. The searching time is reduced from 10 stays and what goes. It, thus involves differentiation
- 15 min. to 6 - 8 min. between the necessary and the un-necessary and discarding
the unnecessary items.
Title: Step for implementation of 5S (2012) During red tag criteria, the following questions must be
asked:
Author: Kaushik Kumar, Sanjeev Kumar
 What is this?
In this paper, the steps undertaken for the  When did you last use it?
implementation of the 5S is emphasizing on the benefits to  Is it unique or critical for the department?
the organization.

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 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 4, Issue 10, October 2014)
 If its inventory, is this the minimal amount needed to 3S – SHINE:
keep up with the production schedule? Shine step includes activities like cleaning workplace,
―Yellow Tag‖ strategy can be used at the same time red- maintaining its appearance and using preventive steps to
tagging takes place to identify any Environment, Health keep workplace clean. Dirty working area containing dusts,
and Safety (EHS) issues. Yellow tagging strategy identify scraps, oil etc. creates defects in product, equipment and
environmental wastes, potential items, chemicals and other process malfunctioning as well as safety hazards to
hazardous materials that may be harmful to human health employees. Shine identifies and removes these items, but
or the environment in the work area. Four steps of yellow also creates means for daily (or more frequent) removal. A
tagging are: checklist can be made for particular areas which are to be
 Identify yellow tags targets and criteria. swept, scrubbed and sanitized on a regular basis.
 Make and attach yellow tag. Once the work area, tools, and equipment are clean, they
 Evaluate and take care of yellow tag items. are needed to be kept that way. For keeping the work place
 Document and share the results. clean it is better to prevent things form getting dirty rather
than continuous housekeeping. This can be achieved by
Yellow-tagging is supplement to Red-tagging, key
eliminating the sources of contamination. The theme is
differences include the scope of projects, criteria used and
―cleaning not for beatification alone but with a sense of
options for disposal or reuse.
purpose‖.
2S - SET IN ORDER: Following problems arises in industry without Shine:
Set-in-Order, deals with organizing the items that are  Machines which do not receive sufficient maintenance
needed in a way that best supports the employees doing the tend to breakdown and causes defects.
work. Place things in such a way that they can be easily  Oil and water on the floor causes slipping and injuries.
reached whenever they are needed.  Lack of sunlight in working area leads to poor morale
The slogan- A place for everything and everything in its and inefficient work.
place.
This is a progressive improvement where items already 4S – SAFETY:
nearby are placed as close to the point of use as possible. In Safety is a way of keeping the worker and workplace
this step, regularly needed items are kept more accessible safe. It focuses on eliminating hazards and creating a safe
to worker while frequently needed items are kept less working environment. It is easy to recognize potential
accessible to the workers. dangers when the work place is well organized and clean.
Used things should always be divided as: A separate ―safety sweep‖ should be performed in order to
 In close access (1st degree sphere), identify, label and deal with hazards.
 Accessible (2nd degree sphere), The workers should wear the Personal Protective
 In the range of hand (3rd degree sphere), Equipment (PPE) during the working conditions in order to
be safe in the industry. The Personal Protective Equipment
Set-in-Order serves the following Control Questions:
(PPE) kit includes Helmet for head protection, goggles for
 Is position (location) of the main passages and places eye protection, ear protection, safety shoes, hand gloves
of storing clearly marked? etc.
 Are tools arranged on the basis of regular use? First-Aid box not less than one for every 150 workers
 Is there a proper height for the storage of all transport should be provided and checked every month for sufficient
pallets? medicines and its expiry dates. Fire extinguisher should be
 Is anything kept in the hazardous area? provided in every department of the industry and also it
 Is there any crack irregularity in floor or causes other expiry dates should be checked and should be replaced if
difficulty for the operator‘s movement? expired as soon as possible.
2S, Set-in-Order eliminate many kind of waste such as Every employee of the organization must be given
searching waste, waste due to difficulty in using items and proper information about hazardous substances/process and
returning items, motion waste, waste of excess inventory, should be informed about dangers and health hazards.
waste of defective products and waste of unsafe conditions. Every organization must be ready with safety measures and
emergency plans.

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 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 4, Issue 10, October 2014)
Action steps for implementing Safety include: The most common problem is sustaining the above 5S.
 EHS committee should be formed in hazardous The two major causes for failure are-
industries.  Employees/workers are unable to understand that 6S is
 Industry should provide PPE to every employee. nothing but a mutual understanding so they are not
 Fencing of machinery and proper maintenance of involved in every steps of the process.
machine and equipment should be done.  It is hard for the management to assume that
 Lockout and emergency procedures should be posted employees will instantly understand the value of 6S
and should be easily accessible. and will practice it.
 Safety awareness should be developed in the mind of Action steps for implementing S5 – Sustain:
workers by proper guiding them through safety slogans,
 Audit should be done to ensure that processes
banners and posters.
established during standardization are maintained.
5S – STANDARDIZE:  Use displays, newsletters and other communication
Standardization is the method to maintain the first 4S. tools to publicize successes and reward strong efforts
There should be proper standards to be followed for with recognition.
establishing improved workplace during implementation  Evaluate 6S effectiveness and continue to improve the
phase. The main aim of the standardization is to create best process. Conduct regular review meetings to identify
practices and to get each team member to use the additional 6S opportunities.
established best practices the same way. Without a clear Without sustain it is impossible to maintain the whole 6S
standard, there is no way to monitor the improvements. concept.
Standards should be clear and easy to understand and
should be very communicative. IV. BENEFITS OF 6S
It is assumed that standards should not be implemented 1S - SORT:
only in the typical operational processes e.g. movement
maintenance, storing, production, but also in the  It saves floor space
administrative processes, like book-keeping, human  Helps to get rid of obsolete items.
resources management, customer service or secretariat  Helps better utilization of existing material.
service.  Prevents incidence of unnecessary buying.
Action steps for implementing Standardization include:  Better house-keeping.
 Standard operating procedures for 6S should be made 2S – SET IN ORDER:
by updating workplace procedures, job aids, checklists,  No wastage of time in searching.
diagrams, charts etc.  Material easily available.
 Update documents which reflect the changes.  Material easily retrievable (recoverable)
The next step is to prevent:  Lesser production down time.
 Accumulation of unneeded items. BEFORE
 Procedures for breaking down.
 Equipment‘s and materials from getting dirty.
6S – SUSTAIN:
Sustain asks the executives to keep everything going
every day. Every worker and manager has to follow the
procedures in the work place and workshop with utmost
sense of discipline and sincerity in following the principles
and procedures. The company should make a checklist to
help the manager to make sure whether everyone follows
the rule to sustain. It leads to decreasing the number of
non-conforming products and processes, consciousness of
staff, improvements in the internal communication, and
improvement in the human relations.

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 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 4, Issue 10, October 2014)
4S – SAFETY:
AFTER
 Safe working environment
 Safe working conditions
 Better machine conditions.
 Prepared for facing any industrial accident

BEFORE

Fig. 2 before and After Sorting and set in order

3S – SHINE:
 Work place is conductive to high productivity.
 Visual inventory level.
 Lesser production down time.
 No blockage in material flow.
 Reduction in accidents.
BEFORE
AFTER

AFTER

Fig.3 Before and After Safety

5S – STANDARDIZE:
 Better process control
Fig.3 Before and After Shine  Reduction of wastages of man, money, material and
machine.

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 International Journal of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering
Website: www.ijetae.com (ISSN 2250-2459, ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal, Volume 4, Issue 10, October 2014)
 Better improvement of the internal communication
processes,
 Better improvement of the inter-human relations.

V. CONCLUSION
6S concept strongly supports the objective of
organization to achieve continuous improvement and
higher performance. It provides clean, well-organized,
safety industrial working environment and reduces the floor
space area. Our own research clearly showed that training
of workers about 6S rules is very essential. Essential thing
is to divide activities on some main steps and to maintain
the continuous improvement. Implementation of 6S is half
the battle and the other half is sustaining it.
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