Here is a breakdown of each ‘S’
1. Sort (seiri) – Distinguishing between necessary and unnecessary things, and getting
rid of what you do not need
1. Remove items not used in area – outdated materials, broken equipment,
redundant equipment, files on the computer, measurements which you no longer use
2. Ask staff to tag all items which they don’t think are needed – this improves
understanding about need and use
3. Classify all equipment and materials by frequency of use to help decide if it
should be removed – place ‘Red Tag’ on items to be removed
4. Establish a ‘holding area’ for items that are difficult to classify – hold item for
allotted period to enable others not on 5S team to review
2. Straighten (seiton) – The practice of orderly storage so the right item can be picked
efficiently (without waste) at the right time, easy to access for everyone. A place for
everything and everything in its place.
1. Identify and allocate a place for all the materials needed for your work
2. Assign fixed places and fixed quantity
3. Make it compact
4. Place heavy objects at a height where they are easy to pick from
5. Decide how things should be put away, and obey those rules
3. Shine (seiso) – Create a clean worksite without garbage, dirt and dust, so problems
can be more easily identified (leaks, spills, excess, damage, etc)
1. Identify root causes of dirtiness, and correct process
2. Only one work activity on a workspace at any given time
3. Keep tools and equipment clean and in top condition, ready for use at any time
4. Cleanliness should be a daily activity – at least 5 minutes per day
5. Use chart with signatures/initials shows that the action or review has taken place
6. Ensure proper lighting – it can be hard to see dirt and dust
4. Standardize (seiketsu) – Setting up standards for a neat, clean, workplace
1. Standardization of best practices through ‘visual management’
2. Make abnormalities visible to management
3. Keep each area consistent with one another
4. Standards make it easy to move workers into different areas
5. Create process of how to maintain the standard with defined roles and
responsibilities
6. Make it easy for everyone to identify the state of normal or abnormal
conditions – place photos on the walls, to provide visual reminder
5. Sustain (shitsuke) – Implementing behaviors and habits to maintain the established
standards over the long term, and making the workplace organization the key to
managing the process for success
1. Toughest phase is to Sustain – many fall short of this goal
2. Establish and maintain responsibilities – requires leader commitment to follow
through
3. Every one sticks to the rules and makes it a habit
4. Participation of everyone in developing good habits and buy-in
5. Regular audits and reviews
6. Get to root cause of issues
7. Aim for higher 5S levels – continuous improvement
Originally, the technique was called ‘4S’, with Set and Shine combined. However,
Toyota and most other companies use the 5S as a standard.
Other improvement experts like Paul Akers have promoted the use of 3S on a daily
basis in his book “2 Second Lean,” to focus on Sort, Sweep and Standardize, and not
focus as much on straighten or sustain. He credits Hoks in Japan with teaching him this
approach, as they felt 5S was too complicated.
The other options to include with 5S are Safety, Security and Spirit.
Safety: Safety is often said that it is implied within 5S that everything should be done
with safety as the number one priority, but to ensure that is the case, Safety is added as
an additional S. It is particularly prominent in manufacturing, warehouses, heavy
equipment, construction, healthcare and laboratory settings, and in other contexts
where potentially dangerous equipment or substances may be involved, and less
prominent in office settings.
