Implementation of 5S in a small company

[palmer]

I was hired less than a year ago as Continuous Improvement/Safety Coordinator. A fairly new position within the company and basically filling 2 or 3 positions with one person. Safety, Industrial Engineer, Manufacturing Engineer, and everything else that could possibly fall into this arc I've spent 30 years building up to this position.

I have been to Schneider Electric for training in lean mfg recently. I started a 5S team and we have sorted, set in place, shined, and standardized most of the facility. The sustain is getting to us. It is a lot to have done in a short period of time, maybe too much.

Management is behind it because the improvements are showing but there are those, especially in first line management that try to avoid it and don't support it. How do you get the naysayers to get on board without shoving it down their throats?

Our budget is small and is really tight due to the economy. Any suggestions on how to proceed?

[ScottK]

Originally Posted by palmer

I was hired less than a year ago as Continuous Improvement/Safety Coordinator. A fairly new position within the company and basically filling 2 or 3 positions with one person. Safety, Industrial Engineer, Manufacturing Engineer, and everything else that could possibly fall into this arc I've spent 30 years building up to this position.

I have been to Schneider Electric for training in lean mfg recently. I started a 5S team and we have sorted, set in place, shined, and standardized most of the facility. The sustain is getting to us. It is a lot to have done in a short period of time, maybe too much.

Management is behind it because the improvements are showing but there are those, especially in first line management that try to avoid it and don't support it. How do you get the naysayers to get on board without shoving it down their throats?

Our budget is small and is really tight due to the economy. Any suggestions on how to proceed?

Senior management has to put some teeth into it.

One place I worked there was a guy who was in a similar position to yours and he was the enforcer.
He would do at least one 5s audit of each department every year.
He developed a score card and each department was rated on this score card.
The score - and whether there were improvements or slacking - was a significant part of the mangers' reviews.

[palmer]

Thanks for your input.

I think senior management wants a form or expectation level set before they can act. I have the frontline supervisors fill out an inspection form that is very basic and simple to follow of what to inspect for cleaning. They don't have to fill out as they inspect but notate mentally as they go from one work area to another.

Monthly, I send them the results for each area inspected and the grades in stop light form so they know which shift was graded at.

They weren't filling these out regularly and after addressing them privately, I turned to my boss and he spoke with them privately. It went well a few weeks then dropped off. I again went to the boss and he dealt with them and now they are following the rules set before them.

Then I checked up on them and some were pencil whipping the inspections.. So I sent the 5S team in separate groups to fill out the inspections. And then rotated them until they had inspected all areas. I also had them take pictures of the areas.

These inspections and pictures were given to management. They had me put it in book form and make copies for all the supervisors. This was the main topic of discussion at the monthly supervisors mtg. Management let them know how unhappy they were with the results.

But, they also let them know that we have shown improvement (which we have) but it is not to the standard that we want and that we needed to be the champions of changing the culture.

After being so verbose, I think they are waiting for a standard, how that standard is to be implemented, what will be the requirements for maintaining the standard, enforcement of the standard, and what metrics will be in place for the future of it.

It's my job to do all of that with no training or guidance just past experience from places that were not lean, a weeks training, and what I've read in books or found on the internet.

[Bassman]

Palmer,
Now that you have 6 months since your posting how's your little issue now? Any words of wisdom?

Regards,
Bassman

[palmer]

Originally Posted by Bassman

Palmer,
Now that you have 6 months since your posting how's your little issue now? Any words of wisdom?

Regards,
Bassman

It has improved dramatically. Most of the supervisors have embraced 5S and Continuous Improvement. A few are dragging along but are complying. When equipment is down the supervisors are having those people do extra cleaning on the equipment and also painting walls and cleaning nooks and crannys.

Last week, several supervisors cleaned their office and painted it theirselves. We added a couple of supervisors to the 5S team. They are filling out their weekly inspections and their grading is similar across the board. Meaning that they are seeing things with the same perception and expectation.

It took months to get them to this point. Constant comunication and backing from management helped get us to this point. Corporate people come to our plant and marvel at how visual it is. We've come a long way since I started and it was battle for the ages at the beginning.

Supervisors are seeing what clean and organized does to morale and efficiency. No looking for material or parts or tools. We've installed tool boards at the machines. This has kept tools from disappearing. We spent $40,000 less on tools this year than the previous year due to this. Ideas are flowing from the employees on how to improve their work area.

It's been a huge turn around. Empoyees who have been rehired have commented that it doesn't look like the same place. Plus, we're attracting better quality employees.

It's been a major success.

[ScottK]

Thanks for the update! Glad to see it's working.

[RCBeyette]

Six months later and something that sounds like the beginning of a true change in culture/approach. THAT is Sustain! You can not implement Sustain. This is an "S" that comes over time, with consistent results and improvement approaches.

[Bassman]

Good job! Thanks for the follow up. I hope you took tons of pictures prior to the transformation. It's always nice to see where you where and share that with everyone.