Is 5S really that good?

I want to hear your honest opinions:

Does 5S really bring you the value to your business you'd hoped?

I honestly believe it does ... to a point. There are always benefits to a clean and organized workspace. I have worked in a couple of places where they took it to the extreme, though, and it became both a burden and a waste of time. One engineer even taped off and identified the entirety of the contents of his desk in an attempt to prove the point, but to no avail. All things in moderation.

The only time I've seen it done well was when 5S audits were incorporated into the quality audits and everyone was held accountable as 5S was part of their job review.

Every other place I've seen it attemped has failed at the sustain phase and things went back to where they were. The only realy benefit they got was getting rid of some clutter.

If it becomes part of the culture, then yes it adds value. I've seen improvement in areas such as changeover time, morale, inventory to name a few.

However, if people believe that 5S is about slapping a label on their stapler and outlining where it goes on the desk, then it will fail.

High Fidelity said:

I want to hear your honest opinions:

Does 5S really bring you the value to your business you'd hoped?

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It can, as long as there is accountability. In so many places, 5S is adopted because "all the lean and successful companies are doing it". But without accountability (i.e., what's my motivation?), it's a pipe dream. As PJS stated, there are inherent benefits to a clean and organized workspace, but for it to stick and actually become part of the culture, there needs to be a degree of control over it.

If 5S is failing in a certain area, what will be done about it? Will it be "Oh, well, it could be worse...at least he's not drinking at work anymore", or will it be something like "We've adjusted your annual raise from 5% to 4% because of your consistently low 5S scores".

In my experiences, they certainly were value added. Most of the time they were used to decrease TAKT time and increase workflow efficiency.

Plus, I just love to organize things - so I am always game.

ScottK said:

The only time I've seen it done well was when 5S audits were incorporated into the quality audits and everyone was held accountable as 5S was part of their job review.

Every other place I've seen it attemped has failed at the sustain phase and things went back to where they were. The only realy benefit they got was getting rid of some clutter.

Click to expand...

I was HIGHLY skeptical the first time I saw it attempted for those very reasons. But they incorporated 5S audits into the workflow, stuck with 5S as a daily exercise, and developed competition between work areas for who could score highest regularly. Rewards were given as well.

The shop shows VERY well to customers, and locating tools is a breeze. Cosmetic damages to product due to lost fasteners in work areas has dropped significantly.

High Fidelity said:

I want to hear your honest opinions:

Does 5S really bring you the value to your business you'd hoped?

Click to expand...

Really that good .. ?
Well, 5S in its true spirit and application to your establishment is truly good.
The value of time and the amount of time times the people that is spent in waiting and searching for stuff can be greatly changed to productive time, when you have a 5S that works for you.
Make a sincere attempt and measure for yourself the value per your cost of time ...
Good luck

Speaking for myself, I have been doing 5S for about 30 years. At first, I did not know that it was called 5S, of course, and it was only on a personal level, but still... Avoiding messing the place up does save time and effort, no two ways about it.

My first internal audit in a new place (I will not reveal which one ) ended up with a report stating that the repair workshop I had a look at was so messy and cluttered that it was debatable whether it was at all possible to perform any meaningful work there. Obviously it would have benefitted from 5S, and today they have it. It works. In the same company I used to see desks in the office that warranted avalance hazard signs... Hardly optimal, and yes, the office benefitted from 5S too.

Then again, as others have already said, there is absolutely no need to overdo things. Nor is it a good idea, as it creates a lot of resentment and ridicule. Common sense is not all that common, I know, but like most things 5S needs to be be used with common sense.

Speaking of common sense there is one area that really needs 5S today: Our computers. Have a look at the file structure (or lack of it) in an average PC, and you will know what I mean.

At the end of the day: Yes, 5S (done right) really is that good.

Failure to provide a work environment that is conducive to product quality is a clause 6.4 nonconformity.

We could make more use of this requirement.

5S has the added advantage of efficiency, at least to the extent that less time is spent looking for things.