Are you struggling to get and stay organized? If yes then the 5S organization method will help you get organized for the efficiency and effectiveness of your work.
The theory behind the 5S here is "Dirty, cluttered or damaged surfaces attract the eye, which spends a fraction of a second trying to pull the useful information from them every time we glance past. Old equipment hides the new equipment from the eye and forces people to ask which to use"
The 5S methodology is being applied to a wide variety of industries including Manufacturing, Health Care, Education and Government.
5S is the name of the workplace organization method that uses a list of five Japanese words.
- Seiri (Sort)
- Seiton (Set in Order)
- Seso (Shine)
- Seiketsu (Standardize)
- Shitsuke (Sustain)
1. Seiri (Sort)
- Make work easier by eliminating obstacles and evaluating necessary items with regards to cost or other factors
- Reduce chances of being disturbed with unnecessary item
- Prevent accumulation of unnecessary items
2. Seiton (Set in Order)
- Arrange all necessary items into their most efficient and accessible arrangements so that they can be easily selected for use and make the workflow smooth and easy.
- Ensure first-in-first-out, so that it is easy to find and pick up necessary items.
- Place components according to their uses, with the frequently used components being neared to the work.
3. Seiso (Shine)
- Clean your workplace on daily basis completely or set cleaning frequency.
- Keep workplace safe, easy to work, clean and pleasing to work in
- In an unfamiliar environment, people must be able to detect any problems within 50 feet.
4. Seiketus (Standardize)
- Standardize the best practices in the work area.
- Maintain high standards, orderliness, everything in order and according to its standards.
- Every Process has a Standard
5. Shitsuke (Sustain)
- Not harmful to anyone, training and discipline, to maintain proper order.
- Also translates as "do without being told"
- Training is a goal-oriented process.Its resulting feedback is necessary on monthly basis.
Let's understand this with an example of a Chartered Accountant Office.
One of the most important issues a CA office faces is the huge amount of paperwork and a huge amount of data or files. Let us see how the 5S process can help:
Seiri (Sort)
Sorting will remove all unnecessary files, papers, books and documents and will make the working are neat, organized and arranged so that relevant items can be found easily.
Set in Order (Seiton)
Here we need to arrange all necessary items into the most efficient and accessible arrangement so that they can be easily be identified for use.
It is advisable to have proper indexing of files and proper documentation i.e. proper index should be kept inside the files so that specific documents can easily be traced and withdrawn on time.
The same can be done w.r.t. folder on the computer, right files should be saved in the right folder with identifiable name so that anyone can easily find any file.
Seiso (Shine)
Now it's time to keep the work area clean and safe. Shining is also an inspection process for the area. It is desirable to involve employees for 15-20 minutes each day to clean the work area so that they can have the habit of cleanness. In the same way, unimportant files either on the desktop or any driver should be permanently deleted.
Seiketsu (Standardize)
Best practices are documented and rolled out across the work area, standards and process measures are established and displayed in the work area.
For example, a red file can be standardized for very important files (can be required anytime) green file for important files and a yellow file for unimportant files.
Shitsuke (Sustain)
It means to maintain discipline, this can only be achieved by auditing work areas and processes. It is worthwhile to apply 5S standards continuously. That is on daily basis and check for any upgradation if needed.
Conclusion
Overall, 5S in offices streamlines the work. It will reduce errors as well as improve process time and employee stisfaction.
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