Spring Cleaning should be Year-Round.

Spring Cleaning should be Year-Round.

By Mark Preston

When people get into a habit of cleaning, it also helps improve their behavior. Unselfishness and consideration towards others will lead people towards cooperating with each other rather than putting responsibility on others. The improvement of the company cannot be achieved without the improvement of people. If I always cleaned up my son’s room, he would never learn responsibility or accountability. It is everyone’s responsibility to take care of the Company, not just the maintenance team or the cleaning services team.

1.) Cleaning Changes the constitution of the company

By cleaning routinely, the atmosphere of the plant will become bright and refreshed. It leads to a proactive attitude change of the people and improved character of the plant. Our teams should never work in a dirty cave. That is depressing. Leaders must learn to see the environment in which their team is working. A fresh, clean, organized, and vibrant environment will always be more productive and have better quality!

2.) We can get rid of waste by cleaning.

Learning to see is the first step in a great lean journey. By walking around the plant and the office, we may realize that there are too many excessive goods. By picking up trash, we realize that we are not taking good care of things. We can achieve good results through leading by example rather than telling others to do so or thinking that it is none of our business. What is located in your work area or “Prime Real Estate” that needs to be cleaned up or eliminated in order to make things easier and more efficient?

3.) Cleaning improves quality and leads to higher customer satisfaction.

Through cleaning and organization, we can decrease the number of defects. If everything has a place and everything is in its place, there is less chance to create mixed parts. Cleaning and organizing can eliminate these problems. Contamination is one of the main reasons for machine downtime and directly causes defects that go to our customers. It also causes overprocessing because we have to clean products in many cases before we package them. Why not eliminate the root cause?

4.) Leaders set the example, whether they know it or not.

During a Kaizen event our team was discussing plans of improvement. Mr. Niwa from Shinjujitsu comes in the room, starts yelling in Japanese and flips over the folding table that we were sitting around. His translator, David, translated that the room was a mess. Trash from the week and papers were scattered around the room. Mr. Niwa told us that we must set the example. If cleanliness and organization does not matter to leadership, it will never matter to any of the team members in the company. Dramatic expression by Mr. Niwa was a technique which I will never forget. ?

5.) Cleaning and organization help you work peacefully, especially if you have ADD.

It is extremely difficult for people with ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) to work in a cluttered, dirty and disorganized environment. A clean and organized workplace provides peaceful surroundings that let people concentrate on their jobs easier in a calm frame of mind. Chaos breeds Chaos!

6.) The Plant should be the company’s best sales tool – The WOW factor.

A dirty, unorganized appearance tends to give a bad impression to people. It also represents the people who work there and the products that are made there. In other words, if the plant is clean and organized, it will give a good impression of the People and the Products. If you give customers a tour of your plant, those same customers will see your competition’s plants. They can easily see which company has their interest in mind. Does your company have a “Wow” factor? Are you always tour ready, or do you have to clean up for a tour?

There is a Pain of Discipline or there is a Pain of Regret.

Cleaning and Organizing is not just to make things pretty. Safety is improved, Quality is improved, Productivity is improved, Inventory is improved, delivery is improved, and Moral is improved. Leadership sets the example and leadership must have discipline to sustain a culture of cleanliness and organization. The best way to sustain is to incorporate a process for cleaning and organization. This process only works with accountability. The results are amazing! Ask a simple question to see where you are on the journey: Are you proud to show your family where you work because you have a clean and organized company?

How can I help you?

I hope you enjoyed the article. Please comment and share, I would like to hear your thoughts. Have a great week! Please reach out if you need help developing leadership and engagement at your company.

I specialize in:

• Monthly Leadership Coaching
• 5S - Rattlesnake Hunt Engagement
• Strategic Planning Workshops
• Value Stream Mapping Workshops
• ?Lean Certification
• Lean Assessment and Lean Journey Development

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Have a great week!

Mark

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Mark Preston

[email protected]