What are the 6 s?

1.1              6 S Introduction:

A process for creating and maintaining an organized, clean, and high performance work place, which serves as a foundation for continuous improvement activities.

Because 5S originated in Japan, each “S” is the first letter of a Japanese word. Fortunately for English speakers, however, each of those Japanese words have been translated to an English word that also begins with the letter “S.” Recently 6th S for Safety has been added, thus,

1.  Sort (Seiri)                                                           Sort, Clearing, Classify.

2.  Straighten (Seiton)–Also Set in Order            Set in order, Simplify, Configure

3.  Shine (Seiso)–Also Sanitize                               Sweep, shine, Scrub, Clean and Check

4.  Standardize (Seiketsu)                                       Standardize, stabilize, Conformity

5.  Sustain (Shitsuke)                                             Self-discipline, custom and practice

6.  Safety                                                                  Safe, Harmless, Nonviolent

1.2.1          1st S: Sort (Seiri)

Sorting is the first phase of 5S. When you sort, you remove items from the work area that aren’t needed for current production needs. This may mean you store them somewhere for long-term storage, or perhaps you’ll even dispose of them. The process of red tagging is designed to help you sort. Just go around the work area and put a red tag on everything that’s unnecessary. Then you can collect all the red-tagged items, put them in a central holding area, and deal with them appropriately item-by-item.

1.2.2          2nd S: Set in Order

Once the unnecessary items have been removed, organize the rest of the items so they’re in the best possible location. Put things in place so they’re easy to access when they’re needed and so their location helps to increase efficiency and decrease waste. While sorting, consider marking areas with tape or paint so it’s obvious what goes where.

1.2.3          3rd S: Shine (Seiso)

After unnecessary items have been removed and necessary items have been straightened, then clean up the workplace. Don’t just do this once. Instead, set up a daily cleaning routine. One benefit of daily cleaning is you can use it as an opportunity to inspect the work area and machines for wear and damage.

1.2.4          4th S: Standardize

Once you’ve sorted, straightened, and shined, it’s time to standardize. This means identifying best practices to keep things as you’ve got them now and creating consistent procedures for which jobs are done efficiently. Include sort, straighten, and shine in people’s job responsibilities so they’ll be done consistently.

1.2.5           5th S: Sustain

The fifth element of 5S is to sustain the practice–meaning, keep it going. Signs, posters, meetings, and other methods of communication can help keep the 5S method and practices fresh and make sure things don’t spiral out of hand again. Remember it’s not easy to change a company’s culture, and people may have a tendency to slip back to the old ways if you don’t keep the 5S message fresh in their minds.

1.2.6           6th S: Safety

Adding safety to 5S can be as simple as remembering to keep safety in mind at each of the 5S steps. Let’s look at some examples of this. During the Sort phase, you can use red tags for items that need to be removed and put yellow tags on EHS hazards. The red-tagged items go to a central holding spot, and there someone decides what to do with them. The yellow-tagged items are evaluated separately to see if any safety (or any EHS issues, really) need to be addressed. When you’re Straightening, you can organize items not just to maximize efficiency, but with an eye toward safety as well. For example, don’t just put things in place to maximize worker productivity, but you can also consider safety/EHS issues such as ergonomic strain for workers at this point.

And during the Shine phase, you can add EHS concerns to a cleaning checklist for workers to perform. For example, when you’re cleaning and tidying you can also check to make sure chemical containers are securely closed.

1.3              6 S Implementing Importance:

? Customers’ needs constantly change

? Companies compete to meet these needs

? To survive, we must stay competitive

? This means improving products and services and lowering costs

? The 6S system is a good starting point for all improvement programs.

1.4              Why Implement Safety in 6S

Safety is an integral part of each of the original 5S phases so why do we need to add it as an additional step? Well one reason is for the additional focus that it provides on safety issues, whilst safety should be considered within the previous steps, having it spelled out as an additional important step gives safety additional importance and focus. This additional focus can ensure that we do not otherwise overlook potentially hazardous situations which may have escaped our initial look whilst in the grip of the excitement of implementing changes that have made our work place more efficient and easier to operate.

1.5              Benefits of Lean 6S

The main benefit of 6S over the benefits of 5S is that added focus on safety, used in areas with more hazardous processes it can help to reduce even further the risk of an incident. So 6S; 5S + safety is a good bet if you want to drive down the possibilities of any form of accident.

1.6              Implementing 6S

Role of Management:

 Educating, creating teams, scheduling time, providing resources, encouragement, and recognition.

 Role of Associate:

 Encouraging coworkers, participating, implementing, contributing ideas, and promoting 6S efforts.

EXPLANATION

1.7              The Six Pillars of 6S

1. Sort (Get rid of it): Separate what is needed in the work area from what is not; eliminate the latter

2. Set in order (Organize): Organize what remains

3. Shine (Clean and Solve): Clean and inspect

4. Safety (Respect workplace and employees): Create a safe place to work

5. Standardize (Make consistent): Standardize the cleaning, inspection, and safety practices

6. Sustain (Keep it up): Make 6S a way of life

1.    Sort

a)     Focuses on eliminating unnecessary items from the workplace that are not needed for current production operations

b)     Uses visual methods such as red-tagging to identify these unneeded items

c)     Involves evaluating the necessity of each item in a work area and dealing with it appropriately

d)     Can help reclaim valuable floor space and eliminate broken tools, scrap, and excess raw material

2.    Set in Order

a)     Focuses on creating efficient and effective storage methods

b)     Arranges items so that they are easy to use

c)     Labels items so that they are easy to find and put away

d)     Can only be implemented once the first pillar, Sort, has cleared the work area of unneeded items Strategies include:

·        Affixing labels and placards to designate proper storage locations

·        Outlining work areas and locations

·        Installing modular shelving and cabinets

3.    Shine

e)     Focuses on thoroughly cleaning the work area

f)      Daily follow-up cleaning is necessary to sustain improvements

g)     Enables workers to notice malfunctions in equipment such as leaks, vibrations, breakages, and misalignment's that could lead to loss of production

h)     It is a good idea to establish Shine targets, assignments, methods, and tools before beginning the Shine pillar

4.    Safety (Respect workplace and employee)

a.      Focuses on eliminating hazards and creating a safe environment to work

b.     Once the workplace has been organized and cleaned, potential dangers become easier to recognize

c.      A separate “safety sweep” should be performed to identify, label, and deal with hazards

d.     Safety measures can also be implemented in conjunction with strategies in the other five pillars

5.    Standardize (Make consistent)

a.      Used to maintain the first three pillars

b.     Focuses on creating a consistent approach with which tasks and procedures are performed

c.      The first step is to assign 6S job responsibilities and integrate 6S duties into regular work duties using tools such as:

·        job cycle charts

·        visual cues (e.g., signs, placards, display scoreboards)

·        checklists

d.     The next step is to prevent:

·        Accumulation of unneeded items

·        Procedures from breaking down

·        Equipment and materials from getting dirty

6.    Sustain (Keep it up)

a)     Makes a habit of properly maintaining correct procedures

b)     Often the most difficult pillar to implement and achieve

c)     Sustain focuses on defining a new status quo and standard of workplace organization

d)     Without the Sustain pillar, the achievements of the other pillars will not last long

e)     Tools for sustaining 6S include:

·        Signs and posters

·        Newsletters

·        Pocket manuals

·        Team and management check-ins

·        Performance reviews

·      Department tours

1.8              Why Should EHS be an Integral Part of 6S?

Expanding the scope of 6S to include EHS concerns can help your company to:

1.     Reduce the chance paint, solvent, or other chemicals expire before they can be used

2.     Make defects less likely, so less energy and materials are wasted

3.     Avoid productivity losses from injuries and occupational health hazards by providing clean and accident-free work areas

4.     Meet or exceed your company’s environmental performance and waste reduction goals

1.9              Tools for Incorporating EHS into 6S

1. Use yellow-tagging to identify EHS issues during the Sort process

2. Expand 6S inspections of the Shine pillar to include EHS issues

3. Expand 6S audits performed as part of the Sustain pillar to include EHS issues

4. Identify additional ways to implement EHS within 6S