Book Review: 5S for Operators: 5 Pillars of the Visual Workplace by Productivity Press

This is a simple book on 5-S for people who aren’t interested in a bunch of theory, but just want to get right to the two key points:

1. What’s in it for me?
2. What exactly do you want me to do?

The five pillars introduced to operators (or supervisors) are:

1. Sort: separating needed from unneeded items
2. Set in Order: making a place for everything (that is needed) and putting everything in its place
3. Shine: making sure everything stays clean (reasons for this are described in detail in TPM for Supervisors)
4. Standardize: institutionalizing the first three pillars
5. Sustain: making the first four pillars habitual

Key Points

• To Sort means more than to organize. It means to decide what is necessary for upcoming production and removing all else from the area. Items not needed are red-tagged.
• When an item is red-tagged, management can decide to choose between discarding it, selling it, returning it to the vendor, lending it, moving it, or centralizing its storage.
• To Set in Order means to decide on appropriate locations for all tools and materials that will stay in the area and improving the layout of parts and machines to reduce wasted motion.
• To Shine has several benefits and is more than janitorial work. Shine makes the workshop a more pleasant place to work.
• Cleaning equipment in the Shine phase is the same as inspecting. Cleaning for the purpose of inspecting means finding and fixing small defects that increase variability in the machine.
• To Standardize means to document and schedule tasks related to Sort, Set in Order, and Shine.
• Although we call the fifth pillar “Sustain” it is actually a form of continuous improvement. Once the first four pillars are in place, management can receive and implement improvement suggestions, post posters and newsletters, and designate focus months.

Useful Features

• Example Red Tag (page 37)
• Example Job Cycle Chart (page 85)

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Getting Started

Chapter 2: Introduction and Overview

Chapter 3: The First Pillar: Sort

Chapter 4: The Second Pillar: Set in Order

Chapter 5: The Third Pillar: Shine

Chapter 6: The Fourth Pillar: Standardize

Chapter 7: The Fifth Pillar: Sustain

Chapter 8: Reflections and Conclusions

Further Reading About the 5S System

Related posts:

1. The Five Pillars of TPM