5S Supply Blog

“It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.” – W. Edwards Deming

Dr W. Edwards Deming

With these tough economic times we are all looking for what will keep our company going, what will make us stronger, or what will break us apart from our competition. Dr. Deming sums it up pretty well; it is necessary to change if we want to survive. You have heard the stories about companies that were leading their industry and are now out of business (Enron, et. al.). I feel very strongly that we need to plan and shape our own future. Many critics may say that you cannot predict the future so why try. I think that is a cop-out, a way to avoid the inevitable. We need to prepare the best we can for what’s coming next and what role we will play in its evolution.

I know it is only the end of August but I am already thinking about next year. That may seem strange, but let me put it this way – we have been working our Hoshin Kanri (a.k.a. Policy Deployment) plan and have achieved another milestone by expanding the offerings on our website (www.5Ssupply.com) to encompass all aspect of Lean (not just 5S). We’ve expanded the partners that we are working with (LEI, ASQ, and others). We also plunged into the social media world (with this blog, twitter & YouTube channel, LinkedIn Group – 5S Supply, etc.) These were all in our Hoshin plan.

By following the Hoshin process we were able to stay focused on what we think is important (and hopefully what the customer thinks is important too!). It almost feels comforting that we have a plan to follow. This gives us direction and spurs us to action when we need it. So as we move forward with the rest of this year we will also starting planning for next year and beyond.

So here’s the best part – to help other organizations on their Lean journey (our mission) we are offering another one of our very successful FREE webinars this time on Hoshin Planning. Please join us for a one hour session that will cover the basics of Hoshin Kanri on Wednesday, September 22, 2010.

For more information click here>> Hoshin Kanri FREE Webinar.

I am also pleased to share with you an article I wrote that was just published in ASQ’s Six Sigma Forum Magazine called Hoshin Promotion. This article gives a great overview of the process and explains what you can expect to create your own plan.

To sign up and read more, click here>> Hoshin Promotion.

Let me know what you think. I appreciate the feedback. Please feel free to share this with others. – Tony

When we do a 5S event, it is usually pretty easy to get the team to perform the first “S” Sort by performing the 5S Red Tag technique; you know “When in doubt, move it out!” This is accomplished by attaching red tags to items that are not needed in the area and then moving them to the 5S Red Tag Holding Area. I want to talk about a very specific aspect when it comes to 5S Red Tagging: Why are 5S Red Tags Red?

First of all, I want to mention why they are typically called 5S Red Tags. It’s because the tag color was originally red. The color catches your eye and gets your attention as in “something is wrong”. I’ve been at companies where they tell me that they do not want to use red tags because people might get these confused with their QC Hold Tags or Reject Tags. So they try to pick another color like pink or purple. I say you don’t have to waste your time doing this. The first thing I would recommend is to work on your quality if you want to be a good Lean company. Slapping red tags on bad parts will not solve your problem. Secondly, train your employees to be able to tell the difference between a QC Hold Tag and a 5S Red Tag. At a minimum, since it is red that should clue them in that something is wrong. Now I do like using other colors for other meanings like using yellow tags for maintenance issues or white tags for safety issues. WARNING! Do not use yellow tags as a “maybe” tag as part of your 5S Red Tagging program. Some people want to put red tags on items that they know do not belong in the area and need to be moved to the Red Tag Holding Area and put yellow tags on items that they are not sure of. If you do it by this method you will find that you will get a lot of yellow tags because people won’t want to have to make up their minds or commit. Besides you will still have to disposition the items with yellow tags and then probably return the item to its home or have to place a red tag on it anyway. Save yourself the headache of having to go through this.

Here’s a link to watch a video that describes our different tags >>5S Red Tags and more

“Improvement usually means doing something that we have never done before.” – Shigeo Shingo

We were facilitating a 5S Event in a customer service area of a carton manufacturer and noticed something special during the first “S” Sort. The team was sorting through items in the area and affixing 5S Red Tags to them. The 5S Red Tags were pre-printed with string already attached to the tag. When in a factory, it is easy to use pre-wired 5S Red Tags for unneeded items. That is probably the most common method. What we noticed while in the office is that the team members were using masking tape to attach the tags to the items like boxes, files, cabinets, prototypes and so on.

After the event Jennifer, from 5S Supply said “Why can’t we just have a Post-it™ Note style 5S Red Tag?” That’s how the 5S Sticky Tag got started. When you think of kaizen (continuous improvement), this is a great example. Jennifer saw a way to improve something and then it was implemented. While creating the sample tag the team decided to add other features to make it even easier to use and fill out. The team tried the tag out in many conditions and found that it would stick to any surface that a super-sticky Post-it™ note would. They also decided that check boxes would speed up filling out the tag and help categorize the reason for tagging and disposition. Two check boxes were added specifically because of our work in hospitals implementing Lean – recycle (as part of being “Green”) and shred (in case it has confidential information on it). Because they are peel & stick, it will speed up your red tagging process. To make it convenient, the team decided to package the 5S Sticky Tags in two packs of 50 for 100 tags total per pack. Since first offering these revolutionary tags in 2009 we haven’t rested on our laurels. As part of kaizen, we now offer an even stickier tag. The team also came up with a tagline (no pun intended) to help describe what they thought 5S Red Tagging could do – “Changing the World, one tag at a time.” This may seem amusing but when you think of it, kaizen is about little changes over time for the better.

So as part of our 4th Anniversary month this August, we are offering a Free Sample Pack of our tags with any order. Just add the product Tag Sample Pack TGR-000 to your order – no charge. One sample pack per customer please.