For a complimentary copy please click here>> “The Very Best of 5S” Benchmarking report

Let’s start off with the Executive Summary

This manuscript is an in-depth report on 5S Workplace Organization and Standardization. It sheds light on how organizations have successfully created a 5S system or the obstacles and solutions they used to overcome them. Of those surveyed, the overall rank of the effectiveness of their 5S system is a 3 on a scale of 1-5 (1=low, 5=high). This is a clear indication that there is much room for improvement. There are many suggestions and comments presented here to help coach and guide organizations as they improve their 5S systems. The level of cooperation for 5S initiatives is initially low but increases with time with the most resistance coming from the supervisor level. Contrary to this is that upper management is generally supportive of a 5S system, but the top reasons for obstacles for implementation are “lack of management support” and “not enough time.” Another finding is that the amount of training spent on 5S training is relatively low (typically two hours or less). It seems that organizations have a hard time quantifying benefits from 5S (other than 5S Audits). Companies that did calculate the financial benefits proved that the return on investment far exceeds the cost of training, supplies and manpower. The lack of reward & recognition and the ability to engrain 5S into the organization’s culture is another impediment that must be overcome. Over 50 “best practices” are shared and many suggestions on how to properly create a 5S system or improve your current one are included.

So check out the report, share it with your colleagues and friends, have discussions and give us feedback on what you see. – Tony

When it comes to documentation, information and inspections I have found that using display stands is a tremendous help with tons of benefits.

For example, let’s just say that one employee spends ten minutes a day searching for paperwork (we all know this is probably on the low side). At ten minutes a day, five days a week and 50 weeks a year that adds up to 2,500 minutes or 41 hours and 40 minutes. Is it worth a week’s pay in a year’s time just to have an employee searching for the correct document? Of course not. Now multiply that times the number of people that use that paperwork. The cost could be staggering.

Now here’s is a simple solution – display stands. 5S Supply carries eight different styles of documentation, information and inspections stands in a variety of sizes to fit most everyone’s needs.

• Kaizen Event Stand – perfect for holding information related to your kaizen event. Comes with Kaizen Planning Charts and has wheels to make it mobile from one kaizen event to another.
• Document Stand – Six models and16 styles to choose from. Wall mount, bench munt, wheels – we have it all covered. From small paperwork to large and from basic models to deluxe.
• Information Stand – These models have a deep 4” 3-ring binder on top and an angled writing surface.
• Inspection Stand – Need the ability to move your inspections stands to where you need them? This is your answer. Four different models to choose from.
• Blueprint Display Stand – Finding it difficult to have a convenient place to put your blueprints or other large documents that’s not in your way? Our Blueprint Stands go from Basic to Deluxe and have wheels to get them where you need them.
• Message Board – Not only a great document stand, but this model includes an 18” x 24” dry erase message board so that you can keep the communication flowing.
• Catalog Display Stand – need a lot of room for binders? This stand can hold up to 12 one inch binders for convenient access. No binders disappearing form the work area.
• Mobile Parts Caddy – Need an easy way to move light parts from one area to another? Consider this Mobile Parts Caddy.

The return on investment for these stands is great. Reducing the amount of time searching for documentation, not having to search for documents to get them updated, making sure the correct revision is available at point-of-use are all benefits of using these stands. From the example above, you would probably recoup your investment in less than a year with just one employee and definitely a shorter period of time if you have more than one employee using these stands.

There a many ways to make sure the information you need is visual, convenient and at point-of-use; these stands are the perfect solution. For more information, please visit us at www.5Ssupply.com.

#5. How to Train Lean Champions to Run Kaizen Events – Part 2

#4. 5S for the Office – Examples

#3. 5S for the Office – Examples II

#2. Finally! A Tool Shadow Board That Works

#1. All about Andon Lights and Andon Signals

Five Predictions for Lean in 2012

“It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.” – Yogi Berra

1. More culture, less tools – organizations will continue to look beyond the lean tools to building a lean culture.
2. Healthcare still doesn’t “get it” – lean in healthcare will continue to lag other segments (see #3)
3. Is Lean Government possible? – government agencies will continue to see the benefits of applying lean principles and adopt it at a quicker pace
4. What’s next? – companies will try to look beyond lean to see “what’s next” even though they haven’t realized the potential of lean
5. Getting Back to Basics – mastery and true understanding of the basic tools of lean like Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA), 5 Whys, 5S, etc.

We can check back in a year and see how I did.

Cheers to a great 2012! – Tony

Jennifer & Tony at AME

Conference Sponsorship and Exhibiting – This was the first year we ever had a booth at a conference. We were a Silver Level Sponsor for the Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) Conference in Dallas, Texas October 25-27. If you missed it, check out our photos on Flickr 5S Supply.

5S Benchmarking Survey – we had hundreds of people participate in the most comprehensive benchmarking survey ever created for 5S. We will have “The Very Best of 5S” report coming out soon.

New Products – we continue to find outstanding new items that will help you on your lean journey. Some of our top new products include: Gauge Range, Mobile Tool Works, and Tru-Tray System.

TPM Blitz DVD – I was honored to help create the newest DVD on Total Productive Maintenance from the Society for Manufacturing Engineers (SME) and the Association of Manufacturing Excellence (AME). The TPM Blitz DVD showcases a team as they perform a four-day TPM event in a manufacturing cell.

Social Media – we continued to add to our ever growing lean community with our 5S Supply Facebook page, Twitter account, 5S Supply YouTube channel and more. Join the conversation!

As we move into 2012 we will continue to bring you the best of lean with our products and services. Some things to look forward to include:

Lean Handbook – I am a co-editor of the upcoming “Lean Handbook” from Quality Press with the launch to coincide with the American Society for Quality’s Lean and Six Sigma Conference February 27-28, 2012 in Phoenix Arizona. I will host a session on “The Lean Handbook Journey”.

More new products – We will continue to create and find the best products for you lean implementation. Stay tuned as we continue to add items to our site.

Training – of course we will continue with our ever-popular free webinars. We will also support on-site lean implementation help, training, coaching, kaizen facilitation and consulting. Our mission is to help you on your lean journey; our extensive experience will lead your organization to the next level.

So here’s to a great 2011 and an even better 2012!

All the best,

Tony

2011 Annual Car Reliability Survey: Best and worst vehicles by brand

Fast forward six months – this time we were going to do a quick 5S training event in a production area. The operations director was doing the training (his first time and he did a great job!) and he had the team go look at the office areas that we did six months earlier because they were close to the training room. I tagged along and couldn’t believe my eyes. The areas were not just as good as six months ago they were even better!

Before Visuals

End of Kaizen Event

Six months after

I asked a couple of the office workers how they did it. This is what they said:

• “There are about only six people that use this area so it’s easy to keep an eye on it.”
• “Once we got it organized and labeled, it just maintains itself.”
• “You just make sure you don’t leave anything in the area.”
• “It’s easier because we know where everything is and where it belongs.”
• “We hold each other accountable if anything is out of place.”

One of the customer service reps mentioned that she needed to laminate something and she never used the laminator before. She said it was simple and easy because they posted a “One-Point Lesson” right on the wall by the laminator.

There was some resistance when we first did the labeling – “Everyone knows what that is.” But now, it is self-evident when things are in their right place or not. This has helped tremendously to sustaining and improving the gains achieved!

So see, there may be hope for your 5S system after all!

Recently I had an epiphany while working on a kaizen event in an area to help introduce 5S. For this group we needed to mention that 5S is not just about cleaning; we wanted to emphasize that 5S is about unleashing teamwork and discipline. Of course, when I say “discipline” I’m not referring to the mean or evil type of discipline like punishment. People may take the wrong connotation with the word ‘discipline’. So let’s ‘shine’ it up (pun intended). I am talking about the discipline we have to put something back in its correct location after we use it. If we can’t instill the discipline of following simple standards for 5S, then how can we master more complex systems like kanban or total productive maintenance?

Then it dawned on me, maybe I should look up other words for discipline. So here’s a list I compiled that may be helpful when trying to describe the traits we are trying to instill with 5S.

Since the concepts of 5S are easy, but getting people to follow the system may be hard try using some of these synonyms for discipline to effectively communicate what we are trying to accomplish with 5S.

If you need help with your 5S System, visit us at www.5Ssupply.com.

Brady BMP21- If you need labels from 3/8” to 3/4” then this is your answer

Brady BMP21 Label Maker

Simple to operate and quick to print, the BMP™21 label printer is the economical, must-have labeling tool for Lean. With this hand-held thermal transfer printer, you can create your labels just once – knowing they’ll stay stuck and stay legible for years ahead.

Perfect for creating a visual workplace – Lean & 5S Labeling, Healthcare Identification, Facility, Safety & Maintenance Identification, General & Industrial Labeling, Barcode Labeling, Circuit Board Labeling, Data Communications Labeling, Panel Identification, Wire & Cable Marking and more.

BMP21 price: $145.95

Printer Accessories:

• AC Adapter for BMP21 Printer
• Hard Carrying Case for BMP21 Printer
• Magnet Only Accessory
• Multi-Functional Tool

Label types (3/8”, 1/2”, and 3/4”):

• Indoor/Outdoor Vinyl Film
• Self-Laminating Vinyl
• Permasleeve Wire Marker Sleeves
• Nylon Cloth Labels
• Polyester Labels

Cobra VnM2- This thermal printer can create labels from 1” to 4”

Cobra VnM2 Label Maker

The VnM Label and Sign Maker is your ideal solution for all your labeling needs. The VnM2 can print any label you want from 6 standard templates. The VnM SignMaker is the most mobile industrial labeling solution available. The VnM2 works with the VnM keyboard so no PC connection is needed. Save time and money by printing custom labels on demand at a fraction the cost.

VnM2 price: $1,295.00

Options:

• Battery pack
• Travel Case
• Cleaning kit
• External roll holder
• Ink rolls
• Several media types, sizes and colors to choose from: vinyl, reflective, fluorescent, glow-in-the-dark, and magnetic

Mobile In-house Sign Shop- Make any sign you want, any size and any color

Mobile In-house Sign Shop

This is your answer for creating a Visual Workplace!  This Mobile In-house Sign Shop (MIHSS) has everything you need to make professional looking signs, labels and more at point-of-use to reduce waste in your workplace and create visual standards for everything!

MIHSS price: $3,595.00

The MIHSS system consists of:

• Heavy-duty 5S Crash Cart
• Laptop computer pre-loaded with Gemini CP sign making software
• Hundreds of editable sign templates and thousands of clipart
• Vinyl cutting plotter
• Sign making tools
• Supplies to make 64 signs
• Also included is free, unlimited technical support and training to get you up and running immediately

Make your workplace a visual workplace with these systems!

Jennifer & Tony of 5S Supply volunteering for e-cycling

5S Supply helps out local organizations as they accept electronics for recycling. 5S Supply has a history of helping when it comes to lean & green initiatives (see Giving Back).

H-F Green Team Electronics Recycling

This event was sponsored by the HF Green Team and Vintage Tech Recyclers. HF Team Members: the Villages of Homewood and Flossmoor, Homewood and Flossmoor Public Libraries, School Districts 161 and 153, HF High School and HF Park District.

Leave it to the lean guy to try to help create flow during the event. The local school volunteered their parking lot on a Saturday morning. We setup flow in one direction (cars could only come in one entrance and leave through the other end). As the cars pulled up, volunteers removed the items and sorted them (5S rules!) into the different types of electronics so it will be easier to recycle.

I was amazed on how much was dropped off during the event. If you think about it, everybody probably has some electronic items that could be recycled like old cell phones, computers, printers, TVs and more.

So if your local community has a recycling program or an e-cycling program, please participate. It only takes minutes to load up the car, drive over and drop it off. You’ll be helping a charity and practicing good lean practices. Don’t forget “Lean is Green”, reduce-reuse-recycle.

- Tony