6s tool

Your solutions must serve them all. You should also recognize a related point. That is because you will modify the work process over time, meaning that your 6S solutions will also require adjustment.

We use a three phase approach to doing 6S. We get ready for the event, do it, and then follow-up to make sure our improvements sustain. We adopted steps and materials from the Kaizen method documented in the Kaizen Desk Reference Standard , with the written permission of the copyright owner Vital Enterprises. The team is made up of people working in the setting that we will 6S. Sometimes, that's everyone. Other times, the setting is large or there may be shift workers. If I can get to visit the work site, I do.

There is no substitute for direct observation and meeting people face-to-face. If not, I use the information from the manager and from my conversations with workers to evaluate whether doing the event makes sense.

I need to be sure I can use 6S to accomplish the purposes the manager has expressed and provide the improvements that employees feel will be meaningful. I also need to make sure that there is a good business case for the event. Events take time. Large events will take as much as five days. I need to see the possibility that 6S will take out enough waste travel, transport, excess materials, etc.

Once I make the judgment, I share it with the manager and the workers and start the preparation for the event. First, I want to communicate to the proposed team what our schedule will be and provide them some pre-event materials to read e. I also enlist them in getting ideas from their fellow workers about what workplace improvements would make getting the work done more efficient. I also let them know that we will post a pre-event flyer in the workplace announcing the event, naming the team members, and directing workers to them for more information and for sharing their ideas.

My last preparation step is to make sure the logistics for the event are in place. Depending on the type of work area—shop or office—we have a variety of materials we need for the team to do their job e.

We also need easels and flip chart paper and wall space for recording the team's findings and ideas and for displaying its mission, goals, and results. Prepare the Team Next, I do a brief introduction to 6S, explaining what it is, how it is done, and showing some "before" and "after" pictures of other work areas where we have done 6S.

We make sure to use pictures that mirror the setting of the workers with whom we are speaking; otherwise, they will not have as much value. We also make sure to relate the purpose and benefits of 6S to the issues the team has raised about its own work area.

This leads naturally to a review of the scope for the event. I support the team in analyzing the scope and any other materials so we can form a strawperson mission and goals. From the scope document itself, we draw the "do's and don'ts" for the event. The mission, goals, and "do's and don'ts" are tentative because we have not done a walk through to directly observe where the workplace is at with respect to 6S standards. With our tentative direction set, I review the day's agenda.

Finally, the team members build a set of ground rules for how they will work together and we review the Working With Others skills 1 , which are essential to sharing and building on each other's ideas. Then, we get to work. Get the Facts The team's first job is data collection.

We have several tasks to complete—do a workplace layout, take "before" pictures of the workplace, make observations of waste in the workplace, complete a 6S evaluation of the workplace, and interview workers in the area. We assign one team member to do the workplace layout and another to do the pictures using the digital camera we bring to the event.

You can find them in the book as well Kaizen Desk Reference Standard , pages and We teach the team members about waste associated with workplace organization and give them an exercise that confirms their ability to detect waste see Exhibit 5 for an explanation of the role waste detection plays in 6S.

Next, we introduce the team to the 6S Evaluation form Exhibit 6. Every team member is given a copy of the scale and asked to evaluate the workplace after we complete a walk through.

We then prepare the team to do the walk through during which team members make observations and speak with workers to get their ideas. The team does the interviews using a modified version of the interview guides in the Kaizen Desk Reference Standard pages — again, with the written permission of the copyright holder.

Exhibit 6. Are walkways, work areas, locations clearly identified? Does a procedure exist for removing unneeded items? Stabilize Orderliness A place for everything and everything in its place Is there a place for everything? Is everything in its place? Are locations obvious and easy to identify?

Shine Cleanliness Cleaning and looking for ways to keep it clean Are work areas, equipment, tools, desks clean and free of debris, etc.? Are cleaning materials available and accessible?

Are all aisle markings, location indicators, etc. Cleaning schedules exist and are posted? Are all standards known and visible? Are all visual displays current and up to date? Is there adherence to existing standards? Sustain Self-Discipline Following the rules to sustain Are procedures being followed?

Does an on-going audit and feedback system exist? Does a system exist to respond to audit feedback? Safety Zero incidents Maintaining a safe work place Is a green tag system in place? Are appropriate controls in place to identify safety equipment? Is all safety equipment unobstructed and accessible? Assess Waste After the walk through, we pool the observations of waste that derive from how the workplace is organized and document them in the same form we use in doing Kaizen events Kaizen Desk Reference Standard , pages — The Kaizen Tool Kit provides an electronic version of this form into which we type our observations.

Before we move on, the team members complete a 6S Evaluation form for the workplace. Each person fills out his or her own form. Then, I build one for the whole team, getting each member's judgments and averaging the ratings across team members.

If there are differences in ratings, we discuss the differences. We always rely on the documented observations to make our final judgment. We next summarize our findings and use these to test whether the mission and goals for the event are valid, given the facts in the workplace. We adjust either as needed. Before we consider how to eliminate the waste we observed by applying 6S methods, we make measurements of the waste we observed. For example, we may measure the distanced traveled by workers during the work process or the time spent in searching for tools or materials or we may estimate the amount of scrap in a workplace or the amount of paper wasted in an office operation.

These measures allow us to calibrate which type of waste most affect the operational performance of the work process we want to improve. Evaluate the Target Work Process, pages Make Improvements and Measure Results Now we get to the best part of the event. The team takes each goal, looks at the observations associated with it, and generates ideas to eliminate the waste and improve workplace organization and the display of important information.

These actions fall within one of the 6S's. For example, the team may propose removing unnecessary items in the work area Sort ; arrange necessary items in an orderly manner that places them nearest to their points of use Stabilize ; re-paint signs that are faded, walls where paint has failed, replace broken chairs Shine and Safety ; and write job aids to remind workers of tasks to do to keep the workplace enabling of their work Sustain. See Exhibit 7, next page, for other examples of 6S improvements.

Once we select the actions to implement, we verify that the actions we have selected will actually accomplish the event's goals. All improvements have value, but the priority is given to those that will accomplish the purposes for which the event was scheduled.

We build an action plan to guide doing an action when it is complex or needs coordinated action by several team members see Action Plan Template in the Kaizen Tool Kit, Version 1. The team members make the changes and then we recycle the measurements and other data gathering tasks they completed before we made changes.

We always do after pictures and a 6S Evaluation. If we have attempted to reduce travel and transport, we will redo measurements of distance traveled during the performance of the work process.

Similarly, the team members will do other measurements needed to judge whether the goals of the events were accomplished. Exhibit 7. The assignment of colors to functions is standardized across an organization.

For example, we may assign the color yellow to indicate a Kanban area or some other function like parking area for transient equipment or a storage area for materials or tools. In a shop setting, we might use of the color white on the floor to identify personnel walkways. In addition to focusing on safety in the workplace, the 5S all have an impact on Safety.

If the workplace is clean and organized, it will be less likely for someone to get hurt or something to get damaged.

Here are three benefits that should encourage any organization to implement a 6S program. If something is put in an inconvenient location or is difficult to retrieve, that slows down the process. If you inadvertently misplace something and have to go purchase another one, only to find that you already have two that were hiding, you are losing money.

You may already have two shirts of the same color and design. If you have blocked fire exits because you have no place to put a pallet, you may be fined for creating a fire hazard -- or worse.

Customer parts were misplaced, causing significant delivery delays. Machines were broken down for months because of missing parts. Cash was tied up in inventory without knowing what exactly they had and whether there would be any future opportunity to use the material. Bins were not labeled or mislabeled so time was wasted looking for parts.

There were trip hazards because of electrical wires on the ground. Fork lifts were just parked anywhere at the end of the day blocking access to materials and exit doors.

After training his people on 6S, they did an initial 6S audit of the plant. It became obvious to everyone that there were lots of opportunities for improvement. The Owner is now engaging everyone to help implement 6S in their own areas. There is great enthusiasm that their input is being sought and that there is accountability for all of them. Here are a few tips and best practices.

Get their ideas and make them accountable for making the changes. Having your employees conduct ongoing 6S audits is a good way to keep everyone accountable and engaged. In any organization, there are many opportunities to organize the workplace, whether it be the Finance Department, Maintenance, or Manufacturing. The other 5S also have an impact on the ability of an organization to provide a safe environment for its employees.

It is the foundation of any continuous improvement deployment. Logically lay out a planned and sequenced deployment across the organization. This tool can also have tremendous value in organizing an area where many workers spend the majority of their work time — the electronic workspace. Why should we apply 6S to the electronic workspace? For many of the same reasons that we apply 6S to our physical workspace. Ranked high among these reasons is cost — electronic storage is not free. Some of the costs associated with electronic storage are:.

One of the largest and least visible components of cost associated with electronic storage is employee time. Time spent looking for that one file or email that eludes our grasp. Email is used for the following and more:. We assess at each phase of the 6S process to verify success prior to beginning the next step. We already mentioned that 6S System is a key building block of Continuous Improvement, but there are several more benefits that make these projects so impactful.

Recently, we completed a 6S project in our maintenance area. The three-day project focused on our previously unorganized maintenance area.

Our teams will continue to work on 6S projects as part of our commitment to developing a safer, easier to work in environment with reduced inventory, mistakes or breakdowns and elimination of waste — which are all part of our Continuous Improvement efforts.

S ort — Examine contents of the area and what to remove S et in Order — Labels, signs, lines on floors, organizational indicators S hine — Thoroughly clean and keep it clean S tandardize — Guides for how to maintain changes S ustain — Teach, communicate and build buy-in S afety — Maintain hazard communication, machine guarding, person protection equipment, incident prevention, loss prevention Using the 6S System 6S is an organizational process that we use to improve different areas or departments at Swiss-Tech.

Benefits of 6S We already mentioned that 6S System is a key building block of Continuous Improvement, but there are several more benefits that make these projects so impactful. After the project is done, it creates a work environment that is more organized and allows for more focus, better workflow, and efficiency for the team.

It allows the department or team to provide better support to the rest of the manufacturing team.