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LEAN
Television shows exploring the virtues of better living through organization are ubiquitous. On such popular shows as "Mission Organization" (Home & Garden Television), "Life Simplified" (Fine Living) and "Clean Sweep" (TLC), for example, homeowners and a team of organization professionals clean up homes, get rid of junk that has accumulated over the years, spruce up and organize to simplify lives and allow people to make more efficient use of their time.
Before the homeowners get organized, their lives are characterized by undue complications and hassles-they are constantly searching for such things as misplaced keys, paying late fees because they misplaced bills, running late because their children cannot find their homework or tripping over toys that were not put away.
Similar types of organization problems that rob us of valuable time at home exist in the workplace. Such problems are exacerbated in business because there are larger numbers of people working together and countless hours of time engaged in these very costly nonvalue adding activities.
In manufacturing, employees are searching for misplaced tooling and components, obsolete parts litter the production floor, supervisors spend hours looking for work in process (WIP) amid a sea of incomplete orders scattered throughout the shop, and nonconforming products are mixed with good parts and are inadvertently sent to customers.
Administrative work environments are not immune to this lack of organization. Administrative personnel waste precious time searching for misplaced files in cluttered filing systems and offices, sifting through piles of paperwork on their desks and inboxes looking for specific documentation or scouring through myriad outdated e-mails.
These day-to-day workplace organization issues manifest into bigger problems such as:
* Longer lead times.
* Low productivity.
* Higher operating costs.
* Late deliveries.
* Ergonomic challenges.
* Space constraints.
* Frequent equipment breakdowns.
* Hidden safety hazards.
The 5S System
The systematic corrective action to this problem is to clean up, get organized and make this the way you do business. In other words, it is time to implement 5S:
1. Sort.
2. Set in order.
3. Shine.
4. Standardize.
5. Sustain.1
5S is systematic and organic to lean production, a business system for organizing and managing manufacturing operations that requires less human effort, space, capital and time to make products with...