''5S'' is the beginning of a productive life for everyone, and is fundamental to productivity improvement. A clean, organized and systematic workplace directly impacts MUDA and thus impacts productivity, Quality, Costs and other factors. '5S' is a time tested and proven approach (infact a stepping stone) to achieving World-Class status. The 1st S stands for Seiri (sorting), 2nd S Seiton (arranging), 3rd S Seiso (cleaning), 4th S Seiketsu (maintaining) and the 5th S Shitsuke (self discipline).

The physical environment determines ones behavior. On the other hand, similar behavioral patterns among group of people defines culture. Thus, there is a strong link between culture and physical environment. Extrapolating, one can also find a strong link between the physical environment at the workplace and productivity.

The other benefits that may accrue in implementing '5S' include:

5S
The '5S' concept is easy for everyone to understand: it does not require understanding of difficult terminologies. It is simple, driven by logic and natural to human behavior.

'5S' is within the reach of any private and public organisation - of any size
It can be practised by any company in any business: manufacturing, commerce, service etc
And may be applied in educational institutions as well

Prcatice of Good House keeping
Many people think that housekeeping should be done by a cleaners and sweepers at their workplace. They don't realize that they too play an important part in keeping their workplace clean. More importantly, they don't know how much they can gain for themselves by just practicing good house keeping.

Everything that the people do at their workplace is very important to overall cleanliness, orderliness and safety of the workplace. Clean working environments where everything is properly placed and where clear instructions are readily available tend to be a safe place to work in. The work environment also determines how fast and how efficiently work could be done. Good produce in a clean and well-organized environment also tends to be of better quality. In a company where 5S are seriously practiced, the numbers of defect products will be relatively lower that of a disorganized company. Productivity will therefore be higher.
By practicing 5 S at the workplace, it's not only produce quality, but also actually help to ensure the safety of that workplace.

5S is a set of techniques providing a standard approach to housekeeping. It is often promoted as being far more than simply housekeeping and some of the elements described below certainly move into broader areas.

Seiri is the identification of the best physical Organization of the workplace. It has been variously anglicized as Sort, Systematisation or Simplify by those wishing to retain the S as the initial letter of each element.

It is the series of steps by which we identify things which are being held in the workplace when they shouldn't, or are being held in the wrong area of the workplace.

Put simply, we may identify a large area devoted to tools or gauges, some of which are needed regularly and some used infrequently. This brings all sorts of problems, including:

Operators unable to find the item they need, being unable to see wood for trees. The time spent searching is a waste (or in Japanese lean-speak a muda) and if we only held the items needed regularly in a prominent position we would save time.

Quality issues when gauges are not calibrated on time because too many are held.
Safety issues when people fall over things.
Lockers and racking cluttering the production area making it hard for people to move around or to see each other and communicate.

Seiton is the series of steps by which the optimum organisation identified in the first pillar are put into place.

The standard translation is Orderliness but again some wish to keep the initial S and use Sort (yes, that is also one of the translations of Seiri), Set in order, Straighten and Standardisation.

The sorting out process is essentially a continuation of that described in the Seiri phase.

Removing items to be discarded or held in an alternative location will create space. This space will be visible and facilitate the alternative layout of the area.

Anglicised as Cleanliness but again the initial S can be retained in Shine, or Sweeping.
The principle here is that people are happier and hence more productive in clean, bright environments. There is a more practical element in that if everything is clean it is immediately ready for use.

We would not want a precision product to be adjusted by spanner that is covered in grease which may get into some pneumatic or hydraulic fittings. We would not wish to compromise a PCB assembly by metallic dust picked up from an unclean work surface. Other issues are health and safety (people perhaps slipping in a puddle of oil, shavings blowing into people's eyes) and machine tools damaged by coolant contaminated by grease and dust.

The task is to establish the maintenance of a clean environment as an ongoing, continuous programme.

This is best described as Standardized cleanup, but other names adopted include Standardization (not to be confused with the second pillar), Systematization and Sanitation.

Seiketsu can be the thought of as the means by which we maintain the first three pillars.

There is, obviously, a danger in any improvement activity that once the focus is removed and another 'hot button' grabs management attention, things go back to the way they were before. Seiketsu is the set of techniques adopted to prevent this happening. Basically this involves setting a schedule by which all the elements are revisited on a regular basis - usually referred to as the '5S Job Cycle.' (Sustain)

The final stage is that of Discipline. For those who wish to retain the use of

Initial S's in English this is often listed as Sustain or Self-discipline.

There is a fundamental difference between Seiketsu and Shitsuke. The fourth pillar is the introduction of a formal, rigorous review programme to ensure that the benefits of the approach are maintained.

The fifth pillar is more than this; it is not simply the mechanical means by which we continue to monitor and refine, it is the set of approaches we use to win hearts and minds, to make people want to keep applying best practice in shop organisation and housekeeping. In this sense, discipline is perhaps an unfortunate term as it implies people forced to do something, with consequent penalties if they do not.

An essential condition for long-term success of 5S is management's commitment.

Managing staff must keep pressure to avoid natural behaviors to ruin the first achievements. Themselves must behave like examples.

To admit twists to 5S rules will poison them, making long-term commitment questionable.
Evaluation standard criterion must adapt to specific conditions, for example to avoid production staff to claim about constraints office workers don't have; cleanliness and tidiness is easier to keep in office than workshop

• Cost
• Quality
• Delivery
• Environment

• Improved Safety
• Increased Effectiveness Of Operations
• Improved Quality
• Reduction / Elimination Of Breakdowns
• Improved (Visual) Control
• Increased Operator Satisfaction
• Reduced Fatigue, Physical Strain And Injury
• Reduction / Elimination Of Waste
• Reduced Stock / Storage Area Required
• Improved Space Usage
• Reduced Labour Requirement
• Reduced Cycle Time
• Rationalized Work Flow
• Reduced Energy Consumption