5S Workplace Organisation

One of the simplest means of determining an organisations approach to its business is to simply evaluate it's housekeeping and visual management, When things look right, they often are.

5S & 5C stands for:

5S / 5C relates to the Organisation of the Workplace (Workplace Organisation) and is the solid foundation upon which a Lean Organisation is based.

5S / 5C is a systemised and methodical approach allowing teams to organise their workplace in the safest and most efficient manner. The initial stage involves removing all unnecessary items from the workplace. What is left is than placed in a permanent location which is optimised for how, where and at what frequency the item will be used.

A policy of inspecting and repairing equipment as part of a cleaning regime is then adopted with the entire process being managed through the use of team generated audit documents.

A significant part of the Workplace Organisation process involves the use of Visual Management where everything that takes place within the workplace should be easily understood by everyone, including strangers to the process. 

Visual management encompasses the fundamentals such as clearly defined gangways. Where it is safe / unsafe, protective equipment requirements, product description, equipment and its performance, through to more detailed issues such as: performance targets, customer feedback, improvement activities, staff skills etc

Although on the surface this may seem a lengthy means of creating a tidy work area,5S / 5C should be seen as much more, generating a real return to organisations in many areas.

Benefits of 5S / 5C Workplace Organisation:

Improved Safety
Improved Performance – Productivity & Quality - Profitability
Reduction in Waste
Employees with a sense of Ownership
A solid Foundation upon which to build Continuous Improvement
A Manufacturing Environment that is also a Showroom

FREE Workplace Organisation Introduction Video (10 minutes)

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