5s and visual factory production

Organization, order and cleanliness are unfortunately often some of the biggest shortcomings in Western companies.

1. Introduction

In an increasingly competitive world, achieving advantages at several critical points makes the difference both in quality and productivity, costs and customer service. Not only do the results that can be achieved in each of these critical aspects count, but also the result that the combination and complementarity of these aspects can be achieved.

Thus we have that from the application of the Five “S” (5S) lower stock levels can be obtained, faster detection of tools, reduction in accident levels, improvement in equipment maintenance, among others. SMED (System for Rapid Tool Change or Quick Preparation Times) achieves shorter times in machine preparation or die changes, among others. In the combination of both tools, the SMED is greatly favored by the cleanliness and order of the tools to be used.

In the wake of major and profound changes, factories and other organizations must find new and better ways to ensure their survival by adapting to the changing business environment. Making it feasible implies generating new forms of management more appropriate to these new times and trends.

The systematic implementation of the five pillars is the starting point for the development of improvement activities to ensure survival. These five pillars are Organization, Order, Cleanliness, Standardization and Discipline.

Just imagine an organization whose staff don't mind working amid the dust, clutter, and dirt. Under such circumstances, the search for tools, papers and supplies is part of the job, but an unproductive job that does not generate added value for external clients or for the company or organization.

Furthermore, within such dirty, disorganized and disordered conditions, the level of motivation of the personnel is low, as is the quality of the products and services, all of which ends up being felt in the levels of productivity and consequently in the costs.

Organization and order are in fact the foundation for achieving zero defect, cost reductions, safety improvements, and zero accident.

The five pillars, being such simple concepts, make people lose sight of their critical importance. It should be underlined and made clear that:

A clean and meticulous factory generates fewer defects. A clean and meticulous factory meets deadlines better. A clean and meticulous factory is much safer. A clean and meticulous factory has a higher level of productivity.

It should be made clear that 5S is not just a methodology applicable to factories, but to any type of organization. We should say that more than applicable they are mandatory. Think of sanitariums or hospitals, banks and insurance companies, hotels, construction companies, or government agencies, all are widely favored in the application and implementation of 5S. Organization, order, cleanliness, standardization and discipline are factors that any organization or entity that claims to be effective and efficient must fundamentally take into account.

2. Its philosophy and reason for being

Human beings have, on average, a strong tendency to accumulate elements, keep them disordered and in greater quantity than necessary. Always leaving the cleaning for later. If this were not the case, the training, advice and implementation services of 5S by so many organizations would not be so required.

Thus, the reason for being is to eliminate the source of accidents, unproductivities, costs, quality failures, loss of time, among others. Oil stains or sharp elements out of place can cause serious accidents, elements located in the wrong place can cause contamination, infectious foci or chemical reactions. Poorly ordered tools or instruments of high value give rise to theft or loss with the consequent monetary losses. Not having the elements in order makes their detection and subsequent use difficult. Not having the tools always in good condition and clean generates waste of time in the development of activities. Dirty places diminish the right conditions for defect-free production.Thus we can continue endlessly demonstrating the consequences of not having an organized, orderly and clean work environment with standardization and discipline.

In the search for 5S and its implementation, the primary objective is not only sought, but also to train staff to reflect on the costs and problems detected, improve the organization's visual management, make 5S a formidable tool to reduce changes, by decrease stock levels, reduce time for tool changes, reduce unnecessary movements or excess movements, reduce internal transport needs, that is, improve the layout, reduce levels of failures and the consequent work of reprocessing or scrab.

In this way, when applying each of the five pillars we must ask ourselves how we can at the same time contribute to reducing the levels of changes or waste, how we can improve productivity, quality, costs, response and delivery times, and levels satisfaction of staff and customers and consumers.

The application of the five pillars should serve as the basis for constant reflection (hansei) and continuous improvement (kaizen).

The Five "S" are considered, by world-class factories, as the basis for the application of Just in Time, Total Productive Maintenance, Total Quality Management and excellence.

The denomination of Five "S" (5S) comes from the five Japanese terms: seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu and shitsuke, used to designate the phases of organization, order, cleanliness, standardization and discipline.

3. Main exhibitors. Differences

There are the exhibitions of Hiroyuki Hirano on the one hand and those of Masaaki Imai on the other. Imai exposes the 5S considering in its essence the same as Hirano, only it exposes it in the following way:

Seiri. Consisting of differentiating the necessary elements from those that are not, proceeding to discard the latter, Seiton. We proceed to systematically order all the elements qualified as necessary after applying the seiri.Seiso. Maintenance and inspection of machines, tools, materials and work environment.Seiketsu. Extend cleaning and safety factors to the staff, standardizing the three previous pillars. Shitsuke. Create habit and discipline for the establishment and conservation of the necessary elements, in the order and cleaning required.

Western companies in their application of the five "S" (housekeeping) catalog the steps as:

Sort. Separate everything unnecessary and proceed to its removal. Put the necessary elements in order in order to quickly and easily access them. Clean everything, removing stains, dirt, debris and eradicating sources of dirt. Routinely carry out cleaning and organizing tasks. Standardize. Standardize the previous four steps in order to make them common and a source of continuous improvement.

Companies that practice Lean Manufacturing refer to these five steps as the Five "C" Campaign.

Clear out. Determine what is necessary and what is not, proceeding to eliminate the latter. Provide a convenient, safe, and orderly place to everything, and keep everything there. Proceed with continuous cleaning and verification (inspection). Set the standard, train and maintain Custom and practice. Develop routine maintenance practice and strive for further improvement.

While Hirano determines the steps to follow as:

Organization Order Cleaning Standardization (also designated as Standard Cleaning) Discipline

Below we proceed to describe each of these activities.

4. Benefits of 5S implementation

It makes it possible to change tools faster, or, shorter preparation times due to the good condition of the tools and equipment, the better ordering of the elements and instruments, and consequently the shorter search time (or rather "zero time").) with all that this implies when increasing the possibilities of producing a greater variety of parts and products. The knowledge and ordering of supplies, materials and tools avoids their repurchase, their excessive stock and an in-depth analysis of the causes. and consequences that led to such waste. Prevents and prevents both illnesses and accidents at work. Reduces the possibility of accidents, greatly reducing risks. Allows for better inspection of tools, equipment and facilities. Improves control of supplies,products in process and finished products. It avoids the loss, loss, obsolescence, destruction and theft of materials, merchandise and tools. It increases the available space. It serves to improve prevention in each and every one of its aspects. It improves both the layout such as ergonomics, greatly increasing productivity levels. Reduce, prevent and eliminate excess stock. Improve employee motivation. Improve customer satisfaction and company image. Reduce failures and defects in production processes. Facilitates the internal movement of materials, supplies and finished products. Facilitates faster control of stock levels and their shortages or excesses. Contributes to both increasing productivity and reducing costs.It avoids the loss, loss, obsolescence, destruction and theft of materials, merchandise and tools. It increases the available space. It serves to improve prevention in each and every one of its aspects. It improves both layout and ergonomics, greatly increasing It forms productivity levels. It reduces, prevents and eliminates excess stock. It improves employee motivation. It improves customer satisfaction and the image of the company. It reduces failures and defects in production processes. It facilitates movement. internal materials, supplies and finished products. Facilitates a faster control of stock levels and their shortages or excesses. Contributes to both increasing productivity and reducing costs.It avoids the loss, loss, obsolescence, destruction and theft of materials, merchandise and tools. It increases the available space. It serves to improve prevention in each and every one of its aspects. It improves both layout and ergonomics, greatly increasing It forms productivity levels. It reduces, prevents and eliminates excess stock. It improves employee motivation. It improves customer satisfaction and the image of the company. It reduces failures and defects in production processes. It facilitates movement. internal materials, supplies and finished products. Facilitates a faster control of stock levels and their shortages or excesses. Contributes to both increasing productivity and reducing costs.It increases the available space. It serves to improve prevention in each and every one of its aspects. It improves both the layout and ergonomics, greatly increasing productivity levels. It reduces, prevents and eliminates excess stock. It improves the Employee motivation. It improves customer satisfaction and the image of the company. It reduces failures and defects in production processes. It facilitates the internal movement of materials, supplies and finished products. It facilitates faster control of the levels of stock and its shortages or excesses. It contributes both to increasing productivity and reducing costs.It increases the available space. It serves to improve prevention in each and every one of its aspects. It improves both the layout and ergonomics, greatly increasing productivity levels. It reduces, prevents and eliminates excess stock. It improves the Employee motivation. It improves customer satisfaction and the image of the company. It reduces failures and defects in production processes. It facilitates the internal movement of materials, supplies and finished products. It facilitates faster control of the levels of stock and its shortages or excesses. It contributes both to increasing productivity and reducing costs.prevents and eliminates excess stock, improves employee motivation, improves customer satisfaction and company image, reduces failures and defects in production processes, facilitates the internal movement of materials, supplies and finished products..It facilitates a faster control of stock levels and their shortages or excesses. It contributes both to increasing productivity and reducing costs.prevents and eliminates excess stock, improves employee motivation, improves customer satisfaction and company image, reduces failures and defects in production processes, facilitates the internal movement of materials, supplies and finished products..It facilitates a faster control of stock levels and their shortages or excesses. It contributes both to increasing productivity and reducing costs.It contributes both to increasing productivity and reducing costs.It contributes both to increasing productivity and reducing costs.

5. Staff benefits

Make the workplace or workplace more pleasant, Achieve greater job satisfaction, Eradicate obstacles and frustrations, Improve communications, Make your stay in the plant or workplace less risky, Make spaces more healthy and comfortable, Create foundations for greater motivation. Feeling respected by the company and its managers.

6. Resistance in implantation

It is not uncommon, and therefore it is quite common to hear demonstrations such as:

"What is good about the Organization and Order?" "Why clean when everything gets dirty again?" "The establishment of the Organization and Order will not increase production" "We have previously established the Organization and Order" "We are too busy to deal with it now" "What need is there to implement 5S"

Publicizing the benefits, not only those that generate for the company but also those that result for the workers, and the need to proceed immediately to its implementation to be able to compete with possibilities in the current markets is an allocation in charge of the maximum company leader. Motivating and managing change is precisely the fundamental obligation in these new times that are on the part of the leader.

Refusing to change is the same as resigning oneself to fainting in the fight for competitiveness. A company that seeks to survive and grow to be more competitive must start at the base and that base is given by the Five Pillars.

7. Organization

The Organization can be defined as the activity of removing from the different sectors or processes all those elements that are not necessary for operations, whether these are productive or office tasks.

The activity of organizing does not imply getting rid of only the elements that you are sure you will never need. Nor does it mean simply ordering things, organization means leaving only what is strictly necessary. So if you have doubts about something, you should proceed to discard it. This principle is a key part of the Organization within the Five Pillars system.

This first pillar creates a working environment in which space, time, money, energy and other resources can be managed and used in a highly effective way. If this first pillar is well implemented, the problems and inconveniences in the work flow are greatly reduced, communication between employees is improved, the quality of products and services is increased, and productivity is increased.

8. Problems avoided by applying the first pillar

When this is not applied or is poorly implanted, drawbacks arise such as:

The factory tends to be increasingly messy making work difficult. Shelves, drawers and cabinets for storing unnecessary things are a real obstacle among employees, preventing good communication between them. Time is wasted searching for materials, parts and tools. It is extremely expensive to maintain Excess stocks are these inputs or finished products. Unnecessary equipment and elements make it difficult to improve the production flow.

9. Implementing the Organization

The Red Cards strategy constitutes the fundamental step to make the Organization possible. With this strategy, we proceed to identify potentially unnecessary elements in the factory, warehouses, sales room and offices, of those that are not. Proceeding to evaluate their usefulness and treating them appropriately.

The method consists of attaching or placing red cards on those elements that have to be evaluated to see if they are really necessary or not. Red cards help attract people's attention because red is an eye-catching or standout color. A red card object is asking for these three questions to be answered:

Is this item necessary? If necessary, is it in this quantity? If necessary and in this quantity, does it need to be in this location?

Once these elements are identified, they must be properly evaluated and treated. The actions that can and should be carried out are:

Have them in a special maintenance area for items with red cards, for a period of time waiting to see if they are necessary or not. Discard them. Change their location. Leave them where they are.

In order to effectively implement the red card strategy, a maintenance area must be created for the elements that have these cards added in order to carry out an additional evaluation.

The red card process in a department, area or work process can be broken down into seven steps, namely:

Launch of the red card project Identification of the red card goals Criteria for assigning the red cards Designing the red cards Attaching red cards Assessing the elements with a red card Documenting the results of the red cards

It is convenient that the design of the cards has specially assigned places to record the category of the element (materials, tools, products in process, etc.), name of the element and quantity.

Subsequently, the cards must be transcribed by area or process to a spreadsheet, in which the unit and the whole values will be placed, as well as the total.

10. Unnecessary items that most commonly accumulate

Defective products or excess quantities of small parts and other stocks Broken or out-of-date templates and dies Worn bits Broken or out-of-use tools and inspection instruments Old cleaning media Old-fashioned stationery Newspapers, magazines and other publications.

11. Places where unnecessary elements accumulate

In rooms or areas not designated for any particular purpose. In corners near entrances or exits. In tool boxes not clearly classified. On top of shelves and under warehouse eaves. Under tables and shelves and in cabinets and drawers..Close to the bottom of high piles of materials.

12. Order

Order implies proceeding to assign a place for each thing and put each thing in its place. Organization and order work best when put into practice together.

Order is of utmost importance because it allows the elimination of many and varied types of waste in production, sales and office activities. The time spent searching for items is often wasted both in the factory and in offices, and even in sales locations and warehouses. So it is not unusual for a tool change routine to include up to 30 minutes spent on unproductive search activities.

With the implementation of the Order they are avoided such as:

Waste of movements, waste of searches, waste of energy of people, waste of excess stock, waste of defective products, waste of unsafe conditions.

13. Standardization within the order

Standardization involves designing a consistent way to perform tasks and procedures. When it comes to standardizing, it should be thought of in terms of "anyone." This implies that anyone can operate the machines whose operations have been standardized, in the same way to standardize places for the placement of elements, the way to clean and accumulate materials, implies that anyone will be able to comply with the established requirements. Order is the essence of standardization. This is a consequence of the fact that the workstations must be and remain orderly before any type of standardization can be effectively implemented.

14. Visual Controls

A quick understanding of where things are or how they are done brings us to the concept of visual control. A visual check is any means of communication used in the work environment that tells us at a glance how work should be done. Visual controls are used as a way to communicate information such as:

Where the items or materials should be. How many things should be there. What is the standard procedure for doing something. Work in progress status. How to get to a factory or warehouse site more quickly.

The key issue is that by implementing standardization so that all standards are identified by visual controls there is only one place for everything and we can tell immediately whether a particular operation is proceeding normally or not.

15. How to implement order

It consists of the practice of two steps:

Step 1: Decide on the most appropriate location taking into consideration: a) the fastest way to find and use them, b) minimize the internal transfer of materials (layout), c) reduce spaces, d) avoid unnecessary movements, and especially harmful (ergonomics), and e) ensure that they do not generate risks or hazards depending on their location and proximity to other elements or components (example: do not place poisonous or fumigation elements near or in close contact with food or dishes). Step 2: Clearly and precisely determine locations. Once the best locations have been determined, it is essential to identify them so that everyone can easily and quickly find the objects and / or spaces, in addition to quickly knowing how many things are in each site,if they are where it corresponds (visual control).

16. Indicator strategy

This strategy uses cards or labels to identify what, where, and how much should be of each input or component. The three main types of indicators are:

The location ones, used to indicate where the elements have to be and are. The elements ones, which show the specific elements that are placed in each place. The quantity ones, which indicate how many elements there must be in each point.

17. Painting strategy

This strategy is a methodology to identify locations in floors and corridors. It is called a "painting strategy" because paint is the material that is generally used.

The painting strategy is used to create dividing lines that mark the division between passage areas, storage areas, and work areas.

Its most frequent uses are intended to:

Car storage locations. Aisle address. Door range, to show the swept area when opening a door. Placement of marks to place work tables. "Tiger" marks, to show areas where parts or equipment should not be located, or point out dangerous areas.

18. Color coding strategy

It is used to clearly indicate the parts, tools, templates and supplies that must be used for each purpose. For example, if certain parts have to be used to manufacture a particular product, they can all be coded with the same color and even stored in an area coded with that color. Likewise, if different lubricants are to be used on different parts of a machine, the supply containers, lubricators, and machine parts can be color coded to indicate the lubricant to be used in each part of the machine or equipment.

19. Outline strategy

Contour drawing is a good way to indicate placement sites for template and tool storage. It is simply a matter of drawing the contours of templates and tools in the appropriate storage positions. In this way, when a tool has to be returned to its place, the outline drawing provides an additional indication of where to place it.

20. Combine Inventory Software with 5S

Said combination allows entering a warehouse or stock software and knowing first in what physical location the materials or elements are, and secondly by means of special printed or monitor signals to determine the excess or lack of materials.

21. Cleaning

The third pillar is cleaning, which is defined as keeping everything in a total and perfect state of cleanliness.

Cleaning allows for better maintenance and inspection of machines, equipment and facilities. Prevents the occurrence of accidents. Prevents the possibility of explosions, fires and short circuits. Prevents spoilage of supplies and materials. Prevents the spread of pests, bacteria and microbes.Prevents or reduces contamination.Reduces the possibility of disease transmission.Improves the mood of the staff.It presents customers and users with a better image of the company.

Cleaning involves inspection. Hence one of the key functions of it.

22. Implementation of Cleaning

The first step is to determine the cleaning goals, that is, which areas, elements and equipment will be the object of activity for each group designated for this purpose. In the second step, who will carry out the cleaning will be designated. Determination of the methods cleaning is the third step to perform. The fourth step is to properly prepare tools and other items or supplies to use for cleaning. Proceeding to perform cleaning is the fifth and last step.

As a way to permanently maintain a state of total cleanliness, inspection needs to be systematically incorporated into cleaning.

23. Standardization

It is the existing state when the first three pillars are properly preserved. It prevents the return to the previous conditions or state of affairs.

The supreme objective of this pillar is to avoid that once the first three pillars have been fulfilled, they can go back into the state of situation, returning to a state of disorder, dirt, excess and confusion.

24. Making Organization, Order and Cleanliness a Habit

To achieve this, it is necessary to take three steps consisting of:

Step 1: Decide who is responsible for what activities regarding the conditions of the first three pillars.

Step 2: Prevent setbacks from taking place by integrating the conservation and improvement of the three pillars within daily activities.

Step 3: Proceed to verify the level of maintenance quality of the three pillars.

25. Visual 5S

The concept of Visual 5S is to make obvious at a glance the level of conditions of the five pillars. This is particularly useful in factories that handle a wide variety and number of materials.

The three main points to consider about Visual 5S are:

anyone should be able to distinguish between normal and abnormal conditions at a glance

26. Prevention

When problems after being solved are generated or repeated, it is necessary to raise the level of standardization to the degree of prevention. The best way to prevent recurrence is to ask yourself about the root causes that cause them. In this way we will be able to create a state of Organization-Order and Unbreakable Cleaning.

Among the various forms of prevention we have:

Suspension. Technique consisting of suspending the tool above the operator through the use of supports. Thus, when the operator finishes using the tool, he merely releases it and automatically returns to its height storage position. Through this technique the unbreakable Order is achieved. Incorporation. It involves creating a flow of items or operations in a process in which: (1) templates, tools, and measuring instruments are seamlessly integrated into the process, and (2) such media is stored where it is used, and therefore does not have to be returned after used. Elimination of use. There are three ways to achieve this. The first involves the unification of tools consisting of combining the functions of two or more tools into one.The second way involves replacing tools which involves using a medium that serves the function of a tool, removing it. A clear and simple example of this is the replacement of the key to tighten bolts, by bolts with lugs, which facilitates the tightening by hand. The third method consists directly of the method change. So instead of tightening with ears by hand, we make use of clamps and clamps among others.

27. Preventive cleaning

Before cleaning, we must prevent dirt from occurring. Aiming to eliminate cleanup as much as feasible, the key is to address contamination issues at the source. For this, it is essential to make use of the "Five Why and One How" method. An example has to serve such purposes. If there are puddles of oil, it is convenient to investigate where the oil is leaking and give the corresponding solution.

Why is the floor cleaned every day?

Because oil falls on it.

Why does said oil fall?

Because there is a leak in the punch press.

Where does the loss take place?

From a valve.

What is the reason for the loss of this valve?

To a fissure.

Why has this valve not been replaced?

Because we hadn't warned him.

How can its repair be coordinated?

The maintenance team will proceed to replace it.

In this way, the closer we can get to the source of contamination, the more capacity we must have to implement Standardized Cleaning.

28. The last pillar: Discipline

In the context of the five pillars, the Discipline has a different meaning. It means having a habit of properly maintaining proper procedures.

The importance of the Discipline is that without it, the implantation of the first four pillars would quickly deteriorate.

Both the management of the company and the employees must play a fundamental role in generating a high degree of discipline. Among the tools to achieve this discipline we have:

Continuous education and training The use of posters and slogans The printing of internal bulletins The competences between departments, sectors or processes Visiting other companies that practice 5S and / or other branches of the same company

29. Conclusion

Organization, order and cleanliness is unfortunately often one of the biggest shortcomings in Western companies. The problem is fundamentally that both management and workers do not find a direct relationship between them and productivity, quality and costs.

When the five pillars are effectively implemented, it is feasible to achieve rapid control of the workplace, confirming:

That there is nothing extra or unnecessary. There is clearly a place for everything and everything is in its place. You can see a total cleanliness. At a glance you can access the information. The paperwork has been reduced to its minimum expression. wastage or abnormality is quickly appreciated. The methods are standardized and easy to understand and apply.

The Seiri and the Seiton are for Monden the initial steps that lead to Kaizen, thus clearly establishing their critical importance for the improvement of processes in the company.

The 5S does not imply limiting yourself to painting tool contours, nor to continuous sweeping and cleaning, nor to removing things that are not used. The implementation of the five pillars implies the understanding and implementation of a philosophy and spirit of work on the one hand, and on the other the clear and precise execution of a series of steps and methods conducive to the overall improvement of the workplace.

By improving the workplace, it is possible to improve workers' self-esteem, improve the image of the company, generate higher quality products, increase productivity and reduce costs, and make the workplace a fuller and more motivating place, that increases employee satisfaction and creates the foundation for excellence.

From all the aforementioned, the importance of 5S is clear in the implementation of continuous improvement (kaizen), as well as its capacity as a tool for improvement in maintenance.

30. Bibliography

TPM for an efficient factory - Ken'ichi Sekine and Keisuki Arai - Editorial TGP Hoshin - 2006

Continuous System of Order and Cleaning - Mauricio Lefcovich - www.gestiopolis.com - 2006

The Five "S" Plus - Mauricio Lefcovich - www.gestiopolis. com - 2004

The Just in Time today at Toyota - Y. Monden - Editorial Deusto - 2005.