Have you ever walked through a manufacturing plant and wondered where that underlying feeling of walking through Bangkok’s China Town came from? Most likely it stemmed from a forest of signs, labels, boards, signposts, placards and notice boards hanging from ceilings, sticking on walls and pillars and standing at every corner and sometimes in the way. Those mandatory and important, such as Emergency Exit signs or Fire Extinguisher indicators often drown in the flood of all the others, fancy, oversized, in sparkling colors, funny and cute depending on their creator’s imagination but barely useful or really necessary for the daily operation and sometimes simply obsolete.

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One reason for this suffocating over-decoration of factories is the western buyer’s desire to be able to identify everything on the spot when visiting the plant just as if they walked through a manufacturing museum. While I had the opportunity to experience the not really vital but comfortable aspect of every little corner and every process being labeled when walking through a factory I’ve never been to before, I also can say, that for the people who work there, many of these labels and signs are completely irrelevant, especially those of the museum category which can easily be recognized as they always hang around in English giving not only some hints on what they are supposed to describe but often also on their creator’s language skills.

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The second reason for the sign post forest and extensive painting is called 5S, a Japanese concept that, if properly implemented leads to visible improvements, and in the other case becomes a continuous waste of time. Unfortunate but true, it is very often implemented in the way leading to the other case.

 

First of all we need to be aware that if we translate 5 words, each of which starting with ‘s’ in the original language into any other language, the chance that in that other language, all the five words also will start with ‘s’ is very slim. Of course some language acrobats will make it happen, but you may find slightly different translations of the 5 Japanese S when searching on the internet. My preference is to use the following interpretations.

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整理 (Seiri) – Sorting – สะสาง
Eliminate all unnecessary tools, parts, and instructions.

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整頓 (Seiton) – Stabilizing or Straightening Out – สะดวก (เรียบร้อย)
There should be a place for everything and everything should be in its place.

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清掃 (Seiso) – Sweeping or Shining – สะอาด
Clean the work space and all equipment, and keep it clean, tidy and organized.

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清潔 (Seiketsu) – Standardizing – สุขลักษณะ
Work practices should be consistent and standardized

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躾 (Sitsuke) – Sustain the Practice – สร้างนิสัย
Make it become a habit.

 

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How is 5S usually implemented?   
When a manufacturer or any company starts to ‘implement’ 5S it usually goes like this:

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1. Setup a 5S committee

2. Call all the supervisors of all departments and tell them what they need to do under the umbrella or pretext of 5S

3. Regular evaluation and 5S-completeness-rating of every department through the 5S committee.

 

The 5S committee consists of a group of people who are somehow senior, reliable and have some leadership within the company. Of course all these committee members had their jobs and duties keeping them busy to this day, but let’s not waste our time with little concerns like that.

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Once the supervisors have been briefed about 5S and go back to their departments, the 5S fever really breaks out. Almost out of a sudden, you see people painting lines on floors, putting up signs and boards, re-arranging filing systems and labeling everything that comes their way. In a stunningly common hyperactivity of the entire workforce the place is turned upside down - into China Town. Those few who were not caught by the fever stand there watching and asking themselves: how come, yesterday they told me they had a lot of work, and today they have all the time it takes to redecorate the whole place.

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Every Saturday the 5S committee walks through every department with a tedious check list to see whether all the requirements of 5S have been fulfilled. Is the organization chart there? Is it updated? If not does it have a label on it that says that it is not updated or when it will be updated? And so on. The list is long and it takes the whole day. No it does not have an impact on the core job of the committee members. They can do their real job within 5 days of the week now.

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Early next week, an updated 5S score chart will be distributed where everybody can see the scores of each department that were generated based on a meticulous well thought through scoring system to make sure your department won’t be rewarded with a 67% score when you really only deserved 66% - fairness is everything.

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What’s wrong?

The fundamental understanding is wrong. 5S is not something you need to implement. 5S is not an activity you need to perform. 5S is not something you need to do on top of what you are doing in your daily job.

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5S is a philosophy, a guideline that you need to apply to what you are already doing. Then, and only then, it will make what you are already doing, easier. Otherwise it is just an additional burden – and cost.

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A simple example is the organization chart in every department. If you are doing 5S, you most likely have it. And when you ask somebody why they put an organization chart of the department on the wall (which needs to be maintained and updated, hence, additional work), the answer will for 99% sure be “because of 5S”. This is wrong. 5S is a tool, it must never be the reason!

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5S should result in getting rid of anything that is unnecessary (tools, parts, instructions, etc.) as they may literally stand in your way, cost you money (maintenance) or make you lose time (not finding the relevant information among all the unecessary)

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5S should result in having a place for everything and everything being in its place, so you and your people don’t waste time searching for things.

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5S should result in everything being clean and ready to use on a continuous bases, not just twice a year after a big cleaning day.

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5S should result in work practices being standardized and consistent.

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5S should result in all the above becoming a habit, self-explaining and self-sustaining, ultimately without needing a 5S committee to come and check.

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Is there an Undo Option?

Yes, there is. Take the first of the 5S seriously. Eliminate all unnecessary tools, parts and instructions. You can do this easily by allowing every department head to screen his zone of responsibility and for everything he or she finds, for example the organization chart, ask the following six questions:

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1. Does it add value to the product we sell to our customer?

2. Does it add value to the process of production or workflow?

3. Does it add value to the safety of the product or our workplace?

4. Does it add value to the physical health of the worker or employee?

5. Does it add value to the physical or psychological well-being of the worker or employee?

6. Does it add value to the environment?

 

If the answer was ‘no’ six times, then remove it. And if you need to eliminate a last little doubt, then ask a last little question:

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1. What will happen if I remove it?

 

If the answer is ‘nothing’ or anything positive, then you can safely get rid of it.

 

After having gone through the undo-process, your factory or office will look neat and clean and you will have the confidence that all that passed the undo-test questions and remains in place is really adding value to your business.

 

 

Bangkok, September 2012
Published: The Nation, 26th March 2013

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