Comments on: Do Not Do 5S Yet

By: Denis Nixon

Denis Nixon — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 00:45:38 +0000

RE 5S. An added thought about introducing 5S. At the heart of 5S is a better way to carry out tasks. If the benefit to the operator is stressed and understood over “clean,organized” then using 5S as a grounds up starting point for Lean makes sense. Your blog subliminally poses an either or situation – either start with 5S or start where the pain is. In my practice over 12 years I have found that often, but not always, 5S plus pain reduction are perfect matches to educate the wider employee population.

By: Jamie Flinchbaugh

Jamie Flinchbaugh — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:43:38 +0000

Pete, thanks for the reference back to my post.

To you counterpoint on my point #3, it would help if I were more specific about what I mean by engagement. I agree with you that it can generate interest and even excitement in management because of it’s very visible nature. By engagement though, I mean that management changes their work as well. Besides auditing other people’s work, 5S doesn’t do much to change the work of management in any meaningful way. This can lead to a mental model that lean can be delegated, when in fact it cannot.

Thanks,

Jamie Flinchbaugh
http://www.jamieflinchbaugh.com

By: Dan Markovitz

Dan Markovitz — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 14:29:14 +0000

Pete,

In general, I agree with your point. However, what about 5S for information? When you look at a non-manufacturing environment, the waste of waiting and motion is often caused by poor information 5S — people can’t find what they need, or important information isn’t addressed in a timely fashion. (Think of the Mars Climate Orbiter explosion, which could have been avoided by not having the email get lost in the program director’s inbox.)

By: tony joyce

tony joyce — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 12:52:29 +0000

Pete,
In your conclusion, when you talk about the “key metrics … for which senior management is held accountable”, it sounds like you are saying “ride the management wave, not the black belt board.” The difficulties that most Lean journey’s face is a burden of proof in challenging any one of those cherished key metrics. I am afraid that this is the reason for “it depends,” and an explanation for why safety is one of the more direct and easier connections into senior management circles.
tony