When you know about Lean Six Sigma, what are the first things that come to mind? Do you think about its effects as well as its benefits and its advantages to a certain company or business? Or do you specifically think about the processes and the procedures involved in it?

One of the most used and sought after tools is the 5S tool; many people are not aware of what it is — they’re not even sure that it exists. We here at Maximum Potential are more than happy to help you as we can describe the 5S Lean Six Sigma Tool and what it’s all about.

Lean Six Sigma Goal

Technically speaking, the goal of Lean Six Sigma is to make sure that a certain business process is in its best and most maximized, giving it the flexibility and the overall versatility in adjusting to certain circumstances. Part of the advantages and the benefits of Lean Six Sigma for a business or a company includes:

• A more simplified business process
• Develop business strategy
• Waste management and reduction
• Removal of variation
• Better customer satisfaction
• And many more

The 5S in Lean Six Sigma

Because Lean Six Sigma is a methodology that aims to identify and reduce waste, the 5S is a concept that deals with the five (5) words that start with the letter “S.” This concept was taken originally from the Japanese and is comprised of:

• Seiri (Sort)
• Seiton (Set in Order)
• Seiso (Shine)
• Seiketsu (Standardize); and
• Shitsuke (Sustain)

These steps are what’s commonly used in eradicating and in organizing a specific workplace. As a matter of fact, this is what’s used to eliminate all the eight (8) types of wastes determined by the Lean Manufacturing System. And that’s what we at, Maximum Potential, will be helping you within your journey in learning and in embodying Lean Six Sigma into your business process development and improvement plans. We’ll take a deeper look at this 5s Lean Six Sigma Tool in order for you to have a better and a more comprehensible understanding of it.

Seiri — Sort

Organization starts with sorting — it can be the sorting of the workplace material, the clutter of a company, the designation of work and responsibilities, and the like. In this step, the following benefits would include:

• Better and simplified individual tasks
• Decreased hazard and accidents
• Reduction of irrelevant and non-valuable activities

Seiton — Set in Order

After sorting, the next step is to set everything in order. In this step, the goal is for a certain company to be able to observe and to know about the storage or the management of teams, inventory, as well as the materials needed by a company.

This phase is one step closer to the full rehabilitation and development of a business process. Some of the benefits that seiton offers businesses and companies include:

• The efficiency of space and storage
• Use of employee or worker talent and skills
• Location of items, materials, files, and the like

Seiso — Shine

So, all the unneeded and the inessential clutter and waste is gone, the question is this: what do you do with it? What are the things that can make you benefit from it? In this step, it’s relevant to make sure that the first two steps are to be followed up.

Let’s take an example; here with us at Maximum Potential, once we figure out the problem and we’ve filtered the waste, we’ll go and promote the cleanliness and the organization of each process because you’re the one who’s going to benefit from it, too.

Seiketsu — Standardize

Once you successfully perform the first three (3) steps, you’ll be good to go. The only thing you have to do is to make those practices standard so that employees and workers would know about it. Standardize it or shift it to normalcy; that way, everyone will be following and will be doing according to the changes.

Shitsuke — Sustain

So you’ve made everything standard, the last but definitely not the least of the steps is to sustain it. You may be successful in doing it for months — but would you be able to sustain it for a year? That’s where the real challenge is at.

Don’t worry, if it’s about business process improvement, we here at Maximum Potential are ready to help you. It doesn’t matter what industry you’re working at, so long as you need expert and professional help, we’re just a call away. Whatever help you need, whether you need regular Lean Six Sigma Consulting or Training, you can count on us!

You’re now able to describe the 5s Lean Six Sigma Tool — you can use it for your own benefit and for the improvement and the larger development and expansion of your business or your company. Should you need extra assistance, you know who to call and contact!