The result of implementing the 5 S's is the creation of cleaner and safer workplaces that make daily work simpler and more satisfying.
The 5S processes themselves produce changes that make processes more effective and facilitate the efficient implementation and development of other important improvements, both in the manufacturing process and in service delivery, such as just-in-time or industrial management systems.
HOUSEKEEPING. By Eng. Raúl A. Perez Verzini*
A business is a living organism. The healthiest organisms move and change in a flexible relationship with their environment. Adaptation is a healthy response to survival. In the economic world, customer needs are constantly changing, new technologies are continually being developed, and new generations of products are appearing on the market. Meanwhile, competition intensifies every year, and the country embarks on a future that is sometimes uncertain. Given this, businesses need to find new ways to ensure their survival by adapting to the constantly changing environment.
As an organizational structure, a company must be built on strong foundations that allow it to be protected from environmental conditions. These foundations have been known for over 30 years as 5S, or Housekeeping. Originating in Japan, the 5S are more than a program of order and cleanliness. Together, they represent a work logic, a way of focusing on daily tasks, generating the cultural change required to survive in the market. That's why they are universal, because they contribute to creating work disciplines.
In the hustle and bustle of a company, as in a person's daily life, routines that maintain organization, order, and cleanliness are essential for an efficient and smooth flow of activities. Through simple actions, the 5S provide an inexpensive and common-sense way to improve the critical areas of results we know as quality, productivity, safety, and employee satisfaction. Ultimately, they are essential steps to keeping the company "clean." They are not a fad. They are basic principles for improving our work lives by making our work areas a place worth living in and where quality and productivity are a daily occurrence.
* He Eng. Raúl A. Perez Verzini He is Director of Action Group, Education & Consulting. This article was published by the weekly Punto a Punto.
