LEAN PROCESS - The lean process consists of the following five (5) steps. Each of these steps is defined
with a Japanese word starting with the letter “S.” Hence these are known as the five 5S’s. These words and
their English translations are listed below.
1. Seiri – Clearing Up
2. Seiton – Organizing
3. Seiso – Cleaning
4. Seiketsu – Standardizing
5. Shitsuke – Training and Discipline.
We will briefly review each of these lean process steps:
Clearing Up – Over time we tend to clutter up our facilities with unneeded materials, tooling and even
unfinished rework. Having all these materials and tooling lying around serves no useful purpose and tends to
create a layer of confusion for the operators working in the area. By removing clutter, we can greatly
improve the focus on the job at hand.
Organizing – Next, we need to organize all these tools and materials. The old adage
” A place for everything and everything in its place” is a good rule for organizing each station. All
unneeded tools and raw materials should be returned to stock or the Tool Crib as appropriate. For items that
must remain at the work center (such as unique tools or inspection devices), creating storage location using
tool templates can go a long way to reorganizing an area. It should always be apparent that a tool is
available, in use or missing for some other reason.
Cleaning – The entire facility should undergo a through cleaning to assure that only raw materials and
tooling which are presently needed are on the floor. Everything else should be removed and stored in an
appropriate location. Clean facilities, and clean work centers help to raise morale, inspire pride of
workmanship and go a long way to raise quality consciousness.
Standardizing - The fewer the number of variables we deal with each day, the more we can remain focused
on the project at hand. By standardizing such things as manufacturing lot sizes, WIP and storage containers,
floor storage locations we can become a great deal more organized.
Training and Discipline – A lean implementation must begin with education and training for all individuals
who will be involved in the implementation -- from top management to the production line worker. Don’t
ignore “quality tools” which are used for problem solving and continuous improvement, such as:
Brainstorming, Cause & Effect / Fishbone diagrams, Pareto Analysis, and Process Mapping.
IMPLEMENTATION - Implementing Lean Manufacturing strategies is a project similar to any other major
initiative, requiring support and championing from Top Management, and a comprehensive team of