The secret of perpetually organized Japanese offices and homes

Have you ever noticed how Japanese workplaces and homes look so orderly all the time?  In most other places, it would take at least 8 hours to establish order, before the chaos starts creeping back in in just 2 days. 

What is their secret?  A set of principles called 5S. 

Unlike the other management methodologies that came out of Japan, the 5S principles were taught to Japanese children as good housekeeping practices way before it was given the name "5S".  In 1980s, Toyota famously started adopting these principles to to streamline its operations, and everything else, as they say, is history. 

The premise of 5S (as implemented by Toyota) is to eliminate waste in the production line.  It is the basis for JIT.  Unless unnecessary movements and mistakes were removed from the system, there is no way that the inventory can be kept as low as possible - because inventory is precisely the buffer against mistakes and time incurred from unnecessary movements. 

Think of it this way - if you are working on a project with a few folks, and you know that are team members who will hand in their piece of the work late, then you'd naturally put in a gap of a few days between deadline for those team members and the project deadline, right?  That 2/3-day buffer is like the extra inventory we have to keep to make up for mistakes and extra travelling time from wasted movements.  

Everyone loses in the end, because the deadline buffer takes time, just like the inventory buffer takes up space, requires management time, erodes profits and impacts cashflow. 

So what is 5S?  There are many translations of the original Japanese words, but I find the below most appropriate. 

• Sort
• Set in order
• Sweep
• Systemize
• Sustain

And what type of wastes does 5S look?

• From unnecessary travelling time
• From unnecessary movement
• From time spent searching for required items
• From mistakes and correction
• From lost productive time caused by safety hazards

The wonderful thing about 5S is that its application is not limited to the production plant.  It can be applied to ANY environment - even in a kids' play area.  Why?  Let me ask you this:

• Have you ever slaved for half an hour after the kids have gone to bed, trying to put back all their toys and game pieces (while the dishes and laundry are still waiting)?
• Have you ever had kids screaming for a particular toy while you search frantically for it (or at least an alternative)?
• Have you ever stepped on a Lego piece (ouch!!!) and attempted to stopped yourself from vocalizing words that cannot be uttered in the presence of kids?
• Have you ever put a toy back in the wrong box and have to spend minutes searching for it the next day?
• Have you ever wondered why the toy area is so messy all the time?

If you have kids and answer YES to any of the questions above, then 5S is for you.  For more information on 5S and how to apply it, stay tuned to our blog posts, or visit the following sites:

• Reliability Web
• Sigma Center
• Wikipedia
• Go Lean Six Sigma