Management Systems

in
Production Engineering

2013,No4(12),pp814

PROBLEMSOFIMPLEMENTATION5SPRACTICESINANINDUSTRIALCOMPANY
BeataGALA,RadosawWOLNIAK
SilesianUniversityofTechnology

Abstract:
5SisaoneofthetoolsofLeanManagementenablingtoorganizeworkplaceinaneec veway.Itcouldbeimplemen
tedinallthespheresofthecompany.Thear cleprovidesthetheore cdescrip onofLeanManagementand5Sand
alsoshowsacasestudybasedongainedexperience.Theauthoralsodescribetheproblemsoccuredduringtheimple
menta onofthe5S.

Keywords:5S,LeanManagement

INTRODUCTION
Thisar clepresentstheproblemsthatoccurduringthe
implementa on of the 5S. At the beginning generally the
conceptofLeanand5Stoolshasbeendescribedandthen
presents an analysis of the applica on in 5S in a
manufacturingcompanyintheassemblydepartmentandin
theoce.
LEANMANAGEMENT
Currently, a largenumber of companies which want to
providehighqualityproductsorservicesandtominimize
the cost of implemen ng management systems introduce
thetoolsofLeanManagement[9].
LeanconceptcomesfromJapan.Itisbasedonprac ces
used in the mass produc on of Henry Fords cars and the
experience of Toyota (Toyota Produc on System). Lean
managementisbasedontheelimina onofallkindswaste.
T. Ohno iden fied seven categories of losses:
overproduc on, wai ng, unnecessary transport, excessive
or incorrect processing, excess inventory, unnecessary
mo on and defects. Later, he added eighth loss, unused
crea vityofemployees.Hebelievedthattheworkersmust
be respected, take care of their con nuous development
andputupchallenges.Allthewastethatdonotcontribute
to the crea on of value and are not necessary for the
proper func oning of the process should be eliminated
immediately[2,5,12].
Lean management is aimed at: the fla ening of the
organiza onal structure of the company, working in
interdisciplinary groups, transferring decision making
powers to lower levels of the organiza on, a strong
customer focused orienta on, con nuous improvement
withinKaizen,seekingthecausesofdefectsandelimina on
of the very beginning con nuous flow materials,
orienta on of the produc on of small batch produc on,
observa on of ac vi es in places of their origin (to derive
informa on about the process from below from
employees),flexibledivisionoflabor,orienta onac onsof
people[6].

The basic toools of Lean Management, which are used

inprac ceare[4,10]:
5Sfivestepsallowingtoorganizetheworkplaces.
Value Stream Mapping iden fica on of ac vi es
thatcomprisestheflowofmaterial,informa onand
moneyintheprocess.
SMED (Single Minute Exchange of Dies)
op miza onofmachinechangeover me.
TPM (Total Produc ve Maintenance) maintenance
managementandmachinery.
Kaizen entering in all process of gradual and
con nuousimprovements.
Kanbanmethodofproduc oncontrol.
PokaYokeelimina ngthepossibilityofcommi ng,
omissionerror.
TOOL5S
Tool5Sisthenumberofuncomplicatedrulesthatallow
you to organize the workplace in a clean, orderly,
ergonomic and ecient. Implementa on of the five levels
can reduce the amount of waste and errors, and increase
produc vity, improve safety and quality of products or
services. The 5S is the basis for implementa on of other
toolsofLeanManagement,whichiswhyitmustbedonein
apreciseandpreplannedway[1,7,8,13].
5S took its name from the five Japanese words, which
are characterized by dierent levels of the organiza on
workplaces[3,11]:
1SSeiriSelec on
2SSeitonSystema c
3SSeisoCleanup
4SSeiketsuStandardiza on
5SShitsukeSelfimprovement
CASESTUDY5S
The 5S was applied in an enterprise of a produc on
bothintheassemblydepartment,andintheoce.
First the project manager was established and a group
of people who was responsible for coordina ng the

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B.GALA,R.WOLNIAKProblemsofimplementa on5Sprac cesinanindustrialcompany

implementa onofallfivestepsandwasresponsibleforthe
maintenance of the 5S. The team consisted of people
involved in the work and were responsible for improving
thecurrentstatusquo.Onepersonwasfromtheoutsideof
thecompanyandexpresseditsfreshopinionsandasking
ques ons about things seemingly irrelevant to the
employees of the assembly, and incomprehensible to
outsiders.Theteamalsojoinedapersoninamanagement
posi on who had formal authority. So the group had to
completethefirsttasktoplantheproject.Theambi on
of the project was to determined the work breakdown
structure, Gan chart was prepared (a graphical
representa on of the sequence and dura on of the
ac vi esinagiven me),materialresources,financialand
human resources were assigned to the ac ons and an
analysisofthepoten alrisksthatmayariseintheproject
wascarried.
Then the sta made aware of what is 5S system, how,
whenandwhyitiscarriedout,andwhatarethebenefits.
Thetrainingwasconductedduringtheinventory,especially
not to stop the installa on process. At firs mul media
presenta on was presented with theore cal along with
various examples of the applica on of 5S and conducted
prac cal exercises showing the concept of the system. It
was based on an early drawing a set number of pieces on
the board with marker by two volunteers. Wherein the
container contained 10 pens, including 9 broken markers.
The task was divided into three stages. In the first, the
container with all markers were placed at the end of the
hall, in the second stage the broken markers leaving the
pack with proper pen in the same place and in a third
container was moved close to the table. In every stage of
execu on mestopwatchmeasureddrawings.Thisexercise
was to show how much me is wasted searching for the
rightthings,whichareo enlocatedinremoteloca ons.At
the end of the training, knowledge test was carried out
between 5S and discussion with sta on the use of the
systemintheassemblydepartment.Tofurthermo va on
employees, head assembly declared that the ac on of 5S
willalsobeperformedintheoce.
A er the course of the assembling department sta
began to implement the first step 5S, selec on. The rule,

Fig.2Comprehensiveplanfortheimplementa onof5S

whichwasdirectedtoleaveonlywhat isneeded, onlyas

much as necessary and only when necessary. The key
wordwasdelete.Tofacilitatetheselec onofsubjectsto
unnecessaryandnecessarysocalledredcardswereused
(Fig.1).

Fig.1Modelofaredcardandanexampleofitsapplica on

Eachemployeereceivedacardtogluetotheunwanted
or damaged items. He also had to fill in each of its fields:
the name of the objects, its iden fica on number if any,
numberofpieces,thereasonformarkingtheobjects,date
and enter his name. All marked objects gathered in one
place,soasnottomissanyofthem.Appointedteammade
thedecisionwhattodowiththem,ortoremove,ormove
to another department, or maybe fix it. A er conduc ng
thefirststepthereportofredcardswaspreparedanda
comprehensive plan for the implementa on of 5S (Fig. 2),
which iden fies the subject of improvement, the depart
ment and the person who has to dealt with, the me and
thestatutesoftheac on.A erelimina ngallunnecessary
items a significant part of the surface of the hall was re
coveredandhasimprovedtheflexibilityoftheworkplace.

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B.GALA,R.WOLNIAKProblemsofimplementa on5Sprac cesinanindustrialcompany

Fig.3Modelofcardkeepworkplacesclean

The second level, concerned cleaning the assembling

tables, shelves, racks, desks, containers, tools, equipment
andmachines.Alsotheforkli shadtobecleanedthathave
notbeenwashedsincepurchase,onaveragefouryears.In
thisstep,cleaningcardwasdesigned(Fig.3)indica ngthe
place, the ac on that has performed, the frequency and
thepersonresponsibleforthetask.

Fig.4Checklistandmapofresponsibility

Addi onally the check list was created to verify on a

regularbasisandperformedchoresaroundwiththemapof
liability assembly sec on (Fig. 4). Accurate cleaning up of
workplacesandcheckingthestatusofplantandmachinery
breakdowns allowed to see the breakdowns and damages
thatwerenotvisiblebefore.

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B.GALA,R.WOLNIAKProblemsofimplementa on5Sprac cesinanindustrialcompany

Fig.5Examplesofsystema c,fromthele :describ onofthecontentsofracks,toolpanel,cleantoolpanel

Systema c was to designate a place for each thing.

These had to be laid in accordance with the frequency of
use and according to criteria such as safety, quality and
ergonomics. Then they were marked anddescribed accor
ding the loca on. In par cular they drew a en on to the
assemblingtables,racksandshelves.Theseweretheplaces
from which assemblers o en uses. Also determined the
minimumandthemaximumnumberofrawmaterials,semi
finishedproducts,toolsandocesupplies.Aspartofthis
step was organized cornerscalledcleantool panel, indi
cated with a belt road handling and intermediate storage
areas, which were later painted appropriate colors by an
external company and bulle n boards were ordered with
descrip ons of intermediates that are in the hall. Taking
these ac on (Fig. 5) allowed to save me and it improve
safety.Theedi ngprocesswassoimprovedbyproperor
ganiza on of workplaces, eliminated unnecessary move
mentofworkersandreducedfa gue.
It is worth no ng that cleaning and systema c in the
companywerecarriedoutinareverseorder.Thisisdueto
the fact that the assembly department was in very poor
condi onintermsofcleanlinessanditwasnotpossiblein

Fig.6AQCCard

thefirstplacese nganddescribingtheloca onofthings

withoutprepara on.
In the fourth step, standardiza on has developed new
rules for the opera on of assembly department. Defined
standards for assembly and packaging process were pre
sentedattheboardsnearassemblingtableinordertopro
viderapidaccesstothem,whichwouldresultinasmaller
numberoferrorsmadewhenfi ngthedatacomponents.
Thebriefinstruc onandAQCcards(Fig.6)havebeencrea
tedfordierentequipmentusingdrawings.
Thefinalstageofthe5Sisselfimprovement.Tomain
tain and develop the system dierent ac ons have been
taken to ensure con nuous improvement. First of all fur
ther training for sta has been planed so that they can
developtheirknowledgeofthetoolsofLeanManagement.
Alsoaauditcardwascreatedwithques onsforeachlevel
Sandaudits(Fig.7)wereplannedforthewholeyear.Also
so called improvement cards were designed to improve
therepor ngofproblemsandimprovementssuggestedby
employees. To encourage employees to par cipate in im
provingthestock5S,directoroftheEnterprisesagreedto
establishasystemofremunera onforthebestideas.

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B.GALA,R.WOLNIAKProblemsofimplementa on5Sprac cesinanindustrialcompany

Fig.7AuditCard

A er carrying the 5S ac ons all the documents have

been posted on a special table created for 5S system. So
the sta could currently be informed about the improve
ment ac on, analyze departmental KPI (Key Performance
Indicators), tosign a check list and recall the first stepsof
implementa on, because their work is documented with
photographs.
PROBLEMSOCCURREDDURINGTHEIMPLEMENTATIONOF
5S
Among the many barriers two significant ones were
iden fied. You have to pay special a en on to them, be
cause they interfere with the process of implementa on,
whichmayleadtoabnormalfunc oningofthesystem.The

first problem is the resistance of employees towards ma

king changes, and second the lack of involvement of top
management in the concept of 5S. Examining the reasons
fortheiden fiedproblemschartscauseeectrela ons
hipsIshikawawereused.
In Figure 8 iden fies four group of causes of worker
resistanceorganiza onofwork,man,theflowofinforma
onandtrainingon5S.Ineachsetspecificreasonsforthe
problemweregiven.Poororganiza onofworkofthepro
ject5So enresultsindefec ve,unfairdivisionoflaborfor
employees, which may result in such excess of task. The
cause may also be a lack of management support, lack of
coordinators 5S, lack of thesystem of control of the work
orthelackofcoopera onbetweenemployees.

Fig.8Ishikawachartanalysisofthecausesofresistanceofemployeesagainstchanges

ManagementSystemsinProduc onEngineering4(12)/201313
B.GALA,R.WOLNIAKProblemsofimplementa on5Sprac cesinanindustrialcompany

Veryimportantarethebehaviorsandfeelingofpeople:
fearandanxietyofbeingfired,asenseofdangerofcurrent
posi on or own skills and competencies. Changes usually
raise a variety of concerns and introduce uncertainty and
ambiguity in place of what is well known. The causes of
resistanceisalsoareluctancetoaddi onalresponsibili es,
adherencetotradi onandthenega vepreviousexperien
ces.
Anothergroupindicatedthereasonsistheflowofinfor
ma on.Thefluctua onofcommunica onmustbekept,as
anydelays,errorsintheinforma on,orlackofresponseor
lack of scheduling system 5S cause concern in employees.
Theydonotknow when orwhat to expect. Thepreferred
solu on is to put the most important informa on on the
bulle nboard.
Themainproblemthatoccursinenterprisesisthelack
oftrainingforemployeestocarryoutbeforethe5Sac on
ortocarryitoutinawayincomprehensibletoothers.This
hasaverynega veeectonemployees,becausethepur
poseofthesystem5Sisnotexplain,thebenefitsalsowhat
are from the implementa on and the expecta ons a er
the introduc on of the concept. The current rhythm is
o en disturbed, and false rumors are increasingly being
spread.
Theeectsofresistanceofemployeescanbeexpressed
in dierent ways, e.g. by denying, nega ng the need for
change through preven on or through lack of interest in
the topic. In extreme cases, it may occur in a worker de
pression. This happens when there are circumstances of
pressure.
ThesecondIshikawagraph(Fig.9)isthelackofinvolve
ment of top management in the implementa on of the
system5S.Iden fiedthreemainreasonsforthisphenome
non:management,manand5Straining.
Infact,thera onaldecisiontoworkonimplementa on
of5Sshouldresultfromthebeliefofmanagementthatthe
systemwillbringthepar cularresultsforthecompany.For

theconcepttoworkproperlyitisthereforenecessaryma
nagementcommitment.Unfortunately,ito enisnot.This
isduetobecauseimpropermanagementasexcessivedele
ga onofpowerstolowerlevelsoftheorganiza on,impro
perdisposalofyour meandinadequateplanningandor
ganizingwork.Itmaybethatmanagerisnotabletofocus
on the priori es and deals with things less important for
thecompany.Inaddi on,thelackofcoopera onwithblue
collar workers and the lack of agreement among mem
bersoftheboardisconduc vetononinterferenceinthe
implementa onofchanges.
O en managers do not have the abili es to handle
dierentfunc ons.Itmanifestsitselfinalackofabilityto
eec vely induce and maintain the involvement of em
ployees, lack of awareness as to the decisive influence on
theirac vity,lackofmo va onfortheimplementa onof
the plane with subordinates, lack of knowledge on costs
andrisksoftheprojectandthenega vepreviousexperien
ces.
Managers as well as lower level employees should
receive training in the 5S. Of course, these courses are
dierent,butonthesameissue,thesystem5S.Ifsupervi
sors do not possess knowledge about the system, the im
plementa onscheduleof5S,donotunderstandthepurpo
se of the system or not to no ce the benefits, the en re
projectwillfail.Managersshouldthereforeinaspecialway
topreparefortheimplementa onoftheconcept5S.
Forleadersandmanagersresponsibilityistosetagood
example,soyoushouldthinkabouttheposi veaspectsof
asystemof5Sacrosstheenterprise.Increasinglypopularis
theLeanOce,itmeanslessbureaucracy.Theuseofthis
conceptallowstheelimina onofwasteintheoce,be er
organiza on of the workplace and improve the quality of
the work. Workers who can see the involvement at the
top are sure to be more mo vated to make changes in
theirareas.

Fig.9Ishikawachartanalysisofthecausesofthelackofinvolvementoftopmanagementintheimplemen ngof5Ssystem

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B.GALA,R.WOLNIAKProblemsofimplementa on5Sprac cesinanindustrialcompany

CONCLUSION
Proper implementa on of 5S guarantees the real
benefits that result in the increase of produc vity and
eciency of the work, as well as improve the quality and
safetyrequirements.
Keepinmindthatsuccessdependmainlyontheaware
par cipa on in the 5S concept of the whole team, both
employees and managers. That is what a man is called
drivingforceincarryingoutthechanges.
Inordertomaintainthelevelofearned5Sitshouldbe
a process of con nuous improvement. Every employee
should take care of the system by following the set
standards,thedevelopmentofimprovementstothework
report noted problems errors, and by ac vely engaging in
training. While managers are required to prepare and
implement a schedule of repeated internal and external
audits.
Takashi Osada believed that if the organiza on
manages to implement and maintain the system 5S, it is
capable of dealing with other prac ces. However, a
companythatisunabletoenterthehomerules5S,youwill
knowhowtoperformothertasksthatarerequiredfroma
compe ngcompany.
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in.BeataGala
SilesianUniversityofTechnology
FacultyofOrganiza onandManagement

drhab.in.RadosawWolniak
SilesianUniversityofTechnology
FacultyofOrganiza onandManagement
Ins tuteofProduc onEngineering
ul.Roosevelta26,41800Zabrze,POLAND
email:Radosaw.Wolniak@polsl.pl

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