If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.

“If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.”

By Naval Admiral William H. McRaven

You can apply the 5S Method in pretty much everything, your office, company, and Factory, but what is more important than your own life, to be more productive and efficient by keep improving the small parts to serve the bigger picture and the Important corners of your life, so let’s talk about one of the simplest, game changer, and life changer methods in Industrial and other fields.

5S Origins: When did 5S concept start?

It was first officially introduced in the 1970s by the Toyota motor company but let’s go back further to the 16th century when the concepts behind 5S began. Venice shipbuilders worked to streamline the assembly process.

Far Beyond 20^th century 5S:

Western society may finally be catching up with the principles behind the 5S organization system, but the history of the practice goes far beyond even the 20th century. It has been a long-standing tradition, as far back as the 16th century, to streamline one's workspace to create an environment built on maximum efficiency.

The first mentions of 5S in history begin in Venice, Italy, at the Arsenal of Venice. It was there that thousands of Venetian shipbuilders used quality inspection and an assembly line approach to manufacturing ships for the royal navy to create the highest quality product possible.

This was the first documented manufacturing facility that would assemble different parts of the ship in different areas of the workshop, and then bring the pieces together to complete the final product.

Post-World War II Japan had the real beginning of the traditional 5S organizational system took shape. Toyota's founder, Sakichi Toyoda, alongside both his son and his chief engineer for Toyota, created the Toyota Total Production System. This system is still used in Japanese auto facilities today.

Toyota VS Ford:

This variation of modern 5S was introduced to the United States during a visit from Toyoda and his partners to the Ford auto plant. While their American counterparts were using assembly lines to get their work done, there was a lot of improvement to be made. Many workers were left waiting for other parts to be manufactured before they were able to complete work, and then the pile up of completed work would create a space and organizational problem. At this time, it was routine for Ford to do mass layoffs and rehires, as the necessity for labor would spike.

On the same visit to the United States, Toyoda was able to see the possibilities for improvements to his own system of efficiency during a trip to a grocery store. He was impressed with their inventory strategies – a system of reordering and restocking as items were purchased from the store. This became his foundation for “just in time” inventory.

Taking this methodology home to the Toyota manufacturing facilities, Toyoda reduced the facility inventory and set in place a re-ordering system to reduce the amount of clutter and excess materials on the floor. This is where the real modern 5S system was born.

Purpose of 5S?

5S is designed to:

Decrease waste while optimizing productivity through maintaining an orderly workplace and using visual cues to attain more consistent operational results.

What are the 5S concepts?

5S is a five-step methodology for creating a more organized and productive workspace: 

5S serves as a foundation for deploying more advanced lean production tools and processes.

The key benefits of 5S include:

• Less Waste (Improved Efficiency).
• Reduced Space Used for Storage.
• Improved Maintenance.
• Improved Safety.
• Better, More Committed Employees.
• Improved Quality.

New S Methods?

The 6^thS stands for Safety. Some businesses choose to add this step at the end of 5S to ensure safety is a key component of work practices. Other businesses believe safety should be a part of all the steps of 5S and therefore does not need to be its own step. Either way, safety does play a role in 5S. Arranging spaces in logical ways, organizing tools and materials, and cleaning regularly make it easier for people to do their jobs without tripping, slipping, experiencing an ergonomic injury, etc.

The 7^th S stands for Spirit(Team Spirit), some organizations choose to modify 5S beside the 6^th S, which is for:

Team spirit is a willingness to cooperate as part of a team.

To ensure that the focus of 5S is to make it easier for the workers, Spirit is added to remind people that it should be fun, and that creativity is key to coming up with new ideas and better ways to implement 5S. Without engaged workers, the 5S approach will not last or be successful.

After this Journey, What is the applications of 5S in your daily life (Examples):

• Remove old clothes from your wardrobe that you no longer wear, to make it easier to choose from the clothes that you do wear (Sort).
• Always keep your keys in a standard place, preferably near the front door (Straighten).
• Wash the dishes regularly, rather than letting them pile up (Shine).
• Have a set day of the week to wash your sheets (Standardize).
• And make sure you wash them every week (Sustain).

Keep this is mind, and find ways to apply it regularly.  And don't forget to also Standardise and Sustain, to keep up the benefits you obtain!