What are the benefits of implementing 5S (or 6S)?

When discussing 5S principles, most people look at how the strategies can identify waste and help find ways to eliminate it. While this can help to save money for the company, that is really just the beginning. When properly implemented with a qualified Lean Consultant, 5S can help a business to grow, expand, and find improved success over time and the benefits far outweigh the initial investment. The following are some important ways that 5S can help any business to grow and improve.

Reduced Expenses Associated with Waste

All businesses have some type of waste that is costing the company time and money. When 5S is implemented, the company and employees will be actively looking for that waste and coming up with ways to reduce or eliminate it. Unfortunately, it isn’t possible to eliminate 100% of all types of waste in a factory, but the financial costs of any eliminated waste will add up quickly. By cutting those expenses, a company can invest that money in more useful ways to grow the company.

Focused on Process Improvement

While the primary goal of 5S is to eliminate waste, this is done by improving processes that exist within the facility. In most cases, waste is eliminated by making improvements to the processes and procedures that exist within the facility. This can result in the entire operation running more smoothly, which helps to increase the amount of products that can be created and sold. In the end, this allows the company to serve more customers.

In a manufacturing or factory scenario, there can be ways to reduce time wasted by staff by implementing specific foot traffic pathways on the factory floor with line marking tape and line marking painting. which provide the most efficient pathways for staff to move around the factory.

Improved Workplace Morale

When getting ready to implement 5S in a workplace, many employees are likely be resistant to the idea. This is because people tend to not like change, and the idea behind waste elimination often sounds like job cuts to employees at first. Once the 5S implementation has been done, and employees can see how it not only benefits the company, but also makes their jobs better or easier, the morale will typically change. Employees can feel empowered, and their work is much more efficient, which can be rewarding. Happier employees will make it much easier for a company to grow and expand.

Improving Safety

Safety is still seen as an important aspect of any workplace improvement strategy. Improving safety is critical for any company to grow. A safer work environment will improve productivity, keep employees happy, and ensure the company remains in compliance with Workplace Health and Safety regulations. In the end, improved safety is one of the most important ways that 5S (or 6S) can help a company grow.

In a manufacturing environment, where multiple forklifts or pallet jacks, are being used, managing foot traffic can be very important.  Again, by using line marking tape decals and line marking paint to identify specific safe pathways to walk can improve safety and reduce safety-related incidents.

In summary, 5S has a number of benefits to any company and these are just the main ones. Initially, the return on investment of implementing a 5S program may be hard to identify, but over time if the employees engage in it well and make it sustainable, there will be significant return on investment.

Any improvements in a business are good regardless how small and all go towards helping a company grow sustainably.