There are tools and techniques used in the lean manufacturing. There are large numbers of manufacturing businesses which are using the different tools of lean manufacturing like 5s. The 5s is very common lean manufacturing principle which is applied during the implementation of the lean manufacturing. The 5s lean manufacturing is actually workplace organization and housekeeping system. There are plenty of advantages of using the 5s in the lean manufacturing like productivity, quality and morale if this system is applied correctly. The 5s actually includes sort, set in place, shine, standardize and sustain. The 5s was derived from the 5 Japanese words beginning with “s”. Most of the organizations apply the system of 5s at the same time rather than across.

The first “s” of the 5s lean manufacturing is Sort. All the unnecessary items are removed through this process from the workplace area. The first step of the 5s is very crucial in order to gain efficiency through workplace design. It uses red tag method in which all unnecessary items are tagged for the specific area which are then removed to a hold area for disposition. Set in Place is the second “s” of the 5s in which necessary items are moved to the corret position for use. The workplace area is perfectly laid out for the maximum efficiency through minimizing movement. All important materials and items are placed near the point of use. The set in place uses the method of shadow board.

Shine is third “s” of the 5s lean manufacturing. The machine is cleaned and put back to its original position in the Shine method of 5s. If machine is properly looked after then it will make effiecient and quality products. These machines will also have less downtime and will produce same quality level as that of new machine if it is kept clean and shine. The fourth “s” is standardize. The entire system is standardized and it is the most difficult thing to do. The first three “s” are used by most of the companies in order to watch the condition deteriorate over time. The standardization can be used to solve any problem in the system.

The last “s” of the 5s lean manufacturing is the Sustain. It is done if the organization is not maintained. The sustaining can become very easy if the system is standardized. You should conduct audits for sustaining the system. There are plenty of good things about the 5s of the lean manufacturing systems. The 5s systems will keep the assets of the company in top condition which will keep high value. It will also maintain the quality of the products. It can help the organizations in the morale improvement as well.