Many organisations start with a great vigour in implementing TPM for greater benefits to the organisations. However, very few organisations succeed in realizing full potential and within the reasonably accepted time lines. Some of the organisations implement all the pillars of TPM but will not sustain.

Common issues faced is while launching the TPM programme in most of the organisations, the benefits are always recorded and communicated one sided. ie. What is it for the organisation when they implement.

Common benefits listed are:

However, the critical part which is not addressed is about  What is in it for me  (WIIFM) if I support TPM… This is the question from front line or operator’s point of view. 

For Example:

Implementing Autonomous maintenance is very essential and a company gets multi skilled operators who not only operate the machine but also maintain their own machine. However, by implementing Autonomous Maintenance, “what is in it for me for operator” is not addressed by the organisation. Some organisations may have the inputs but it is not effectively communicated and consensus is not there resulting in semi-partial involvement of front line.

Autonomous maintenance helps in

The following  Trainings related to Total Productive maintenance helps organisations in effective implementation of the programme:

1. Autonomous maintenance training for front line members
2. Autonomous maintenance for Quality team members.
3. Autonomous maintenance  for Engineering team members.
4. Autonomous maintenance for office staff.
5. Focussed equipment improvement for the TPM team members.
6. Maintenance planning and management for Engineering and technical team members.
7. Planned maintenance for management team members.
8. Implementing Know your Equipment
9. Critical Spares management for TPM implementation.
10. Predictive maintenance and condition based maintenance for TPM implementation.
11. Reliability Engineering for TPM implementation.
12. 5s training for operators and managers
13. Kaizen training for front line

Related Article– Implementing Total Productive Maintenance in Manufacturing, Fabrication, Pharmaceutical, FMCG, Oil field and other process Industries.

Seven Steps Academy of Excellence offers customized organisation specific training programme in Total Productive Maintenance.  These programmes are offered both as inhouse programme or public programmes.

Apart from training on Total productive maintenance, we also offer

• Lean Six Sigma Green belt training
• Lean Six Sigma Black Belt training
• Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt training
• 5s auditor training programme
• Lean professional training
• Certified precision Manufacturing engineer
• Lean logistics and supply chain
• 5s for banking
• 5s for hospitals
• 5s and Lean in construction management
• Lean layout training
• Kanban and supermarket training

Related Article– Implementation of Applied 5S in Service Organisations

Originated in America from ford (CANDO) -improvements) and strongly propagated by Henry Ford in his book – Today & tomorrow in 1926.

The excepts from his recommendations are as below:

• First thing to do every day is to clean up.  Here it also means clearing up.
• Dirt is not affordable around the workplace as it is expensive.
• Expose abnormalities by having light background – white colour.
• Painting is not to cover up but to highlight.

“CANDO” is an acronym for

• Clearing
• Arranging, 
• Neatness, 
• Discipline 
• Ongoing improvements

CANDO was  translated into Japan by engineers from Japan Management Association – JMA which is Japan’s oldest and largest management training organisation.  Major credit can be attributed to Takashi Osada who has served as a consultant on plant management, productive maintenance, Industrial Engineering, Quality Control, Process Control and small group activities.  Takashi Osada has also helped in developing Total Productive Maintenance in Japan.

In the book The 5S’s, Five Keys to a Total Quality Environment,

the translation of CANDO is as follows:

• Seiri – as organization
• Seiton as neatness
• Seiso – as Cleaning
• Seiketsu as standardization
• Shisuke as discipline

These are not in exact sequence of CANDO.  It was also called ONCSD with translated English words.

In simple words, 5s can be called a clean and well organized workplace.  Does it apply for manufacturing only. Not at all, 5S can be applied to non-manufacturing areas such as offices, banks, retail outlets, supermarkets, Airports, Railway stations,  Bus-stations, Metro Stations, Restaurants, Government, etc.,

Takashi Osada emphasized that without 5S, no other programmes such as TQC – Total Quality Control, Quality Circles, Kaizen, JIT, TPM can not succeed.  

Related Article: Total Employee involvement through Quality circles and Kaizen Circles

A movement of 5S started as organisation wide and country levels.  Similar programmes are in implementation in India from the government too such as Swatch Bharath. Unfortunately, the focus of Swatch Bharath has been similar to 5S which but not in the way it is perceived or implemented.  Without structured implementation, 5S cannot be implemented or sustained.

5S looks easy to understand.  However, they are very difficult to  apply without a Guru or Coach or Consultant.  Implementation of 5S required perseverance and determination and needs constant efforts to sustain. 

Related Article: How to implement 5S and safety improvements in organisations

Many organisations claim to have implemented 5S some years ago. As per law of entropy, no condition remains in its state over a period of time.  If the good condition of the factory or office is to be ensured, it has to be maintained in good condition with continuous effort.

Lack of 5S in such organisations will have the following scenarios:

• Loan applications cannot be traced and waiting for hours
• It takes a long time for security to give entry pass to important visitors
• Important forms will not be easily accessible
• Simple things like papers, staplers, pins are not easy to retrieve
• Customers are made to wait for long hours which results in frustration
• Essential items are not available for guests in a hotel
• Reservation process takes long time 
• Waiting time in calls will be very high
• Order processing takes time
• Wrong product goes to customer
• Employees spend lot of time in searching for important things
• Employees productivity will be lower because of frustration.
• Lab reports take time to compile 
• Inventory of value of items stored will be high:  Many unwanted items will be available but not the one that are essential.  It also results in expiry date items which eventually needs disposing and creating unwanted cost for operations.
• More space needed as unwanted items are occupying the place.
• Lack of teamwork.
• High absenteeism
• Safety hazards

Effective implementation of 5S helps in overcoming all the above scenarios.  It also helps in togetherness and teamwork among the employees. Inspite of so many benefits of implementing 5S, why so many organisations are still working in old fashioned way with full of junks all over the workplace?  The primary reason is that they are so difficult because they look so easy. Many people wants to work in their comfort zone and works in non-alignment with organisation’s’ objectives. They don’t understand that if one can’t do the 5S, they cannot do the other works which is so called important.

Related Article: Steps for Implementing the 5s Methodology

If a company is doing badly, it is most likely that its 5S is also very bad or it is not sustaining. 5S is also implemented as part of a back to basics initiative.  To implement 5S correctly, right training is needed and the right way to implement and sustain is to be established. Taking external help is one proven way to establish a good foundation to last long.

Seven Steps Academy of Excellence offers training programmes as listed below:

• 5S
• Lean
• Lean Six Sigma
• Lean Six Sigma Green Belts
• lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt
• Lean Six Sigma Black belt
• 5s Auditor Training
• Kaizen training
• TPM Training
• Autonomous maintenance training 
• SPC
• MSA

These programmes are offered as both public training programmes and inhouse training programmes in organisations.

Through our group vertical, Seven Steps Business Transformation Systems, implementation and hands-on support is provided for

• Lean manufacturing
• Lean in Hospitals
• Lean in Pharmaceuticals
• Lean Retail
• Lean logistics and supply Chain
• Value Added Management Systems 
• Lean Six Sigma implementation

Seven Steps group is providing training and consultancy services in multiple sectors such as 

• automotive
• pharmaceuticals
• construction
• hospitals
• education
• retail
• logistics
• supply chain
• aerospace
• defence
• oil mining
• continuous process plants etc

Related Article: Applying Lean methodology in Manufacturing, Retail, Logistics and Supply Chain management

Our customers are spread all over India ranging from locations such as 

• Bangalore
• Chennai
• Mumbai
• Pune
• Calcutta
• Hosur
• Mysore
• Gurugram
• Chandigarh
• Ludhiana
• Neemrana
• Pant Nagar
• Visakhapatnam 
• Salem
• Nashik

Our customers are also from 

• Saudi Arabia
• Srilanka
• UAE

we cover other countries such as

• Africa
• Indonesia
• Japan
• China
• UK
• Germany
• USA
• Canada
• Singapore etc

Sorting – 1S activity

General

Sorting unwanted items is the first activity in 5S. Organization shall clearly define the meaning of UNWANTED items.

It includes;

a) Items which are not required in a specific Zone (Damaged, Obsolete etc..) 

b) Items which are excess . Not needed for day to day operations 

c) Items which are not belonging to the specific Zone

Note : Unwanted items do not necessarily mean scrap items. There may be high value items also. Hence suitable control is required for storage , accounting and disposal.

RED TAG Guidelines

Core Team shall develop RED TAG and Guidelines for fixing and removing RED TAG. RED TAG guidelines includes but not limited to

a) Definition of unwanted items 

b) Frequency of Red Tagging 

c) Actions, timeline and responsibility for disposal of Red Tagged items

RED TAG Campaign

Core Team shall plan for periodic RED Tag Campaigns to identify unwanted items in all Zones. The frequency of this campaign varies from organization to organization based on the type of operations, years of accumulation …. Etc. Initially it may be more frequent and can be reduced later based on the need.

Note : Depending on size and complexity of organization, The first RED TAD campaign may need rapid improvement approach to ensure all the accumulated items cleared at once through 100 % employee involvement. After clearing the unwanted items, a mega cleaning is done to make foundation for 2S

RED TAG AREA

Core team shall identify the required number of RED TAG areas to facilitate easy storage and disposal of unwanted items. A register to be maintained to account and track all Red Tagged items

Set in Order – 2S activity

General

Set in Order is also called Organizing or Systematic arrangement. The Key strategy is “Place for everything and everything in its place”. Organization shall ensure suitable standards are established for Identification, Storage, Labelling , min /max quantity etc.. as per the guidelines established. The place identified shall be close to point of use to reduce unnecessary motion.

Four Keys of Storage

While establishing location for each items, the organization shall ensure the following four keys

a) Location – Where 

b) Item description – What 

c) Quantity – How-much 

d) Responsibility ( for Maintenance of the above three ) – Who

Use of Visual Controls and Mistake Proofing (Poka-Yoke) Systems

Organizations need to ensure use of Visual Controls and Mistake proof systems to avoid mis-placement and mix-ups. Following are few examples of such systems

a) Diagonal Marks on Files ( Refer Annexure) 

b) Department Colour coding for Files and Tools 

c) Use of pictures instead of words 

d) Shape based location markings (Ex: Shadow Boards) 

e) Dust-proof and Easily Maintainable labels etc.…

First-in-First-out (FIFO)

While establishing storage locations, organization shall ensure FIFO system .

Safe Storage Systems

Organization shall ensure the following safety factors

a) Proper lighting and Ventilation 

b) Heavy items stored at the bottom of the racks 

c) Suitable precautions to store hazardous and inflammable materials ( As per Industry and regulatory norms) 

d) Storage at Safe heights 

e) Use of appropriate Material handling equipments

Shine – 3S activity

General

Shine meaning free from Dirt and Dust. It is also called as Cleaning and Spic and Span . The following quotes explains the objectives and importance of Shine 

a) Shine Means “Cleaning with Meaning” – Stresses on what , where and how to clean so that people move from cosmetic cleaning to functional cleaning

b) “Don’t Clean, Keep it Clean” – Stresses on Prevention of frequent Cleaning by eliminating the necessity for cleaning and acting on sources of dust

c) “Cleaning is form of Inspection” – Stresses on observation during cleaning to identify and address abnormalities

Overall Shine is more than just superficial cleaning or house-keeping

Mega Cleaning

Organization shall define frequency and methods for Mega Cleaning activities. Mega cleaning is required to ensure thorough cleaning of equipment and workplace which is not feasible during regular cleaning. Leadership team should present and participate during Mega cleaning to ensure safety, employee involvement and resources

SEISO Calendar

SEISO calendar should be established and maintained in all Zones to ensure what, when , how and who of routine cleaning activities. This is to be counter-checked by the Leadership team during Gemba Walks. SEISO calendar and its contents should be reviewed at appropriate frequencies for its effectiveness.

Note 1 : SEISO calendar needs to have Hourly, Daily, Weekly cleaning schedules based on requirement.

Note 2: Some organizations include a common daily cleaning time to facilitate 100 % participation and culture of cleaning

SEISO Tools

Organization shall ensure availability of required cleaning tools near all zones to avoid delays due to searching and unnecessary Motion. 

Note : Some Organizations call this location as SEISO or 3S corner

Critical Areas of SEISO

Organization shall identify areas where Cleaning critical and ensure they are always maintained spic and span. These areas should include Restrooms/Toilets, Scrap Yards, Canteen etc.. Where the absence of cleaning causes health and Safety issues.

Prevention of Frequent Cleaning

Organization shall explore various ways to eliminate sources of dust and dirt and thereby reduce cleaning or eliminate need for frequent cleaning. Employees should be encouraged to give suggestions on the same

Sustain through Self Discipline – 5S activity

General

Compliance to established Standards, Self Discipline , Training & development of people , Rewards & Recognition and Continual Improvement are the key ingredients of 5th S activity. It helps in making 5S a work culture

Training

Organization shall ensure training of 100 % of employees at all levels on 5S. New employee Induction programme should include 5S as one of the topics.

Organization shall define a frequency for retraining of employees to ensure communication of all improvements and reinforce leadership commitment

Training contents shall include Root cause analysis , Corrective action, Mistake Proofing, Visual Management and continual improvement topics

Internal Audits

Organization shall conduct internal audits at planned intervals to ensure compliance to established 5S Standards. Audits shall be conducted by certified Internal Auditors. The audit findings including opportunities for improvements and Non conformances shall be one of the agenda points during Leadership Reviews.

The outputs of Audits shall include

1.  Audit observations – both Positive observations and Non-conformances 
2.  Zonal Scores – Rated using customised audit Checklists 

Note : Customised Audit checklists required for different work areas like Production Shop, Office, Warehouse, Toilets , External Premises etc.. 

Apart from Internal Audits, organization shall have a process and checklists for self audits by zone members either on daily or weekly basis to enhance self –ownership

Corrective Actions

Organization shall ensure timely closing of all non-conformances

Rewards and Recognitions

Organization shall establish a process and Criteria for Rewards and recognitions . This shall happen at defined intervals . 

Note : Rewards can include Best performing Zones and Individuals . Leadership needs to ensure there is a healthy competition between the zones through continual improvement.

Performance Evaluation

General 

Organization shall establish Metrics and Review systems at appropriate level to ensure effectiveness of 5S System

Leadership Gemba Walks

Organization shall establish procedure and frequency and agenda for Leadership Gemba Walks. The observations noted during the Gemba Walks need to be documented and addressed appropriately by concerned people.

Zone Leader Meetings

Organization shall establish a system for meeting of Zone leaders at planned intervals . Initially Core team members need to facilitate this meeting until it becomes a habit

The agenda of this meeting should include

a) Review of Previous Minutes 

b) Sharing of best Practices 

c) Actions for closing gaps identified during internal Audits 

d) Review of Support required by core-team and Leadership team

Metrics for 5S

Organization shall establish metrics to measure the performance of 5S. Below are few examples;

a) Audit Scores

b) Sq feet area recovered after 1S 

c) Number of employee suggestions for improvements 

d) Percentage employees actively involved in daily cleaning 

e) Number of unsafe conditions and acts identified and closed

Leadership Reviews

Leadership shall review progress of 5S at planned intervals. The agenda for this meeting shall include 

a) Review of Previous Minutes 

b) Actions against the Master Plan 

c) Zone-wise Trends of Audit Scores , Non Conformances and Corrective actions 

d) Overall organization performance on 5S 

e) Actions on pending Red tag items 

f) Performance on Key Metrics 

g) Employee and Leadership Involvement 

h) Status of Rewards and Recognitions 

i) Resource requirements 

j) Planned and Actual 5S Events 

k) Continual Improvements

Continual Improvement

General 

Organization shall demonstrate continual improvements in all the zones. This may include but not limited to employee participation levels, Visual Management, Mistake proofing, reduction in cleaning time etc.. 

Improvements need to be documented for training and standardization purpose 

Note : Continual Improvement of all the zones will be one of the key criteria during Yearly Surveillance audits 

Total Employee Engagement

Organization shall establish systems to improve Employee engagement with the target of 100 % engagement. This can be achieved through Employee Suggestion systems, Planning monthly 5S events, Healthy competitions among the zones , Rewards & Recognition and continual training.

5S for Computers

The organization shall develop systems to implement 5S in computers . The following systems shall be implemented as a minimum requirement

1.Periodic Removal of unwanted files/folders ( 1S)

2.Proper organization of Folders/Files with the objective of minimizing retrieval time (2S) 

3.Separate storage of Obsolete files retained for reference purpose ( 2S) 

4.Identifying locations for computers/Laptops and other accessories to ensure proper ergonomics and minimize fatigue ( 2S and 4S)

Step 1 – Leadership Commitment for 5S Implementation 

5S is a journey without destination. It requires long term commitment from top management. Leaders should lead by example. Commitment can be demonstrated by active participation in 5S workshops, Gemba Walks, Providing timely resources, Conducting regular reviews etc.

Step 2 – Formation of Core team 

Core Team comprises voluntary and authorised members whose roles and responsibilities clearly defined. Below is the example of composition of Core Team 

Champion 

Leader – Standardization 

Leader – Training 

Leader – Auditing and Assessments Leader – Rewards and Recognitions 

Leader – Events and Publicity Leader – Facility Management/Resources 

5S Coordinator

Core team also prepares the 5S Master Plan which will be approved by Leadership 

Core Team must lead by example by implementing 5S in their respective areas starting from his/her own work desk

Step 3 – Create Small , Manageable 5S Zones 

The entire organization should be divided into small and Manageable zones. Each Zones will be Managed by Zone Leader/s who have good influence on Zone activities and members

Step 4 – Train 100 % employees 

All employees including Leadership team, Managers, Supervisors, Operators should be given basic awareness training on 5S. The training should be conducted by certified trainers. This training should be repeated at a defined frequency. Organizations need to ensure new employees provide 5S training as a part of the Induction program.

Core Team and Zone Leaders receive more comprehensive training covering their roles and responsibilities

Step 5 – Plan and Execute 1S and 3S Workshop 

Based on Number of Zones and complexity, the time duration varies from few hours to few days. 100 % employee involvement including leadership is required for this workshop

Step 6 – Develop 5S Standards Manual & Implement 2S

This Manual should be ready before implementation of 2S.

Step 7 – Sustain through regular training, Audits, Employee Engagement events, Rewards & Recognition Programmes. 5S Standards Manual need to be updated periodically to reflect all the changes

Top Management shall demonstrate leadership and commitment with respect to the 5S implementation by

• Establishing and Communicating 5S Policy
• Assigning 5S Champion role to one of the Top Management members.
• Leading by Example – Participating in all 5S related programmes, Implementing 5S in his /her own area, Gemba Walks
• Ensuring 100 % employee involvement in 5S implementation
• Communicating the importance of 5S throughout the organization.
• Providing timely resources
• Regular Training and development of people
• Establishing rewards and recognition systems
• Periodic review of 5S progress
• Allocating time for 5S activities