5S: If You Decide to Do It, Do It Right to Achieve the Best
Filed under maintenance resources — an honest look at why so many shop floors only shine when senior visitors are due, and what real 5S actually asks of you.
The Visit-Day Clean-Up: Is That Really 5S?
The whole shop floor snaps to attention the moment a senior executive is due. The plant head personally inspects every 5S detail, set on honouring the promises made on the previous visit. Extra cleaners are brought in, and the admin team hounds the housekeeping supervisor for every shortfall. At last the floor gleams — and everyone means to keep it that way until the visit is over. Materials, needed or not, that were stacked on the floor have simply been moved somewhere else for now.
This scene repeats itself in most small and mid-sized firms. But is it 5S? Everyone taking part knows it isn't. So why does it keep happening? The usual answers are:
- Upper management puts in no real effort.
- Lower management lacks the manpower even for routine work, let alone 5S.
- Production pressure leaves no time for 5S.
Underneath those surface excuses sit deeper truths: leaders often don't grasp what 5S delivers, why it matters, or how to get there — and when they do, they aren't serious enough about it. The whole effort slides to low priority. The result is that 5S becomes little more than a wipe-down to make the floor look pretty — a top-driven show with no heart in it.
The Basics of 5S
It's worth revisiting these fundamentals as a reference.
- 1S – Sorting (Seiri): Clear out every unneeded tool, part and instruction. Review all tools and materials across the plant and work area, retain only what is essential, and store or dispose of the rest.
- 2S – Setting in Order (Seiton): Each item needs a designated home, and each item should be in its home.
- 3S – Shining (Seiso): Keep the workplace clean and organised. At the end of every shift, clean the work area and check that everything is back in its place.
- 4S – Standardising (Seiketsu): Work practices need to be consistent and standardised. Everyone should know precisely what their duties are for upholding the first three S's.
- 5S – Sustaining Discipline (Shitsuke): Maintain and review the standards. Once the first four S's are in place, they become the new way of working — stay focused on them and stop any slow drift back to old habits.
How to Reach the 5S Goal
- Organise into teams and small zones. Build a clear road map showing where you stand, where you need to get to, and what resources and support senior management must supply.
- Spell out every step clearly, with deliverables and timelines.
- Separating what's needed from what isn't is a big job early on. Learn as you go and take an "if in doubt, throw it out" attitude.
- Carry out regular audits — announced and unannounced — by senior management and the 5S driving team to hold and lift standards.
- Tag each non-conformity with the person accountable for clearing the tag and a date (red tag and white tag activity).
- Make tag-removal dates realistic — and non-negotiable.
- Talk through every point that fails the standard in a shared forum, and provide the support needed as quickly as possible.
- Motivation counts for a lot — get creative about how you motivate the workforce.
- Start 5S in the toilets and canteen — areas shop-floor staff barely control — to show management's own commitment to change.
- Make the causes of dust and dirt your first priority.
- Deal with defects, leaks and breakage.
- Adopt a "one-is-best" policy — one set of tools or stationery, one-page forms and memos, one-day processing, one-stop service for customers, one place for files.
Above all: upper management wants 5S and the grass roots follow orders. The real obstacle is middle management, who carry the main responsibility for whether TPM succeeds or fails. They need to come together on a common platform and agree that 5S is necessary and that a shared vision is needed to reach it. Training and visits to companies with strong 5S results can make that happen.
Why 5S Comes First for TPM and Lean
- A cluttered shop floor conceals problems — organise it first so they become visible.
- It shortens search time.
- It builds a better working environment and, with it, better productivity.
- It frees up workspace.
- It lowers cost.
- It prevents accidents.
- It surfaces the points that need attention — the weak spots to improve.
Visual Controls and Standards
Don't replace or repair anything until you've dealt with the cause. Use transparency — glass covers, for instance — for see-through visibility, and apply visual controls:
- "OK" inspection marks or labels
- Danger zones marked on meters and switches
- "Danger" warning signs and markings
- Fire extinguisher and "Exit" signs
- Directional markings on pipes, gangways and similar routes
- Open and shut directional labels on switches
- Colour-coded pipes
A messy control panel is a telling example. There's no limit to how good you can make things, but whatever you achieve will only last if proper documentation sits at the panel, training is given, and you refuse to accept anything below the standard.
View Example Image View Example Image
Final Thought
If you decide to do it, do it right. Anything below standard is simply room for improvement.
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Genuine 5S is a habit, not a performance. Start small with clearly owned zones, agree what "standard" looks like, and audit it honestly — announced and unannounced. When leaders back the effort with time, training and follow-through, the gains in safety, search time and productivity hold long after the visit is over.