efore real problem solving can begin… Before you can truly identify and eliminate waste… You

must master
5S.

 What is 5S?
Okay… don’t let the text book definition scare you: “5S is a mnemonic for a workplace organization
methodology that uses a list of five Japanese words which, translated into English, start with the letter S.”
In other words, 5S is a method for organizing a work area, especially a shared work area (like a construction
office or the jobsite), and keeping it organized. Done right, it will improve efficiency on your jobsite by
eliminating waste, establishing work flow and reducing in-adherence to standards.

The 5S’s on the Construction Jobsite

 Sort: Going through all the boxes of materials, blue prints, permit boxes and driveway
barricades in the construction office and keeping only what is essential. Do you really need those
boxes of hardware? Does your inventory of permit boxes and driveway barricades exceed your
planned starts for the next 9 months? What can you redistribute to another community that needs
it, return to a Building Partner, or simply just throw away.

 Set in Order: Focuses on efficiency. Don’t confuse this with sorting or sweeping; the intent is
to arrange any inventory or scraps left on the jobsite in a manner that promotes work flow. Is there
a designated place for the left over rebar? Is there a standardized location for Homeowner color
kits? Clearly mark and label designated areas – whether it’s a “broken & excess block area” on the
jobsite or a shelf used only for color kits. For everything there is place and everything should be in
its place.
 Sweep Daily: Systematic Cleaning or the need to keep the jobsite neat as well as safe. At the
end of each day, the jobsite is straightened and any leftover materials placed in designated areas.
This includes extra rebar, lumber, block, hurricane straps, AC duct work, and so on. Unusable
materials must be placed in the dumpster. The key point is that maintaining cleanliness should be
part of the daily work – not an occasional activity initiated when things get too messy. Sweep daily
doesn’t mean on the third day when the Building Partner has completed his job; it means today and
EVERY day after that.

 Standardize: Standardized work practices — or operating in a consistent and predictable

manner — will eliminate innumerable sources of waste on your jobsite. If the Construction
Professional is practicing 5S on the jobsite, every Building Partner knows exactly what his
 responsibilities are to sort, set in order and to sweep. So how does the Construction Professional
achieve standardization? By reviewing Standardized Work Instruction Sheets (SWIS sheets) with the
crew, posting Hot Spot Sheets in the work area, marking reminders on FTQ inspection sheets, and
talking to the crew when they’re on the your jobsite.

 Sustain the Discipline: Maintain and keep the standards you set, even when it’s easier not to.
There will be many times that you’re going to want to simply look the other way. Don’t do it. Once
the previous 4S’s have been established, they become the only way to operate on your jobsite.
Maintain the focus, and do not allow a gradual decline back to the old habits. Hold your Building
Partners accountable for completing the job (including your 5S system). But you must be disciplined
as well.
he 5S methodology was born at Toyota in the 60s under an industrial environment to
achieve better organized, tidier, and cleaner workplaces to increase productivity and to
obtain a better working environment. The 5S methodology has been widely spread, and
many companies and organizations are implementing it worldwide. Although it is
conceptually simple and does not require a complex training or experts with sophisticated
knowledge, it is essential to implement it through a rigorous and disciplined fashion.

Perhaps the 5S methodology has not been valued enough if compared with other Lean
Construction tools. However, it contributes to the reduction and elimination of the 8 wastes
(overproduction, inventory, transportation, motion, waiting, defects, over-processing, and
non-utilized creativity); it increases people's involvement, teamwork, morale, health and
safety; it reduces costs, variability and uncertainty; and it help in setting the basis to
implement Lean Construction in any company or project.

1. SEIRI (SORT)
Seiri is about organizing and eliminating unnecessary items. Seiri has to do with the Toyota
pillar of “Just-In-Time” (JIT) -- “just what is needed, in the quantity needed, only when
needed”. The red tags campaign is a strategy to identify potentially unnecessary items in
the workplace, evaluate their usefulness and treat them appropriately. We have to ask
(figuratively) the following three questions to any item in the workplace:

 Is this element necessary?

 If necessary, do you need this amount?
 If necessary, must it be located here?

Once we identify these elements, then we take action by:

 Keeping them in a red tags area for a period of time to see if they are necessary.
 Throwing away or discarding them.
 Changing their location.
 Leaving them in the same place.

Figure 1: 5S Red Tags

2. SEITON (SET IN ORDER)

Seiton means setting in order the necessary elements so that they are easy to find and use
by anyone. The concept of Seiton could be summarized in one sentence: a place for
everything and everything in its place. When implementing Seiton make sure you follow
these three steps:

 Step 1. Determining appropriate locations.

 Step 2. Identifying the locations.
 Step 3. Identifying all items and their needed quantity.
 Figure 2: Set in Order

3. SEISO (SHINE)
Seiso means keeping the work area clean and in good condition for health and safety. We
can implement the third S in 5 steps:

 Step 1: Determining what we are going to clean.

 Step 2: Dividing the workplace in “cleaning areas”, and then assigning people in
charge of those specific areas.
 Step 3: Determining cleaning methods: what, where, who, when and how.
 Step 4: Setting in order the cleaning tools, storing them in places where they are
easy to find, use and return.
 Step 5: The final step is incorporating systemic cleaning inspection.

Figure 3: Shine

4. SEIKETSU (STANDARDIZE)
Seiketsu does not refers to an activity, but a state or condition. Seiketsu consist of building
a strong set of procedures to maintain the first 3S. In fact, it is the state that exists when the
first 3S (Seiri, Seiton and Seiso) are properly maintained. When implementing Seiketsu
make sure you follow these three steps:

 Decide who is the person in charge of maintaining the needed conditions to maintain
the first 3S.
 Avoid setbacks by means of integrating daily maintenance.
 Check the level of maintenance.

Seiketsu has also to do with the concept of Visual 5S: everyone should be able to
distinguish between normal and abnormal conditions at a glance.
When the same problem occurs again and again, it’s time to go to the next level: prevention
and root cause analysis:

 Why do we accumulate unnecessary items? (Preventive Organization)

 Why are tools and items not returned to the right place? (Preventive Order)
 Why do floors get dirty again and again? (Preventive Cleaning)

Figure 4: Standardize

5. SHITSUKE (SUSTAIN)
Shitsuke (sustain and discipline) means turning into a habit the fact of maintaining the
correct procedures. You can use 5S slogans, posters, visual panels, newsletters, and
visiting other departments or companies (benchmarking).

Some final tips to sustain the 5S:

 Train employees.
 Build a team for implementation.
 Assign time and develop a program for implementation
 Provide resources for implementation.
 Recognize and support the implementation by managers and directors.
 Stimulate creativity of all workers, listen to their ideas and allocate resources to
develop those ideas.
 Create tangible and intangible rewards for the effort.

Figure 5: Sustain
5 things you need to know for a successful implementation:

 When beginning a 5S implementation in your company or organization choose a

reliable, engaged and committed team, and select an easy work area so that you are
able to guarantee success. This will smooth the way for more difficult areas.
 Measure, audit and act. Then measure, audit, and act again and again.
 A two day 5S training workshop is a good way to begin the implementation. Some
managers or directors should participate in the workshop so that operators see that
the company is really committed.
 The 30 seconds test is an easy way to make sure you have done a good job: you
should find any item, tool, information, document, or person in less than 30 seconds.
 Encourage people to be creative: most of the examples in this post had a cost of
zero dollar while achieving thousands of dollars in benefits.