CHAPTER 32

From Where to Begin?

If the house is to be cleaned, it is for those who occupy and govern it, rather than for strangers, to do the noisome work

– Benjamin N. Cardozo

Background

A lively, dynamic internal environment promotes continual improvement. Commonly found situation is one of “I am ok, you are not ok”—“Blame syndrome”. This at the very start needs to be replaced by internally focused concern of “what can I do” to cause a change for the better. Thus an answer to the question “where to begin?” is to begin where this internal concern gets generated and nurtured. One such area is housekeeping where its exposure is far and wide in terms of awareness and impact.

Outlook on housekeeping

Housekeeping is one of the key thoughts and key result areas which enables an organisation to reach its Six Sigma level, zero defect status of 3.4 ppm defect level.

Housekeeping is not the maintenance of greenery or keeping the place attractive to impress a visitor and/or a customer. But it is a well-planned, consistent, routine, committed and transparent act of management designed to enhance the

1. emotional bond between workplace, work and workmen.
2. trust and confidence in the company and its stakeholders.
3. quality, safety and environmental upkeep through minimising defects, delays and accidents to enhance internal as well as external customer satisfaction.
4. ability of the organisation to achieve excellence in quality.

Benchmark

The wide scope and importance of housekeeping can be appreciated from the analysis in the previous paragraph. Therefore, it is essential to set a goal for housekeeping that measures its importance. It should also be possible for everyone, especially those at the cutting-edge level, to visualise for themselves the goal, clearly in physical terms. On the basis of these considerations, a benchmark can be set for housekeeping termed as

GARDEN—GREEN AND HOSPITAL—CLEAN

Cardinal principles

Housekeeping is not just a physical activity but a manifestation of inherent discipline that is bound to two cardinal principles. The two cardinal principles that govern the different issues of housekeeping discussed in this chapter are the following.

1. Give attention to minute (not minor) details of a job. The defects, lapses, pitfalls are found in not attending to the details of a job or neglecting the details. Once attention is given to details, many problems get solved.
2. Do not ignore/neglect when anything undesirable is found. Pay attention to it and set it right. An undesirable act, situation, method, practice or behaviour not taken due note of and rectified in time sends a wrong message to everyone that such undesirable acts are legitimate and hence acceptable.

Issues covered

The issues associated with housekeeping cover all functional areas irrespective of their type—manufacturing, maintenance or service. They include the following and each one of them in sl. no. (2) to (15) when not addressed properly can cause havoc to good housekeeping.

1. Housekeeping and Six Sigma status—achieving excellence in quality
2. Housekeeping and human dignity
3. Housekeeping and unhygienic features—type 1
4. Housekeeping and unhygienic features—type 2
5. Housekeeping and stores
6. Housekeeping—obsolete, slow-moving items and records
7. Housekeeping—scrap handling
8. Housekeeping—water leaks, storm water hazard
9. Housekeeping—material handling
10. Housekeeping at a process by process owner
11. Housekeeping—adequacy and upkeep of facilities
12. Housekeeping—training
13. Housekeeping—measurement and monitoring
14. Place of 5S in relation to housekeeping
15. Housekeeping and its benchmark: garden—green and hospital—clean

Six Sigma status and housekeeping

Achieving excellence is a business with people. Therefore, their passion for excellence and commitment in whatever one does is of paramount importance. Thus, housekeeping is a confidence-building and credibility-gap bridging mantra. The examples drawn from the author’s experience illustrate this point.

Case 1 A Managing Director, visited the shop floor, saw the things around and felt furious, yelled and shouted at people and departed. Unpleasant quietness descended, followed by the cynical feeling on the shop floor: Why he shouted today? Perhaps he was in bad mood due to some other reason? Things today are as bad as it was before when he visited earlier.

Case 2 A German firm was interested in purchasing motors manufactured by a particular company. The firm was invited for discussing business terms and conditions. The team sat down for the discussion in a pleasant and elegantly laid out surrounding. Discussions on product design, performance, after sale services, etc., took place right up to the lunch time and issues related to manufacturing, testing and quality were slated for the post-lunch period. Prior to the lunch break, the team leader suggested that the team would like to visit the stores, worker’s canteen, their eating place and toilet. The team found many things in a poor state to its dismay and felt that it is not worthwhile proceeding further in the matter of negotiation until such time the company establishes credibility at the ground level.

Case 3 This is related to a well-organised company with proper systems and procedures in place reflecting the higher-end of managerial competence. Even in such a favourable environment, distraught was perceptible among the middle management over the indifferent attitude of the upper management in not giving due importance to their views to overcome housekeeping deficiencies caused by bird droppings, scrap store arrangement, scrap removal and disposal, etc.

From the stated examples, the points to be noted are as follows:

1. Housekeeping activity is not a segmented activity subjected to differential treatment. In matters of housekeeping related to water, food, hygiene and place of work, good housekeeping is not a matter of philanthropy but respect for the employees. Differentiation is detrimental to the practice of good management.
2. The outcome of good housekeeping is there for all to see. It is the most transparent feature of management and hence has the potential to promote good bonding between the employees and the company.
3. Housekeeping of the highest order is the first step in building trust and confidence in the customer in the company’s capability to do things right at the very first time.
4. Good housekeeping may not add value to the quality of the product supplied or the service rendered. But lack of it will definitely lower the value of both in the same way. A badly kept reception area in a nursing home keeps away the customers in spite of eminent surgeons and physicians working for it.

Housekeeping and human dignity

This aspect has already been dealt with in Chapter 8.

Housekeeping and unhygienic feature—type 1

Unhygienic features of type 1 are those areas/activities, which cause safety and occupational health hazards besides being a source of defects. These are found in the manner of

1. poor ventilation
2. dust, fumes and smell: no removal mechanism
3. heat and humidity: no alleviation system
4. noise: no reduction arrangement
5. uncomfortable/awkward position while on work
6. corners/passages with collision possibility
7. wet/oily floor that is slippery

The areas/activities with these drawbacks need to be identified. The appropriate plan of action to rectify each type of drawback needs to be drawn and implemented according to the set target dates. Actions taken on these would be the best and the most transparent way of earning the trust and confidence of the employees.

Some of the type of actions that can be considered are isolating and/or insulating the points that generate dust, noise, heat and humidity to prevent their impact on wider areas; adoption of remote-handling devices to enhance safety; use of specific protective devices such as crash helmet for a two-wheeler rider. These are illustrations of the principle ‘when the environment cannot be changed for a man to be safe, render him safe by changing his environment’.

Housekeeping and unhygienic feature—type 2

Unhygienic features of type 1 can be thought of as belonging to macro aspect. Type 2 are the micro aspects of a process and these unhygienic features are not even recognised to be so. Thus, unhygienic features of type 2 lay hidden and are a source of non-value-adding activity, besides being a source of distraction to work and hence, a cause of error/defect. Jobs like surgical operation, driving, recital of songs, dancing can have disastrous consequences when plagued with distraction. These examples are given to appreciate that ‘distraction’ is a source of error/defect and hence good housekeeping applied to a job also means it is free from distraction while attending to it.

Examples of unhygienic features of a job can be found in Table 8.2.

Therefore, as a rule, each job/process/activity has to be examined in detail for its unhygienic aspects, such as waiting time, delays in movement, searching for materials/information, travel, fetching of materials, etc., and plan corrective measures to minimise/ eliminate unhygienic features.

Housekeeping and stores

Stores is a place that reflects the quality of housekeeping. Poorly maintained stores exhibits inadequate housekeeping. The guidelines which need to be followed while handling raw, finished and packed goods at stores and sub-stores are as follows:

• Every item should be kept in its alloted place.
• Every place should be arranged orderly with its set of items.
• One should keep track of every item on the move.
• Every item should be identified by its name.
• Handling devices such as tray, bin, rack, ladder and crane should always be in good condition and available for immediate use.

Table 32.1 illustrates the points essential for an ideal store set-up.

TABLE 32.1 Stores: Arrangement and Transaction

Stores set-up
Arrangement		Transaction
Proper	Transparent	Effective
Use appropriate safety measures Secure Keep in right condition Protect against, water moisture, heat, dust, contamination Provide special devices for handling as well as storage when required Keep in original packaging wherever possible Make provisions for paints, lubricants, oils, packing materials, chemicals and diesel to protect from fire and incompatible hazards	Name each item/batch Display stack height where applicable List shelf-life items Record expiry date on shelf-life items Display warning, handling instructions wherever necessary Neat, clean, dry and orderly premises Discard for storage items expired Company with statuory regulations Monitor stock and initiate purchase procedure to avoid running out of stack	Record issue, receipt and stock Issue against authorised indents Stock reconciliation between recorded figures and actual stock Issue within expiry date Monitor stock level to facilitate purchasing Periodic check and inspection during storage where specified Deteriorated items are issued only after it is certified for further use Monitoring slow and stagnant items for necessary action Every lot should have its date of entry into stores, supplier, FIFO where possible and necessary

Display stores layout Maintain an up-to-date information on the following:

1. List of incompatible items, which should not be kept in close proximity.
2. List of hazardous items and their safety data sheet.
3. List of items requiring special handling and storage facilities and preservation measures.
4. List of services and installation requiring special people with specialised knowledge for the job.

Housekeeping—obsolete and slow-moving items and records

Handling, storing, accounting, record keeping and disposal of obsolete and slow-moving items is perhaps the biggest hurdle in maintaining good housekeeping, followed by the shelf-life of records. Hesitation to take suitable disposal action come in the way of minimising/eliminating the pressure of obsolete and slow-moving items. ‘Smart’ decisions taken to salvage and use such items or transfer them to other units where they could be used are not implemented. Therefore, to set matters right, it calls for courage of conviction at the key level to disfigure such items and dispose them off as scrap on weight basis.

Regarding records, the shelf-life of each record generated in the company has to be stipulated and records must be disposed off promptly at the end of their shelf-life in any one of the commonly used methods such as shredding, selling or burning.

Where records are to be kept for longer periods, suitable space must be created to keep the records according to the date/year. The storage place for records must ensure safety and protection from fire, dust, moisture and theft, where possible modern mode of preserving the records can be adopted.

Housekeeping—scrap handling

Scrap handling—identification, depositioning, and disposal—contributes to good housekeeping. Scrap handling refers to the following issues:

• Point where scrap gets generated.
• Classification as valuable scrap and hazardous scrap; non-hazardous scrap of no value.
• Care and caution for collection, mode and frequency of collection.
• Setting up the scrap yard with due identification and proper safety against short circuit, fire, rain, thunderstorm, water, moisture as well as against theft and mix-up.
• Depositing the scrap at the appropriate places as specified and ensuring that the workplace has only the specified quantity of scrap at all times.
• Proper place and containers for collection, and depositing the scrap from their points of generation to the scrap yard.
• Display of scrap-collection schedule in each shop.
• Accounting of scrap stock and disposal.
• Disposal of scrap as per the prescribed procedure and ensuring constant removal and no accumulation.
• Pre-treatment of scrap as per the prescribed method, if any, prior to disposal to ensure the safety of environment even after disposal from the company.

Scrap handling is another area of threat for maintaining good housekeeping besides being a major source of safety hazard. It needs proper planning and compliance to prescribed procedures.

Housekeeping—water leaks, storm water hazard, oil spillage

There must be a routine survey all over the plant to remedy the leaky taps. The rule is not to have a single droplet from the tap when it is in closed position. Another strategy to be enforced is to have taps with self-closing mechanism without calling for the attention of the user to close the tap. Render the instruction Close the tap after use is obsolete. Appropriate measures need to be taken to avoid spillage at all points of handling, receipt, storage, transfer, movement, usage and disposal after use.

As a rule, check the entire plant while it is raining or immediately after rain to know first hand about the extent of rain damage, place of damage caused by rain, and accordingly plan suitable corrective measures.

Housekeeping—material handling

It is a common experience to find that material gets damaged, dented and rejected due to injuries it suffers from the stage it is received, stored, issued to processing, handled at each process stage, depositing in stores and subsequent dispatch to the customer.

Sufficient thought has to be exercised on mode and method of handling at each stage, mode and method of storing at each stage after processing and moving on to the next stage. This is an independent and exclusive study by itself.

It is now a common sight to see the following as good housekeeping practices in many companies to minimise damage to materials:

1. Dedicated product-specific returnable/reusable trays/fixtures/cases to pack materials and dispatch them to customers.
2. Use of dedicated devices like trays and trolleys to keep processed items in an orderly manner in such a way that there is no mix-up or damage due to contact with other items and moved together to next stage without causing any damage.

Housekeeping at a process by process owner

Housekeeping at a process to be enforced by the process owner is given in Figure 8.1. The process owner must be empowered to enforce this model (Figure 8.1) in the process he owns.

The manufacturing area must be clearly earmarked to leave the passage free for movement of materials. At each of the individual processes, there must be well-defined places for materials to be processed and for support materials like tools, jigs, fixtures and documents like drawing and SOP.

Housekeeping—adequacy and upkeep of facilities

The efficiency of housekeeping can be best answered by how adequate the upkeep of the facility is. The types of facilities include

1. Bins, trays and containers to keep the materials.
2. Trolleys to move the materials.
3. In-process storage facility to handle any emergency. (Better not to have this).
4. In-time availability of packing materials to facilitate the movement of finished goods to warehouse.
5. Overhead cranes, ladders and lift trucks for internal movement of materials.

Avoidable hold-ups, storage and mix-up are caused by improper, inadequate facilities as stated, besides their improper maintenance.

Housekeeping—training

Every employee, irrespective of the area of function and level, has to undergo a training programme on housekeeping whereby one understands (i) that housekeeping is a key dimension of an organisation’s culture; (ii) one’s role in promoting good housekeeping practices in one’s area of work and (iii) the different aspects of housekeeping. The text of this chapter with suitable modifications can be used for conducting the programme. It should cover all the employees of the company. The model given in Figure 8.2 covers the entire scope of the programme and each one has to be appropriately addressed.

Housekeeping—measurement and monitoring

The importance of measurement and monitoring is as follows:

i.e.,

To Know To Control To Improve

needs needs needs

measurement knowledge control

The given dictum is also applicable to housekeeping activities. There are three approaches to measure and monitor housekeeping activities. First is daily monitoring, the second is periodical audit of the housekeeping status and the third is assessment studies—periodic as well as on the basis of felt-need. The broad guidelines applicable to each type are given as follows:

Daily Applicable to all areas, which are visited by many employees a couple of times everyday. Example: Canteen, toilets and parking places for company buses, cars, two wheelers and cycles.

A suitable checksheet as applicable to each area should be devised and prominently posted at every place with a record of the periodic inspection.

Audit All the areas not covered by daily monitoring are covered by the audit. The audit scheme covers

1. the place of audit with stated boundary limits.
2. the audit checklist specific to the place. Where several places admit of the same checklist, a common one can be adopted. But attempt must not be made to thrust a common one at all places.
3. the frequency of audit—weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, etc. Frequency must help to make employees aware, alert and active on action.
4. a panel of auditors for a specific place.
5. a noticeboard for display of the audit results as well as the trend chart on audit results.
6. the place for the noticeboard.
7. a display of the suggestions implemented for improvement of housekeeping on the noticeboard.

A typical housekeeping implementation sheet applicable to machine shop is given in Table 8.3.

Assessment studies The places/activities that merit special studies are the ones where (i) no improvement is seen in matters of housekeeping; (ii) processes employed are a source of poor housekeeping and spoilage of work, an example being plating shop fumes or bird droppings causing corrosion of machined parts; (iii) adequate measures are not taken to protect the place from natural ravages like storm and rain and (iv) support facilities provided to carry out the job are not proper and/or inadequate.

These studies can be taken up and solved through quality circle or cross-functional team approach.

Place of 5S in relation to housekeeping

Commonly, it is believed that 5S is synonymous with housekeeping. This is incorrect. 5S is one of the many tools available for achieving good housekeeping and not housekeeping itself.

5S stands for the five Japanese expressions. These are

Seiketsu Seiso Seiri Seiton Shitsuke

meaning meaning meaning meaning meaning

Standardisation Spic and span Sorting out Systematic arrangement Self-discipline, compliance to set procedure and system

The above stated 5S points together form the basis for organising housekeeping on right lines and each one of the 5S also reflects the method/tool to be used in the task of organising housekeeping.

Standardisation means instituting a suitable device, rule, procedure, method to solve a problem that can occur at one or several places frequently. While instituting any of these entities of standardisation, no attempt should be made to force-fit an entity into a situation; this can cause mismatch. Following examples illustrate the point.

Cleaning accessories—broom, phenyl, brush, mop—are a must for floor cleaning. A device wherein each of these can be put and carried easily is applicable to any place where floor is cleaned. Such a device is called standardised toolkit for floor cleaning.

It may be cumbersome and undesirable to carry a cleaning kit to several places. Instead, it is better to earmark a suitable place to keep the kit in a clean, neat and orderly manner. Locating such a place, notifying the place as meant for to keep cleaning kit, specifying the daily cleaning schedule with the provision to affix the housekeeper’s signature after cleaning, and executing all these in an identical manner no matter what the cleaning area is the approach to standardisation.

The next three terms—spic and span, sorting out and systematic arrangment—are self-explanatory. They also have been explained earlier in different contexts. Thus, it is to be noted that 5S is a five-elements idea applicable to housekeeping and this idea has to be made use of appropriately in each of the fourteen different issues of housekeeping listed in this chapter. Enthusiasts of 5S have given an impression that 5S is housekeeping. One should guard against such a wrong focus.

Housekeeping and its benchmark: garden—green and hospital—clean

Garden—green symbolises freshness, free and pleasant environment to liberate one’s mind to focus on work. Such a garden—green effect is brought to work place through good housekeeping. Hospital—clean symbolises the clean and focused work.

For example, focused work of operation theatre means pre-planning and execution of all jobs before and after an operation. These are: (a) patient identification, data, details of surgery to be done, physical marking of the area of surgery on the patient’s body; (b) notifying the operation theatre, date, timing to all concerned—surgeon, patient, patient’s ward authority, surgical team, blood bank, anesthesiologist, post-surgical care; (c) notifying the details of linen kit, lint count, surgical kit and (d) notifying to the ward the time patient returns after surgery, care and treatment and instructions, etc. Basis for such a well-planned and coordinated activity is the focus on good housekeeping applicable to each job stated.

Thus, it is the reason for which housekeeping level to be achieved is benchmarked as garden—green and hospital—clean.

Wholistic approach

Another important point of wider relevance that this exposition on housekeeping brings forth, relates to the manner of addressing a project selected for improvement. It consists of (a) listing out the different aspects of the project which in the present case of housekeeping totals to 14 (sl. no. 2–15 listed in pg. 468–469) and (b) addressing each one of them independently and preferably simultaneously. These two steps constitute the wholistic approach.

Conclusion

Excellent housekeeping does not mean luxurious, expensive, dazzling and flashy set-up. It is far from that. Excellent housekeeping is beautiful and inspiring through its simplicity, elegance, care, discipline and being functionally comfortable. Achieving the achievable goal of zero defect is not a distant dream but a demanding long hard walk, the first step of which is good housekeeping.

Therefore, coming back to the question from where to begin, the answer to it is begin with housekeeping. Justifications for this answer are derived from the earlier discussion on housekeeping:

1. Housekeeping is a key result area in the quest of Six Sigma.
2. Housekeeping is a matter of relevance to every section/functional area.
3. Every employee, irrespective of one’s hierarchy and area of work, can be involved in a project on improving housekeeping.
4. Reasonably good results can be achieved in a housekeeping project in a short span of 3–4 months in every section/functional area.
5. Results are there for every one to see and they make one feel confident about oneself to achieve results through team work.

Thus, it can be seen that enthusiasm, interest and motivation needed for continual improvement are generated throughout the company in a short period of 3–4 months when the exercise starts with housekeeping and this paves the way for sustenance.