94 Quality Assurance
• Quick detection of normal and abnormal conditions
• Line of sight presentation of information
• Information to be visually interpreted within 3 min
• Managers to see what is happening in one or two locations at once
• Process management to become highly effective
and the fundamental initiative of 6S. The six fundamentals are
1. Remove the clutter with Sort.
2. Organize with Set to order.
3. Clean with Shine.
4. Set your routine with Standardize.
5. Motivate with Sustain.
6. Protect your employees with Safety.
This is shown in Figure 8.4. Information sharing through visual display
is shown in Figure 8.5. Therefore, the entire concept and application of 6S
is to detect and prevent abnormalities from happening. If they do, the 6S
approach will facilitate the particular action for correcting that abnormality.
Specically with Sort, we focus on how to
• Organize items according to what is needed and what is not needed.
• Examine the area of concern and determine what is needed, get rid
of what is not.
• Reduce the amount of items until you have what is actually needed.
• Find appropriate locations for all items according to their usage,
urgency, frequency, size, and weight.
To start the process of sorting, we must keep in mind two basic rules:
(1)everything has only one place and (2) every place holds only one thing.
The signicance of these simple rules is that it will help in a variety of ways
Location
Type
1234
56
Sort Set in Order ShineStandardize Sustain Safety
FIGURE 8.4
Typical 6s/visual factory matrix.
95Commitment to Continual Improvement
including the disappearance of chaos from the process in a very short time.
The result will be to force the process owners—with the active support of
both Management and Engineering—into the consideration of asking at least
the following questions:
• Is the placement of every object according to the logic of the process?
• Does the placement of the object eliminate waste?
• Is the object placed for optimal quality, safety, ergonomics, and envi-
ronmental outcomes?
These questions generally will be taken care of with a four-step approach.
Step 1: Select an impound area for red tag (something obsolete and not
used) items. This selection is based on (1) the identication of the “keeper”
of the impound area, (2) the denition of the process for placing and remov-
ing items in the impound area, and (3) the determination of a process for
unneeded items such as scrap, rework, return items, and so on.
Step 2: Examine every item in the work area. This examination is based
on (1) taking a focused look at the target work area, (2) determining what is
needed, and (3) removing what is not needed.
Step 3: In this stage, there are two issues to be concerned with. Identify
unneeded items and discard them. This is done with the identication of
the red tag. By denition, a red tag is something that is not being used. By
extension of this, a red tag may be interpreted as an item that may be moved
within a week to an impound area for scrap. In evaluating the red tag infor-
mation that may be collected ask the following questions: Where did the
item come from? How many items are available? Who needs to be involved
in the rationalization of disposal? When was the item tagged? What was the
Item
Activity
Description Responsibility Department
Start/
Finish
Plan
Date
Actual
Date Comments
1S
F
2S
F
.
.
.
n
S
F
FIGURE 8.5
Typical 6s action item list.
96 Quality Assurance
date moved? What was the location item moved from? What was the place
identied for storage? Identify the good (needed) items and tag them with
a green tag. By denition, the green tag is a good item and it needs to have a
location as well as the date. Sometimes a yellow tag is issued, and that signi-
es that the item is acceptable, however, only if there are certain additional
requirements to be met.
Step 4: Select a central storage area. This selection is based on the best
available place to store each infrequently used item. Infrequently here
means that is used less than every cycle. It is also important in this stage
to make sure that a permanent identication tag is attached to every mov-
able item designating where it is located when not in use and where it is
located when in use, and display a color-coded map for quick location of
items.
With Set in order we focus on a place for everything and everything in its
place. This means that we are interested in (1) determining the best location
for all necessary items, and (2) determining how many of each item will be
stored in a given location (min/max) and set limits on the space allocated.
Standardize reorder points for consumable supplies based on usage and
lead time to replenish (3) increasing job efciency by making it easier to
nd, use, and return items, and (4d) using tool boards and foot-printing
techniques. These four items may be completed by following a four-step
approach.
Step 1: A place for everything and everything in its place. This means
good organization. In effect, one can quickly and easily nd the items so
their function and location become intuitive. By doing so, non-value will be
reduced and the ability to see what items and how many are displaced will
be increased. Furthermore, the advantage of having all items set in a des-
ignated place provides more time for procession and customer satisfaction
rather than search and retrieval. After all, when items are set in a designated
place it is easy to (1) control the correct amount of items, (2) determine if
anything is missing, and (3) rapidly retrieve and return objects. To facilitate
these three basic concerns, one must design a permanent identication tag
and attach one to each moveable item that remains in the area, indicating (1)
where the object is located when not in use and (2) where the object is located
when in use.
Step 2: Color-code items and locations for intuitive retrieval and usage.
This means that the application of selected colors must identify specic
functions or meanings in a workplace. The assignment of colors to functions
must also be standardized across an organization.
Step 3: Determine how to mark location of (1) equipment, (2) material, and
(3) aisles.
Step 4: Practice self-discipline to follow the rules. You may have the best
rules but if they are not followed, you have no rules. Many problems in both
manufacturing and service organizations are the result of not following
rules and especially procedures and instructions.
97Commitment to Continual Improvement
With Shine we focus on ve key characteristics. They are
1. Eliminate all forms of contamination.
2. Find ways to keep workplace clean.
3. Adopt cleaning as a form of inspection.
4. Make cleaning part of everyday work.
5. Develop processes that do not generate extra work of any kind.
These ve items may be completed by following a four-step approach.
Step 1: Clean your workplace. This means that you are the responsible per-
son who controls your workstation. Therefore, keep it clean. Of course, the
initial cleaning is important. However, do not be surprised if other problems
surface during this activity. Always remember that problems actually are
opportunities to improve. They must never be viewed as something to hide.
Step 2: Remove dust, dirt, and debris. Make it a habit to clean on a daily
basis. In fact, if the organization is truly committed to the 6S philosophy, it
must be part of the daily routine and scheduled.
Step 3: Paint, if necessary. The advantage of a 6S approach is that it can
accomplish major results toward a Lean system implementation without
costing a lot of money.
Step 4: Expose health, safety, and maintenance issues for both people and
equipment.
With Standardize we focus on maintaining and monitoring the rst three
S’s. In essence, we develop a 6S schedule board to control regular intervals
of 6S duties (daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly) with the intent to check,
standardize, maintain, and improve the process. We do this by following a
four-step approach.
Step 1: Dene normal conditions. This is perhaps the most difcult step
in the entire philosophy of the 6S. This is so because it requires real effort,
patience, and process knowledge from all process owners to dene and agree
upon the real operational denitions. It can exist in verbal, written, or a picto-
rial form, but be aware of personal perceptions of understanding. Once the
normal of the process is agreed on, it will be easier to dene what is right and
what is wrong. Always remember that there is no process management without
standards.
Step 2: Communicate the standard. To communicate means that everyone
must be trained appropriately and be committed to creating a process that
allows for documentation and communicating continual improvement.
Step 3: Build the standard into regular work processes. This means to cre-
ate and communicate a plan to keep an area in dened normal condition by
establishing an employee developed cleanliness standard that denes what
the area looks like when it is clean. In addition, beyond the denition, the
standard must be implemented so that cleaning schedules that use frequent,
short amounts of time for everyone on every shift will be incorporated in the
98 Quality Assurance
process task without any inconvenience or objections from either manage-
ment or employees.
Step 4: Develop and post a reaction plan for any discovered abnormality.
Step three may indeed end up creating confusion as to the specic respon-
sibility of a task. This nal step claries that responsibility by focusing on
specicity of the following: (1) Who is to be contacted rst? (2) Who needs to
be communicated with on the abnormality? (3) Can the abnormality be cor-
rected immediately?
With Sustain the focus primarily is on ve items. They are
1. Procedures exist that support 6S and are part of the actual process
(be it manufacturing or service [ofce]).
2. Workers are properly trained in 6S duties and schedules.
3. Everyone has adopted visual factory techniques and concepts and
understands their value.
4. The workplace is well ordered according to agreed-on procedures.
5. Managers, operators, and engineers are deeply committed to the 6S
philosophy.
We do this by following a four-step approach.
Step 1: Be committed to being persistent, regular, and organized (PRO) in
housekeeping by
• Maintaining PRO housekeeping, which can only happen after
implementing the rst 4S’s.
• Cleaning up for important visitors, which is a symptom that the pro-
cess is not working.
• Sustaining and improving processes, which is a common task of
both management and workers.
• Developing and following standards for all employees in the fac-
tory and making sure that everyone follows them. To make sure that
everyone follows the appropriate standards, audits and feedback
must be scheduled on a regular basis to ensure compliance.
Step 2: Respect standards and their maintenance. This means that if
groups show respect for standards and the pursuit of continual improve-
ment, the relationship between workers and management should change.
Furthermore, applying the standards allows everyone to see the logic behind
all activities. Change should be understood as a normal part of work and not
judged as unfair or added pressure.
Step 3: Demonstrate trust and respect for each other’s abilities and knowl-
edge. All of us must recognize that every achievement is recognized as valu-
able. Management is able to objectively rate performance of workers, and
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