Introducting 5S for Efficiency

Taking inspiration from Toyota

5S is a cornerstone of the Toyota continous improvement mentality.

It is based on 5 Japanese principles:

• Seiri (Sort),

• Seiton (Straighten/Systematize)

• Seiso (Shine)

• Seiketsu (Standardize) and

• Shitsuke (Sustain).

Faber institute

5S allows us to declutter, debug and teach another a process.

1. SORT - we go through items (information on a PC or stock and tools in a workshop) and decide what is necesary and what is not. Items are put into piles to create structure. You want to think about what the item is used for and keep items that have a useful purpose for the business. Items that are not useful go in the removal/sale/give away etc pile.

2. STRAIGHTEN - here we bring order to our space (be it physical or informational - think workshop, job site, office or inside your PC/cloud apps). Structure creates use catagories and gives things a home. As items are moved into their home, spaces start to become calmer, more enjoyable and more efficient.

3. SHINE - this is the cleaning part but it’s much more than that. When we clean an item we also check for defaults and thus help to maintain it. It also makes a workplace or a job site pleasant to be in. If you are relating this to your Xero accounts, it means Xero is how it should be - you know who you owe money to and who owes you money. You can also produce reports with the financial data in Xero. If Xero has not been shined then this is not possible.

4. STANDARDISE - refers to doing the task the same way each time. This is the basis of all franchises which makes it easy for them to duplicate and for their systems to be taught to another. Where possible we want to standartise routine tasks. We want business owners to get things out of their head (through 5S) and into the head of their staff. Standardisation greatly improves delegation and quality.

5. SUSTAIN - this is an ongoing committment. It is not just keeping the status quo but running the whole 5S process over and over. The result is continuous improvement over time and a business that can innovate, grow, attract staff and even allow the owner to take a holiday while still making money.

5S is not easy but well worth while. Take bite sized pieces, why not start with your bookkeeping and admin systems.

Monique Clow, the owner of Admin for Tradies, is completing a diploma in competitive systems which focuses heaily on 5S and other lean principles derived from Toyota. She applies 5S to Xero, business systems and operations for her clients.