What is 5S?

5S comes from industry and is the best-known way to create order in a workplace. In a warehouse it is easy to apply, because searching, waiting and wrong items cost a lot of time there. The idea is simple: a place for everything and everything in its place.

The five steps are sort, set in order, shine, standardise and sustain. When you sort, you remove what you do not use. When you set in order, you give what remains a fixed, marked place, close to where you need it. When you shine, you keep the place clean and see at the same time what is broken or missing. When you standardise, you agree how it should be, for example with colours, markings and a photo of the right situation. Sustaining is the hardest step: you turn it into a short, fixed check, so that it does not slip back.

5S tackles waste directly, especially searching and needless walking. It is not a clean-up you do once, but a habit. It works best when the people who use the place make the agreements themselves. They know where it chafes, and what they come up with themselves, they keep up for longer.

In a warehouse you start small: one zone, for example the packing place or an aisle where many orders are collected. When that zone is in order, you extend. A fixed place for everything also makes the next steps easier, such as a good warehouse layout and a calm flow of goods.

5S does not replace a good layout or a good system. It makes sure that what you have set up stays in order. How we approach lean working in an SME warehouse, you read at lean in the warehouse.