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5S Implementation Is Truly Worth It
By Randy Hough

5S implementation is one of the smartest things you can do for your business, without a doubt. Your clutter will vanish, you will know where every single thing is in your shop, and everybody will be happier and more productive. What more could you ask for!

Seriously, if you have not made the 5S program part of your daily operation, do it now. There is really no reason to delay, unless you are already highly organized and efficient. It could be that some exceptional manufacturing shop is just naturally that way, it does happen, but rarely.

There are obviously 5 parts to the program, sort, straighten, sweep, standardize and sustain. Once you have understood the concepts and decided to implement them, you will almost immediately see results, really.

How it works in real-life

The first time I was involved in a 5S training program was with a typical American plastic injection molding shop of about 10 mold makers. We had been in business as long as plastic molding was a business, so there was a lot of ” stuff” laying around. It seemed that everything had a place, but only a few knew the secrets of where it all was.

I was highly skeptical of this idea at first because I had spun my wheels for so long on every new program that the managers learned at the latest seminar. Most of these programs just took our time and yielded little or nothing in the way of results. When I heard that it was Japanese, I got interested. At the time, they were decimating our auto industry and I figured they must know something we didn’t.

What do you need to get started?

Not much, mostly time and a will to do it. Once you learn the technique, it is a matter of educating your workers of the benefits and making it a permanent policy. It is essential that the decision come from the top down, otherwise it will be just another well-meaning program.

How long will it take?

It tookus about a week to actually finish the process. By the end of two days we had made a lot of progress, but it was essential that we complete the project entirely. I’m certain that things would have returned to “normal’ if we had not followed all five steps. It is very difficult to change a shop culture, but it can be done.

There were some guys who were very negative, but once they began to see the results their complaints disappeared. Is it worth the effort? Yes, it is very much well worth the effort. The time spent as you implement 5 S will most certainly pay for itself in a short time. If you only added up the hours spent looking for things, you would quickly justify the expense; not to mention the satisfaction you feel from working in a well-organized and efficient environment.

5S is just one part of the lean manufacturing process. It is also essential that everyone follows through, so the benefits can be permanent. It is not enough to paint some outlines of wrenches and then leave them laying about randomly.

Make sure you have your workers involved.

Assign various people to “be in charge” of different areas. They will take pride in the ownership of their work area and watch over it like a watch dog. In this way your shop culture begins to improve and moral will almost instantly improve.

Randy Hough

Plastic Injection Mold Maker

http://www.global-plastic-injection-molding.com

“You know Dad, I’ve been thinkin’, one is a lot more than zero!” my son, Thomas, age 5.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Randy_Hough
http://EzineArticles.com/?5S-Implementation-Is-Truly-Worth-It&id=1162558

The Kaizen of Goal Setting
By Ke O Agile

There is an old way of goal setting and a new way of goal setting!
The old way of goal-setting involved setting yor goals, preparing a list of sub-goals, and then carefully checking them off one after another (as and when they were being accomplished). Am I trying o pour cold water on the goal setting method many of us grw up on?
Not necessarily

While I am not saying the step-by-step approach does not work, I am advocating a flexible-goal setting approach.
The flexible goal-setting approach acknowledges the presence of chaos and unpredictability of our modern times, where change is rapid and conditions shift in an instant.

What’s more, a tiny weeny change nowadays has the potential to create major upsets and instability.

Enter the flexible goal-setting system. And, this is how it operates.
Set big-picture, lief-enhancing goals with flexible sub-goals that you can adjust to fit in with shifting conditions. The simplest way of putting this into practice is to build into your goal-setting, daily incremental steps that aggregate into your vision. Add to this sub-goal A, sub-goal B, sub-goal C, maybe sub-goal D.

Remember, each sub-goal must be flexible enough to respond adequately to the requirements of the shifting conidtions.

You don’t want to throw your hands in the air in desperation because your plans and goals have been derailed, do you?

Well, the ‘Kaizen of Goal Setting’ is about knowing the difference between the old and the new, and applying it to your goal setting.

Ke o agile is an NLP Coach and publisher of In TheZone, an NLP focused ezine for capacity builders in the personal and professional skills development areas. In TheZone can be accessed at http://inthezone.port5.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ke_O_Agile
http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Kaizen-of-Goal-Setting&id=43

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