Why is 5s important?

5s benefits

If you want to understand why 5s is important, you must first understand its benefits. 5s, or any lean system, helps to eliminate waste, streamline production, and optimize efficiencies. When you adopt 5s thinking, you make a commitment to put safety, organization and effectiveness ahead of production deadlines, profits and output. The end result is always an increase in overall success, though growing pains will occur as the processes are implemented.

Why should I stop production to make a change?

This is an important part of 5s, Kaizen and Lean thinking; you must sometimes STOP production in order to find ways to DO IT BETTER. The benefit and important of this step can not be overstated. When you take time to figure out what is wrong and fix it, you are investing in all of your future production output. A change that may slow production may seem like a negative hit, but when you consider the benefit of

5s helps put the worker in control, and uses their experience

Too often management rules process that they do not understand as fully and as well as the production line staff themselves. With 5s, the production line workers have a say in how the production line operates. Their experience and on-the-spot understanding of the production process can help them identify and eliminate waste in a way that a manager might never see. Another benefit of this ideal is that the production floor staff becomes more invested in the process.