When 5S was being introduced and implemented in an organisation we were invited to study, we were told that the team was enthusiastic about it. To a certain extent, 5S was carried out and in sync with the supervisor. We held a small briefing and the line that caught the heads imagination was ‘There's a place for everything & everything is in its place’. We were told that the organisation would start off the work as we were not free immediately. A visit to the unit couple of months later proved a treat to the eye. The unit was fresh and brand new. All gangways marked cleanly and labels put up. Spending a couple of hours on the shop-floor gave new insights. Here's what we saw:

An operator searching for a bolt, while doing change over, which he found after 45 minutes; material abruptly being stored in the aisle after the deburring operation which has no designated place to be carried out; machine being "paused" while in operation as one of the drive belts was loose and "not pausing" meant overheating; searching for tools / gauges is prominent

These raise the question, who is 5S for? Is it for the visitor? Or is it for the person in the system? If 5S is for the person in the system, why still search?

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