A clean, orderly workplace is the foundation of working efficiently, and it earns the confidence of anyone who sees it. 5S is a technique for putting a workplace in order — but its purpose is not tidiness and cleanliness alone. It reaches into building the habit of improving the work and of working as a team, which is the first firm step towards everything that comes after.
5S comes from five Japanese words — seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu and shitsuke — rendered in Thai as สะสาง, สะดวก, สะอาด, สุขลักษณะ and สร้างนิสัย: sorting, setting in order, cleaning, standardising, and making it a habit.
And yet, for all that everyone wants an orderly workplace, the work is rarely done systematically. So the order that appears does not point in one direction: there is no standard, no continuity, and — most importantly — no assessment.
Most plants have done 5S. The results point in different directions, there is no standard, no continuity and no assessment. This programme puts objectives, method and measurement around it.
Objectives
- Improve the work and bring order to the workplace
- Make every function aware of what equipment care is worth
- Build the habit of improving the workplace, the method and the quality of the work
- Create an internal team that can run 5S on its own, long term
How the programme runs
- Study the current situation
- Rank the areas and choose the model area
- Run the programme jointly, consultant with the company’s own working team
- Summarise and assign: the consultant advises, the company’s team implements
- Track progress together throughout
- Report in stages — an interim report and a final report
- Hand over what the plant must keep doing after the programme ends
Expected outcomes
| Outcome | How it is measured |
|---|---|
| The 5S activity itself | Run in a model area, extended outward, and written up as a standard for orderliness |
| Audit and follow-up | An audit committee, scored inspections on the floor, and a summarised assessment |
| Motivation system | A promotion committee, area competitions and an award scheme |
| Training | 5S for management, technique for running it, and technique for auditing it |
What the plant must bring
- Senior management gives the programme real time, throughout
- The company appoints a working team that carries on between visits
- The equipment and facilities the work needs
How to apply it on the floor
- Choose the model area and photograph it before starting
- Appoint an audit committee with explicit scoring criteria
- Set up the area competition and the award scheme from the beginning
- Train management, the people running it, and the auditors
The mistakes we see most
- Running 5S with no audit criteria, so there is no shared standard
- Having no internal team, so it stops the moment the consultant leaves
Common questions
How long does a 5S programme run?
It depends on the area and the number of coaching visits; the model area usually shows results within two to three months.