Many companies, mostly in a technical environment use the 5s approach to improve/ organize their working place. For those not familiar with it, but 5S is a Japanese workplace organization methodology that uses the following 5S’s:
- Seiri (Sort): Remove everthing not needed
- Seiton (Straighten): Arrange your needs
- Seisō (Sweep): Clean your area
- Seiketsu (Standard): Everybody knows how to do the previous 3S’s
- Shitsuke (Sustain): Maintain and review the fourth S
This time I do want to take a personal computer as example for 5S. Any experience with the fact you couldn’t find that specific document or that you have more than one copy and you expect all valid…? Haven’t even talked about that fact that some-one else is needing a document from your computer. Perhaps that’s why most computers are locked by a password =;-) Fun isn’t it????
OK seriously, let see how we can apply 5s on a computer:
- Seiri (Sort): Remove everthing not needed
Have you ever browsed through your computer to remove obsolete versions of documents, programs, add’s on? A common misunderstanding of unlimited harddisk space is the fact that people can put everything up upon it. Space enough they think! I’ve seen many factories doing some similar. The argument; “ we might need it some-day perhaps once….”
- Seiton (Straighten): Arrange your needs
Make a list of programs you need. Do you have similar programs, but one has some more features than the other, seriously ask your self the question if you really need those two three. I’ve seen people who had 5 different picture-modification programs. It could be reduced to one…..
Secondly make a structure where to find documents.
- Seisō (Sweep): Clean your area
If you have done Sort and straighten, do run “diskfragment”. Due to Sort and Straighten, the hard disk is divided into pieces, scattered around the disk. This phenomenon slows down the computer because it has to searchthrough different part on the disk before it has all the neede inifo for a particular action.
- Seiketsu (Standard): Everybody knows how to do the previous 3S’s
Make a WOW for the above. For example monthly Sort, bimonthly Seiton. It all depends about the usage of the computer. Are you a frequent user or not. Do you produce a lot of documents and do you install a ot of programms, than you might increase the amount of Sort, Seiton and Seisō
· Shitsuke (Sustain): Maintain and review the fourth S
Perhaps obviously, but If you have come to step 4, tha last step Shitsuke is the finalizement of the 5S and the one that keeps it in place!
Have fun with it.