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Component Manufacturing dverti$er
Don’t Forget! You Saw it in the
Adverti$er
September 2019 #11242 Page #28
What Tools Are You Using Ben Hershey 4Ward Consulting Group, LLC
really enjoy local county fairs and local attractions, because they give us an opportunity to see cool things from the past or something related to the area (and our fair has fresh roasted corn!). Recently at our local fair, the Stanwood Fair, I walked into a building showcasing tools used by lumber mills and loggers in the past. This picture shows some of the tools that were used back then to provide the lumber or logs for building the structures of the day.
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These days, our mechanical tools are much more sophisticated…and we have even more “tools” in our Lean toolbox. Though we have written about portions of this before, enough cannot be said about the importance of the tools to create a lean culture, especially 5S. If you learned 5S and used it as a tool in your lumber or component operation, would you be able to spot abnormalities in 30 seconds or less? Or would you be able to access the “tools” of your operation, including material or equipment, at all times because they had a specific home and they resided there when not in use? Could you go home at night and know that your operation was productive/efficient because there was little waste slowing down the operation? These questions are easily answered in a well-executed 5S workplace that focuses on operational excellence.
The Meaning of 5S More than just an acronym, 5S is a tool we use to talk about the basic building blocks of a lean operation/culture. Each of the words start with the letter S: sort, set in order, shine, standardize, and sustain. In many organizations, we also refer to 5S+S, where we tout safety as the sixth “S”. But in the right culture, S-Safety is an output of the first five. I realize we have heard about lean several times over the past few years, but refreshers and reinforcement of the principles is really important. One key to making sure you have a successful program is that you have “buy- in” from your team. That buy-in must be from the owner through the newly hired. Also essential is taking “before” photos, so that, when you continue to improve an area using 5S, the team and the owner of that area can see the importance of why we use 5S and share in the success. Continued next page
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