Running a Lean manufacturing facility is a great way to make sure that your company is operating as efficiently as possible. The concept of Lean businesses focuses on finding and eliminating all different types of waste and running as efficiently as possible.
There are many different strategies that can be followed to attempt to achieve this goal. One of the most popular methodologies is known as 6S. 6S focuses on six different concepts, each that start with the letter S, and tries to meet them to eliminate waste. This is an upgrade to the original concept of 5S, which did not include the concept of safety as a stand-alone option for reducing waste and promotion efficiency.
Each of the concepts within the 6S methodology can help identify potential areas of waste and how to eliminate them. For example, the first S refers to sort. This means taking all the items that are used in your facility and eliminating any of them that are not specifically needed. This helps to minimize the amount of inventory that a company needs to have on hand and makes it easier to organize things in the facility. Cleaning out a facility so that there are no extra items that aren’t actually being used helps people to find what is needed more quickly.
Once you know what the 6S strategy is, it is easy to see that it is a great tool that can be used with Lean manufacturing or any Lean workplace. In fact, 6S is considered one of the core Lean tools that can be used.
Most companies that are striving for Lean operations will want to implement 6S and make sure that all the employees, contractors, vendors, and others who work in a facility understand what it is and how it works. When implemented correctly, 6S can help to dramatically improve the way a facility operates and ensure it is as Lean as possible.
