When asking about why 6S was developed, you must look at two distinct things. First, looking at why the precursor to 6S was developed. 5S has been around for quite a long time and was developed to help companies find different types of waste in the workplace and eliminate it. This helps the company to operate more efficiently, which should help to boost profits and competitiveness over time. When used properly, both 5S and 6S can really help organizations to improve the way that their businesses run.
The second thing to look at is why 6S was developed. 6S is seen by many as an upgrade to 5S. It uses the same five concepts to help eliminate waste, but then adds in safety as the 6th S. While at first many people did not think of safety as something that can be used to eliminate waste, most people agree that this is not the case. Improving the safety of a workplace can help to dramatically reduce a lot of different types of waste. For example, if someone is injured in the workplace, production will need to stop while an investigation is performed. This can be seen as a type of waste that a focus on safety can reduce or eliminate.
Of course, the most important reason why safety improvements are important in the workplace is because it will keep people safe. That being said, however, being able to show that safety is not only good for the employees, but for the company’s bottom line as well, makes it a lot easier to justify investments into safety improvements. Taking the time to look at how safety can really help to benefit a company will also help to illustrate why 6S was developed rather than just sticking with the already popular 5S concepts.
