If Your Team Hates 5S, You’re Doing It Wrong

If your colleagues hate 5S, you are doing something wrong.

Too often I see 5S implemented for auditability or aesthetics: shadow boards that look neat but are far away from where tools are needed, floor markings that frustrate forklift drivers, or sets of tools nobody actually uses. That kind of 5S creates bureaucracy, not flow. No wonder operators push back.

Real 5S is about the workflow. It’s about understanding the process, knowing where tools are needed, reducing wasted motion, making work easier, and supporting people to do their jobs safely and effectively. Done right, 5S can form the foundation of an entire Operational Excellence journey. It builds flow, quality, safety, and productivity into the workplace from the ground up.

The challenge for leaders is to stop treating 5S as decoration and start treating it as design. If you want your colleagues to love 5S, use it to serve their needs, not your audits.

#ContinuousImprovement #Lean #5S
   • If Your Team Hates 5S, You’re Doing It Wrong  

0:00 If your colleagues hate 5S, you are doing it wrong
1:18 Why 5S often fails in practice
3:05 Shadow boards and misplaced tools
6:40 When 5S becomes bureaucracy
9:43 Workflow first, audit second
13:16 Building the foundation of Operational Excellence

Interested in working with me to boost Operational Excellence in your organisation, or perhaps a more personal coaching on your CI career? Check out my website for details or go to my contacts page directly (www.tommentink.com/contact).