Driver One: Workplace Organization

To really focus on what workplace organization (WPO) is, it is probably important to start out with an examination of what it isn't. Many people who have had some exposure to the TPS, lean manufacturing, or other world class initiatives that primarily use the tools developed by Toyota might think that workplace organization is just a fancy name for what Japanese manufacturers call 5S. The truth is, workplace organization is much more. In waste-free manufacturing it is the foundation for all continuous improvement. In fact, you must fully deploy workplace organization if you are to have any chance of rapidly deploying the other drivers and creating a continuous improvement process. It doesn't come second, third, or somewhere else down the line. It has to absolutely be the first area of focus and concentration. 5S is indeed a tool used in workplace organization, but it is only one of a number of tools. Part of gaining and maintaining good workplace organization (WPO) is:

1. Deploying and maintaining appropriate visual controls.

2. Deploying and maintaining appropriate kanbans.

The point is that you can fully insert 5S in your plant and WPO would still be woefully incomplete. This obviously indicates the first area of training and the first use of the many tools has to be 5S, in conjunction with kanban and visual controls (often referred to as andons). Until you do this, learning and exploring other tools only results in slowing down the overall process of full and...