Benjamin Franklin says: A place for everything, everything in its place.

The system known as 5S is another transplant from Japan. Its basic function is to clean up and Lean up the workplace. Traditional Lean manufacturing uses 5S as a way to uncover problems in shop arrangement (for efficient production), and to make sure that what is needed to do a job is near at hand. In its original form, 5S was never intended for maintenance. It has been transposed into maintenance because the things that make it valuable in production are the same things that make it valuable in maintenance.

Studies of productivity of maintenance workers in heavy industry show the average maintenance workers are spending 27% of their day finding and organizing tools and materials, and transporting them to the job (the highest areas of losses). Great savings can be obtained from having what is needed at hand, but that requires knowing what maintenance job is going to be running ahead of time, or designing a multi-use cart or truck to take to jobs. Before we deal with those specifics, let's look closely at what 5S entails.

The 5S process is one of the Japanese systems that came over, along with JIT (Just in Time) manufacturing, with the TPS (Toyota Production System). The roots of 5S and Lean Manufacturing are the same. By removing the clutter and allowing you to see what is there, 5S techniques will uncover great opportunities for Lean projects.

Wikipedia says "The assertion of...