Seiketsu - Creating Standards

Seiketsu is the fourth step in 5S. Seiketsu can be translated as standardize. In this step the methods used in the first three steps are put into standards.

Standards are used to accomplish several objectives:

Standards Prevent Backsliding: One of the most difficult things to accomplish is preventing people from sliding back into old work habits. It's easy to slip back into what you've been doing for years. That's what everyone is familiar with. It feels comfortable. Standards make people aware that they are going back to old work habits, and provide a means for making corrections.

Standards Allow Measurement: Standards are important because they allow you to measure success and variances. With standards you can measure whether goals are being reached, and they give you a means by which results can be quantified. Management will want to know the ROI from implementing 5S, and using standard provide a way to measure performance and determine ROI.

Standards Detect Variances: Standards also provide a way to detect when there is a variance or a problem that needs correcting.

Implementing Seiketsu

Standards apply to such things as labels, signs, markings, color coding (pipes, conduit, containers, gangways, work areas, etc.), procedures, and schedules.

One way to create standards is to watch those who have done particularly well in some area and implement what those employees did as the standard. In creating a standard, carefully study what your best employees are doing, breaking it down into small steps. Then create standards based on the steps in process you've observed.

Don’t implement standards from the top down. Involve employees in creating standards. They are the ones who are closest to the work that needs to be done and are your best source of hands-on experience and knowledge.

Implementing standards also includes training. Be sure all employees are trained, and tested, on the new standards. When designing your standards keep the need for training in mind. It is easy to design a complex system that is difficult to learn. If in your training you find some employees are having difficultly "getting it", don’t be reluctant to change the standards, looking for ways to simplify them without reducing effectiveness.

Visual Workplace

Seiketsu also includes a technique called visual workplace. Our eyesight is the main way we take in information. Having a visual workplace takes this into consideration, using visual methods to convey information. I’ll talk more about the visual workplace tomorrow.