From the Japanese word is ‘Seiri’, the first step in the 5S system is sort. The concept of the sort step is to classify items in the workspace between necessary and unnecessary. You organize what is necessary and dispose of or put in place what is not. Take pictures of workspaces before and after the sort so you can post them. The pictures can be used to reinforce the 5S system as examples.
If your workspace is large such as several warehouses, you should divide them up into manageable areas and possibly different days. The first sort event can be a massive undertaking and you want to complete it with as little interruption to the work flow as possible.
Sorting often begins with a red tag event. Members of the 5S team will go through the workplace and attach a red tag to anything that they think needs to be removed. If there is a doubt whether something is used, tag it anyway. The people who work in the area will be able to tell you if something that has been tagged is needed. As a rule of thumb anything that has not been used in the past 30 days should be removed. A red tag does not mean an item needs to be thrown away. Instead it can mean an item is not needed where it is and should be stored elsewhere.
You can purchase red tags, Amazon sells them 5S Red Tags – Individually pre-wired
- Date
- Item Name
- Location
- Reason for the tag such as scrap, not required, defective, obsolete and other with an explanation of what other is.
- What action to take such as discard, move to location, and other with an explanation.
- A tag number so it can be logged.
Other items you will need for the sort event include:
- A log book. In it you will note the red tag number, a description of the item, the location of the item, the possible and final disposition of the item such as store, discard or ask the worker.
- You need to designate areas where red tag items removed from the workspace can be placed until their disposition is decided. You will need an area for items to be disposed of, an area for items that need to be put into place and a catch-all area for everything else.
- Boxes or totes are also useful for transporting smaller items such as from drawers and cabinets. Rather than tag each small item, place items for a specific area such as a desk into a box and tag the box.
Now that the 5S team is armed with the tools they need, it is time to start the sort event. Team members should move from workspace to workspace tagging items and removing them to the designated area. Drawers and cabinets should be sorted. Old paperwork that is no longer needed should be removed. The goal of the sort step is to clear the workspace of anything that does not belong. At the end of the sort campaign the workspace should only contain a minimal amount of work in progress and the tools needed to do the work.
Once the sort event is complete, have your employees and management come look at both the piles of red tagged items and the newly sorted workspaces. Impress upon them that the red tagged items represent a waste of time and money. Clear your designated areas by discarding of red tagged items that are not needed. Placing items that are needed, but not in the workspace in their designated area. Note the disposition of each item in your log book should a question arise about an item.
How often a sort event is needed depends on how successful you are with the 5th step in the 5S system, Sustain. A properly implemented and monitored 5S system will limit the need for 5S events since sorting is already built into the system. It should be part of the daily work to sort through and remove anything that is not needed. Even with the best 5S system items will accumulate and you will need to have a sort event. I find the last Friday of each month is a good day to hold a sort event.
At the end of each sort event the 5S team and management should meet to review the event. If you found excesses of parts or supplies you should examine your ordering system. Consider implementing a Kanban flag system. If you find items out of place you should document an organization system that can be posted and shared with everyone indicating what goes where. This will also help in the next step in the 5S program which is Straighten.
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