Do you want to « feel » lean management ?
Discover it in action rather than in a book ?
If so, here’s a challenge you should pickup !
The challenge is simple to tell. Do a 5 S exercise at home, in your kitchen, with your family.
Little reminder
The goal of 5 S :
- Create an efficient, pleasant work environment conducive to the identification of defects and waste.
- Promote self-discipline and set up a group dynamic
The 5 steps of 5 S :
- Sort. Remove all that is unnecessary and identify how often you use what is in the work environment.
- Set in order. Find a place for everything. The heavy objects must be easy to take, the objects most often used will be close by, the others will be stored further away.
- Shine. Clean, shine, repair what is broken. And think about facilitating future cleanings.
- Standardize. Make the location for everything obvious. Everyone must know where to find things and where to put them back. There must be no doubt.
- Sustain. Things change, discipline relaxes, new objects or needs appear. So set up a self-control system and react to drifts with a spirit of continuous improvement.
A few tips :
- Do not underestimate the change management that is required. Explain the reason for your approach, show what is involved and what it will bring to other members of the family. Do not forget the needs of anyone, even the dog and the cat will get involved.
- Do not try to go too fast. A month will not be too much.
- Plan for a small budget before you start. Maybe a little painting, new lighting, storage equipement will help a lot.
- Never forget that this is a group work and not just yours. Otherwise all the changes you make will disappear by themselves.
- If an object changes places again and again, try to understand why. It’s probably used for something you don’t know about.
- Take materials flow into account, what gets in de kitchen, what gets out, when and why.
Good luck …