5S and Shadow Boards in Day-to-day Operations

5S is a management system or technique developed by Takashi Osada and Hirayoki Hirano during the 1990s to facilitate and maintain superior quality, productivity, a safe working environment, and generate less waste in an organization. The five 5S is derived from the five Japanese words – Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu, Shitsuke. Each represents a pillar and are annotated with their Japanese names as follows:

• Seiri: Seiri implies “Sort” or eliminating unnecessary items from the workplace “Red tagging”. It starts by asking questions like “Is it useful?”, “How frequently is it required?” and “How much is required?” and the eliminating unnecessary items.
• Seiton: Seiton represents “Straighten” and the idiom “A place for everything and everything in its place.” This pillar is focused on “effective storage andsegregation of things,” following Seiri. Once all the things required and used constantly are identified, they must be placed in an easily found and accessible place by grouping (storing similar items together) and labeling (color codes or numbering for quick identification).
• Seiso: It represents “Shine or Clean.” Activities include identifying and eliminating the sources of disorder and maintaining a clean workspace.
• Seiketsu: Seiketsu represents “” The roles and responsibilities of every employee are defined and standardized with the best work practices to ensure that everyone performs their tasks in their workplace.
• Shitsuke: The fifth “S” denotes “Sustain, Training, and Discipline.” Activities in Sustaining include monitoring, auditing, reviewing, and modifying, implementing the new measures, and motivating employees to follow and adapt to procedures.

5S Strategy and Shadow Boards:

Shadow boards are used for tool management and control, enabling owners with easy tool retrieval and usage. They are defined as a toolbox with specific, marked locations for each tool to readily identify a missing tool. Since shadow boards enable an organized workplace, the strategy is used as an activity under the “Seiton (set in order)” Pillar of 5S technique. Often Shadow boards are used as grouping tools to track availability and easy access. Shadow boards are used to nudge users to return shared tools to their storage place and ease the visual and from a distance recognition if the needed tool is available on the board or elsewhere.

Types of Shadow Boards:

Two tool control techniques are common in the Seiton strategy – Shadow boards or Shadow foam. Shadow boards are vertical, and the tools are hung to a pivot. On the other hand, shadow foam is made of control foam, cut precisely to the tool’s dimensions using CNC.

Shadow Boards:

Prepared on a wood, metal, or acrylic frames, shadow boards are painted with the exact dimensions of the tool using a legible color. A pivot is attached to the board to fix the tool. Tools are hung to the Shadow board, and when a tool is taken from the board, the missing space is covered with legible paint. An employee has to place his label (name or number) to the pivot for identification and to track the tool location.

Shadow Foams:

First developed for Aviation and Aircraft maintenance sectors, shadow foams are made by outlining the foam (often Control foams are used to prepare shadow foams), with the exact dimensions of the tool and removing the foam material to accommodate the tool. Shadow foams are covered with a robust box for portability and protection from the environment.

Though Shadow boards and foams are standard in workshops, these panels store less expensive tools that require minimum security and monitoring. On the other hand, Shadow foams are used for expensive and sensitive tools, requiring frequent calibration and continuous monitoring. Examples of tools used with shadow boards are spanners, wrenches, steel rulers, etc. Examples of tools used with Shadow foams are laser instruments, dial gauges, level indicators, etc.

Implementing the Shadow Board Technique:

Implementation of 5S is carried out in three phases:

• Color Codes: As the shadow board is preceded by Seiri, before shadow boarding, Seiri or Organization (first “S”) has to be completed. Seiri involves segregating and eliminating unnecessary items by red-tagging. Post-Seiri, the Shadow board technique is started by grouping tools with size, function, and job type. Each group is defined with a standard color, used throughout the workshop for easy identification. The location of Shadow boards is fixed based on its proximity to the job area.
• Tool’s Shadow: Post color selection, a shadow of the Tool (marked with the tool’s exact dimensions) is painted on board. To the tip of the painted shadow, a pivot is fixed, to which tool is hung. While the tool is being used, the Shadow (of a particular color) is visible, depicting that the tool is engaged.
• ID Tagging: This step involves assigning IDs to employees or tool users with a clear number/ color distinction between each ID. Once a tool is removed from its place, tags are hung to the tool pivot to depict the person or the job for which the tool is being used.

Benefits of Implementing 5S – Why is 5S Essential for organizations?

• Immediate identification and highlighting missing tools
• Enhances workplace organization and cleanliness
• Color coded to identify a set/grouped tools
• Customizable to meet requirements and size of tools
• Reduced costs as only the tools necessary are only used
• Improved quality and a more secure work environment
• Increased productivity and employee satisfaction regarding their designated tasks

Challenges in Implementing 5S and Shadow Boards:

There is a curious JIT axiom which says, “Good workshops develop beginning with the 5S’s. Bad workshops fall apart beginning with the 5S’s.” This implies that for implementing 5S, scrutinizingly studying the processes, establishing and maintaining 5S strategies are essential for organizations to reap benefits. Although the 5S methodology is one of the best-known strategies for day-to-day implementation, often it is considered a theoretical approach, and very little empirical evidence is available regarding its adoption, mainly due to the following reasons:

• Organizations following conventional methods and are resistant to change
• Often 5S strategies are seen to hamper the production rate
• Decision-makers lack clarity on how 5S can impact their business, and so, sustaining 5S principles for a prolonged period is challenging
• Lack of training and motivation amongst employees to follow 5S
• Improper means of communication to employees to follow policies
• Financial constraints

e2b calibration offers organizational training on the benefits and implementation of the 5S technique to all leadership levels and helps industries sustain and thrive. We are accredited and operated by a team of qualified experts to offer consultancy to various industries, and our verifiable services are unmatched across sectors. Contact e2b calibration for all your industrial needs.