5S Manufacturing Checklist

Keeping an industrial facility clean and organized is no small feat—especially if your operation runs around the clock. Maintaining a safe environment requires you to consistently and regularly audit how your workers approach cleanliness and whether they have the tools to be successful.

This checklist walks through each of the five S’s (sort, set in order, shine, standardize, sustain) to help you achieve your goals. It focuses on controllable areas of the operation, such as:

• Workstation organization
• Tool repair and replacement
• Access to cleaning supplies
• Storage of materials

Once you have the right system in place, you’ll need to enforce it across all departments. This means that if you have a large operation, all your managers must agree to audit and assess the 5S system on a regular basis. They must also be open to worker feedback and understand how to perform a root cause analysis to determine why a 5S practice isn’t being followed.