Lean Manufacturing Cell

Best books of the LEAN philosophy:

1- Getting the Right Things Done by Pascal Dennis. http://amzn.to/2rrk8AY
2- The Gold Mine by Freddie Balle. http://amzn.to/2pZFDsG
3- Toyota Kata by Mike Rother. http://amzn.to/2r6vlXX

Lean manufacturing is about the elimination of waste: wasted time,
wasted motion, wasted production.

A well-designed lean manufacturing workcell can deliver agility to your production operations — simplifying management and material flow, and eliminating wasted material, movement and time.

Cellular Manufacturing and workcells are at the heart of Lean Manufacturing. Their benefits are many and varied. They increase productivity and quality. Cells simplify material flow, management and even accounting systems.

Cellular Manufacturing seems simple. But beneath this deceptive simplicity are sophisticated Socio-Technical Systems. Proper functioning depends on subtle interactions of people and equipment. Each element must fit with the others in a smoothly functioning, self-regulating and self-improving operation.

Additional reasons to implement 5S in your office

A lot of people ask about why they should implement 5S in their offices if 5s is a concept that was developed in the manufacturing environment.

In addition to all the benefits that we have already mentioned in this blog, I will list some other considerations that you might want to take in to account when trying to decide whether or not you should apply 5s to your office:

You can't work to the best of your abilities when your office is a disorganized mess.
Your workspace is a visual representation of what kind of person you are; that's how your clients and supervisors see it.
Out-of-control office clutter costs money in time, effort, late fees and lost business.

Most people excuse their messy offices by saying they don’t have time to clean. But dealing with the consequences of a chaotic workspace takes far more time than simply cleaning. If a clean office increases your productivity by only 20%, that can convert into approximately $40,000 to $50,000 in value over the next 10 years. A clean office also pays off in reduced stress and anguish.


Office clutter is intimidating, frustrating and time wasting. Your workspace represents you to your clients, superiors and co-workers. It reflects your personality and work habits. What do you want your work area to say about you? (Or do you just want it to be quiet?)

When your desk is a mess, people assume you are incompetent, indecisive and uncaring.

Office clutter is not only unsightly, it’s dangerous. Workplace accidents occur when someone trips on an electrical cord or a box, walks into an open file drawer, has to dodge a falling pile of junk, or slips on loose papers or spilled coffee. To check if your workspace is safe, ask yourself the following questions: Is anything stored on the floor, on stairs or in precarious stacks? Is junk blocking access to fire escapes, doors, windows or walkways? Are chemicals stored properly? Are the electrical outlets overloaded?

These reasons might motivate you to push forward your 5s effort in your office.....if this is still not enough please let me know.

The following video shows a great way to explain 5s

5S Quote

"The less clutter,
the less visual
stress."

The following video shows a great way to explain 5S

Benefits of 5S , Why should I care about 5S in the office

Sort, Set in order, Shine, Standardize and Sustain, these are the famous 5S that people talk about. 5S has been a tool that have been normally used in the manufacturing environment and for this same reason when companies try to implement 5S in the office, they face a lot of resistance from the office workers. I normally hear people saying : "this is for the shop floor at the office we do thinks different" .

What people normally miss is the purpose of doing 5S.

What is the purpose of 5S?
The purpose of 5s is to make problems and opportunities for improvement visible, such as: excessive time looking for files, tools, papers, safety issues, excessive office supplies,etc.

These are other benefits of using a 5s program in your office, shop or home:
- You can't work to the best of your abilities when your office is a disorganized mess.
- Your workspace is a visual representation of what kind of person you are; that's
how your clients and supervisors see it.
- Out-of-control office clutter costs money in time, effort, late fees and lost business.
- 5S helps you get rid of things that take up space, even stuff you think you might need "someday."
- Sort through and reduce piles of paper by using a four-box sorting system.
- 5S helps you avoid daunting heaps of paper, put things right back after you use them.
- The discipline of 5S allows you to organize materials for the next day before leaving your office. So the next day you are set to go.
• 5S enable yourself to find what you want when you want it.

5s is the starting point for a Lean journey. The real power tool to drive change with your team, once you have implemented 5s is: Shop floor management or Office floor management.

Here an example of office shop floor management: