Click here to see previous posts.
Store is the second step of the 5S methodology, and it has three stages or microsteps. The first in is to prioritize what you need to use every day by frequency of use. You need to be able to retrieve things quickly when you need them. It’s time to determine where and when you need the items to allow for an efficient workflow.
Check every item you often use if it is in the right place. Ask your team:
· Who will use it?
· How often?
· When do you use it?
What you use all the time, store it as close to you as possible. If you were a doctor, you would place your stethoscope around your neck and your pens in your pockets. If you are a mechanic, you get a tool belt.
What you use every day, but maybe just once a day, you can store in your desktop drawers, a purse, or a toolbox that you take with you everywhere you go. When you have various drawers and shelves, you have to identify the priority for each of them. Which shelves are the easiest for you to reach? The top ones? The bottom ones? That desktop build-in ones?
What you use at least once a month, you don’t need to take with you every day. Good examples are invoices that you need to pay once a month or tools for monthly activities. You can keep them in an office cabinet or a top-shelf.
You may use some items pretty often, but you don’t need to keep all the stock in the same place. You can have a pile close to you for everyday use and restock once a month.
For example, let’s say you print documents every day. You can save a stack of paper close to the printer and the printer close to where you work while keeping a more extensive stock of paper in a closet. You can do a refill every month, set to buy automatically every month to avoid maintaining inventory, or you can define a safety stock “mark” that will remind you when to restock. Learn more about this in the 4S chapter, STANDARDIZE.
For more information, you can read the Sort chapter in the book 5S Your life, or go to www.Theweculture.com to download our App to access free content, courses and audits templates.
0 Comments