What Does 5 S Do For You?

We have recently started a 5S program and it is amazing how much time it saves after you have completed the process. I had read about 5S and wondered how it really worked in an office setting. When management determined that we would all start a 5S program, I was not convinced that it was worth the time and effort involved in getting to the end result. I could not have been more wrong. Initially it did take a lot of time to clean up old files, desk drawers, storage areas, tables and desk tops. Then it took time to organize and label everything. But in the end, I can now find what I’m looking for in seconds as opposed to ½ hour increments.

I visited a manufacturing plant that utilizes 5S throughout the plant. It is amazing to see. It’s hard for many of us to imagine a plant that manufactures large vehicles to be as clean and spotless as a hospital, but that is exactly how the plant looks, including light painted floors. If you want to make a difference in your company, I highly recommend 5S. The ends will definitely justify the means.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading packaging machinery manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at www.neminc.com.

What Are Your Company Values

Several members of our staff recently attended a leadership seminar in which they were asked to list their company values. They thought they knew what our values are, but everyone realized that they all thought of them as slightly different. No one could give a list that was identical to anyone else’s list. So now we are getting input from all our employees and will make up a list of 4-5 values that we all agree are how we want to conduct business.

Once we have our ‘official list of company values’ we will have large plaques made up with the list and prominently display them in every building. We decided that for our company a mission statement just does not work. What we all feel is more important is to have the values we use to guide all our decisions, communicated clearly to every employee. We were also told we should make sure prospective employees are willing to work under the same values and embrace them in their daily work activities.

What are your company’s values? Do all the employees know them? If not, now is a great time to spread the word so that everyone at your organization can use them as a guide in making every day decisions.

The author, Marge Bonura, is the Director of Sales & Marketing for New England Machinery, Inc. (NEM). NEM is a leading packaging machinery manufacturer of bottle unscramblers, cappers, orienters, retorquers, lidders, pluggers, pump sorter/placers, scoop feeders, hopper elevators and much more. The company has been in business since 1974 selling to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, personal care, chemical, household products, automotive and other industries. For more information on NEM, visit their website at www.neminc.com.