A strategy to reduce hazards and defects, cut costs, and improve efficiency and communications is to implement the Japanese 5S methodology. 5S also aims to eliminate the “seven deadly wastes”: overproduction, unnecessary transportation, excess inventory, defects, overprocessing, time wasted while waiting, and wasted employee motions and movement. 5S rests on five “pillars”: 1) seiri, or sort; 2) seiton, or set in order or systematize; 3) seiso, or sweep or shine; 4) seiketsu, or standardize; and 5) shitsuke, or self-discipline or sustain.

To start, it’s wise not to call 5S a “program.” Programs have beginnings and endings. Employees have seen many programs come and go, and they can be perceived as “flavors of the month” or fads. 5S is anything but a fad. It also should not be presented to your workforce as simply an amped-up housekeeping effort. 5S is not reserved for janitors and cleaning crews. It’s not about pushing brooms. It’s also not a list of rules handed down by top management with no input from the workforce. And it’s not a subject that can be taught to your employees in a single classroom training session.