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5S Tip: Know the Hiding Places for Clutter
This article has been extracted from the Lean Manufacturing Advisor published by Productivity Inc.

The 5S approach fosters efficiency, maintenance and continuous improvement in all areas of the company, from shop floor to sales office.

It's the starting point for any on-the-floor improvement activity and is embraced around the world as the driving force behind high performance manufacturing.

Red-tagging is a method deriving from "Sort" -- the first "S" in implementing 5S. It's a means for identifying and removing items from the shop or office that are not needed for current production or office operations. You literally put a red tag on items that need to be evaluated as being necessary or unnecessary. Experience shows that certain items tend to gather dust in just about every facility and that these unneeded items tend to accumulate in certain places. To help with your housekeeping efforts, here is a list of some common types of unneeded items and their hiding spots.

Be on the look out for these common types of unneeded items:

• Defective or excess quantities of small parts and inventory
• Outdated or broken jigs and dies
• Worn-out bits
• Outdated or broken tools and inspection gear
• Old rags and other cleaning supplies
• Electrical equipment with broken cords
• Outdated posters, signs, notices, and memos, and their hiding places.
• Rooms/areas not designated for any particular purpose
• In corners next to entrance doors
• Along interior and exterior walls, next to partitions, and behind pillars
• Under the eaves of warehouses
• Under desks and shelves and in desk and cabinet drawers
• Near the bottom of tall stacks of items
• On unused management and production schedule boards
• In tool boxes that are not clearly sorted

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