Impact of 5S on productivity, quality, organizational climate and industrial safety in Caucho Metal Ltda

Abstract

This paper describes a first approach of 5S impact on the study factors of quality, productivity, industrial security and organizational climate in the manufacturing area of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Colombia, through a case study carried out in a small company located in Bogotá, in order to evaluate whether the 5S methodology could be considered as an effective tool to improve manufacturing companies. A visual diagnosis was chosen to identify the area that presented the greater amount of clutter and dirt. Once the location was identified, surveys, performance measures and a risk landscape were performed, focusing on the study factors, in order to understand the initial situation of the area. Subsequently, the implementation of 5S was carried out and then three measurements were taken to monitor the performance of the study factors, so as to know if they followed a trend during the measuring period. The results show the existence of a positive relationship between the study factors and the implementation of the 5S methodology, since an increase of productivity and quality was evidenced, based on the performance measures as well as an improvement of the organizational climate and a decrease of the risks identified in the workshop.