5s and DMAIC are two different, but at the same time common business strategies that can help you organize and also improve your business, regardless of what type of products or services you are manufacturing. Besides the fact that these two strategies can both help you develop your company, they also have another thing in common, meaning five steps that if are followed correctly, they can bring you multiple benefits.
As far as 5s is concerned, its first step is represented by Sorting. During the implementation of this step you have to organize your work area, meaning that no unnecessary tools or materials should lay around. If this step is implemented well, communication between people in the staff will improve and therefore productivity and quality will increase. The second step is Setting in order, meaning orderly arranging the needed work tools, so that they could be found easily. In turn, this can eliminate production waste.
The third step of 5s is the Shining one. This deals with keeping everything swept, clean and in its place which in turn helps with maintaining a safer area for work and with identifying problems more rapidly. The fourth step of Standardizing refers to creating a reliable approach to carry out procedures and tasks. Finally, the last step of 5s is that of Sustaining. This deals with committing to all of the other previous four steps, as without this, the place in which your business is situated can go back to being as before, which is not desirable.
As it has previously been stated, the DMAIC strategy is also based on five different steps. The first step is represented by Defining. This stage is very relevant, as it usually confirms the customer’s voice, and as it takes into consideration the business’s economic, social and technical trends.
The second step of DMAIC is that of Measuring. This is considered critical when it comes to improving or developing from the very beginning a business strategy, since it represents a quantitative measurement of your business’s performance. Moreover, this phase is able to indicate the effectiveness of your business’s current operations and to suggest methods of improving them, if this is the case.
The third step is that of Analyzing. This deals with collecting data and with pointing out the weaknesses and the strengths of your business, but also its market position, its opportunities and its possible threats. The fourth step is that of Improving. This is able to show you how you can continually improve your own business by staying on the right track with technical, customer and economical changes that always take place in the business world. Lastly, the fifth step of the DMAIC strategy is the Controlling one. This is able to teach you how to closely monitor the strategy and the performance that are necessary in order to ensure that your business is heading in the right direction.
Find out more about the five steps of 5s andDMAIC and see how they can help your business thrive by enrolling in an accredited online course from a Project Management school with a great reputation.