5S

Shadow boards are an essential aspect of the visual workplace and are quickly becoming a best practice for corporations implementing a 5S program for efficiency and safety.

Here at Accuform Signs, we call them Store-Boards™.

Not only do they give employees the exact placement to find and return a tool, they can be color-coded or shape-coded for use in certain situations, especially when the same tool is used for different functions; to avoid cross-contamination and for bi-lingual or color-blind employees.

Our flagship material, Accu-shield™ has a 15-year durability rating against peeling, cracking, chipping or fading. And, because Accu-shield™ is all plastic - it won't rust.

Choose from these materials as well:

• Ultra Aluma-Lite™ - 40% lighter than solid aluminum, with many of the same attributes.
• Max-Duty Aluminum - .080" aluminum provides the strength of metal, yet never rusts.
• Diamond Aluminum - Silver diamond-plate pattern provides a rugged, 3D look.

As always, you can personalize your Store-Boards™ - add your own custom text, logo, tagline and digital photos. This helps to:

• Motivate your employees
• Show them that you care to display the very best
• Create a consistent message that is more easily remembered
• Personalization is also a valuable aspect of the visual workplace

Store-Boards™ allow you to:

• Keep your area free of clutter
• Keep the production floor organized
• Provide visual cues as to where a tool is to be placed
• Minimize effort for employees - maximize time spent working
• Allows for easy shift change-over

When ordering your Store-Boards™ select hanging hardware to include with your board. Choose zinc-plated hardware for corrosion-resistance, and stainless steel for added resistance to corrosion, staining, and rust.

Have you created a visual workplace with Store-Boards™?

About Accuform Signs

Accuform Signs, located in Brooksville, FL, is the leading manufacturer of facility safety identification products. Founded in 1976, Accuform Signs sells products to a network of distributors throughout North America, South America and Asia. From personalized safety signs, safety tags and labels, to traffic safety and lockout/tag out products, Accuform Signs provides the products and sales support for the distributors that define the safety industry.

As social media manager for Accuform Signs, I use web tools like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn group accounts, and I’m am privy to some metrics that these platforms provide as well as most third party apps utilized to make life a little easier for social media managers.

But out of all, our content marketing (blog) account, powered by Compendium, sends us a rather comprehensive weekly report on traffic at Accuform.com, traffic types, most viewed categories, call-to-action or CTA clicks, visits, page views and average time on site.

This information can be very useful in determining what CTA’s are working, where to place them, what categories are driving the most traffic (5S, working safely, eating healthy, lockout/tagout, employee motivation) and what authors are building an audience. Compendium also lists the top referring sites and keywords for SEO purposes, and tells us what percentage of the weekly visits is actually new.

And this week it’s at 71%!

But be wary of the numbers, because the week prior, 90% of our traffic was new visitors and we had almost 100 fewer overall visits. As with everything, you can spin these stats several different ways:

1. It’s great all of these unique visitors are coming to our site
2. There weren’t many returning from the previous week
3. Visitors are clicking around (page views)
4. Average time on site seems to be right at 2 minutes

So what do these metrics tell us? Well, worse case, in our first year with a blog team we know:

1. We’re creating awareness
2. We’re driving traffic
3. We can always do better

See, benchmark numbers are exactly that – a baseline, or beginning, that can and will direct our focus for 2013. Who’s articles garnered the most comments? Who’s getting the most Facebook likes or share on LinkedIn? Is that CTA better at the top of the page or the bottom?

One thing I do know is that it’s very exciting to realize that what we’re doing is working (at least to some degree). Now, if I only knew where we go from here? Drop me comment and let me know how you took your corporate (or personal blog) to the next level.

Creating standardized 5S procedures…

This week I want to cover the fourth step of 5S which is “Standardize.” You have cleared the area of clutter, created better production flow, cleaned and now it is time to create standardized task instructions. This stage clearly identifies the cleaning steps to take and what is acceptable means of up-keeping the work area.

• Sort
• Set in Order
• Shine
• Standardize
• Sustain
• Safety – The 6^th ‘S’

It is critical that your team understands what the desired and expected level of organization is within the workplace. Here are some different things to think about when creating the standard cleaning tasks to be posted in your department.

• Work with your team to identify the different cleaning tasks and develop a standard task sheet with brief description.
• Next to the task decide and write the frequency that the specific action should be performed.
• Work with your team to write detailed instructions of how the task should be carried out and properly communicate and train employees on each task. This sheet will be the detail of each task on the standard task sheet.
• Once the tasks have been identified create a weekly rotating schedule to ensure employees understand who is responsible for items for that week. You can also assign permanent tasks by whoever makes the most sense for that specific task.
• Make it visual and ensure no one is confused on their role for that week.
• Post a desired 5S level picture for that area to reinforce what the area should look like.

We need to reinforce the importance of 5S so employees think about it every day. Outside of a task sheet it is important to create a 5S audit to be performed by each layer of the organization. Think about creating an audit specific to department, business unit and overall plant. There are many ways to do this but here are a few things to think about.

• Create an audit sheet that has check lists at each level of the 5S process.
• Create a 5S team that consists of frontline employees or team leaders. Relieve them during their shift so they can perform a proper audit of that specific area. Utilize their notes during a team meeting and problem solve with the team to come to the appropriate corrective action. This is a great time to coach and mentor employees or quickly train employees who are unaware of a specific 5S objective.
• Come up with your own metrics and targets for 5S objectives to track on team level.
• Take photographs or good examples of 5S organization and post in each area. Show pictures of proper floor identifications, labeling, or color coding examples.
• Create a scoring system and celebrate with your team. Make it a competition within your facility to have the highest score.
• Utilize posters, banners or custom signage throughout the work area. 

You have come this far and the work area looks great, but without an effective way to keep up the standards it will fall back to the original state. Over time, your team begins to accumulate more items and put unnecessary items in the wrong area again.  Work with your team to develop standards that drive accountability and respect for the workplace. Also, think about ways to conserve energy. Have responsibilities include turning off lights, fans or equipment. 

What will you do this week to be a good role model for your area?

With apologies in advance, this blog doesn’t have anything to do with Accuform Signs, our great products, award-winning customer service, product innovation, GHS, 5S, etc…no, it’s not about Accuform. And it’s certainly not about our new petrochemical catalog that’s now available.

Let’s keep it Olympic-related. By now you probably realize I’m a huge fan of the games. In fact, I have already informed my wife that I’ll be attending an opening ceremony – I’ll target Rio for now. That gives me 208 weeks to plan and save up.

 I’ve read, with lots of interest, what folks are saying about NBC’s televised coverage, and most everything else Olympics. And mind you, this ALWAYS comes up…every two years. I read with amazement about frustrations with “taped” coverage, and I’ve even read about NBC focusing too much on US athletes. What? While the Olympics are all about sports, this isn’t professional hockey, football (the US kind), baseball, or even basketball. Yes, the US basketball team is full of professionals, but if you have watched even a minute of basketball you would have noticed that it’s not about LeBron, Kobe or any one other individual…the best part of Tuesday’s basketball game (which was televised live, but I watched on “tape”) was when an opposing player took his shoe off and asked Kobe for an autograph. The guy was all smiles, even though he had just lost by almost 40 points.

 Back to taped coverage. If you truly want to watch any of these events live, even the marquee events, you can easily do so. NBC even has a free app that (as I’m logging in for research purposes now) has 27 live events currently broadcasting (in high def) – and most have little to no commentary on top of them. NBC’s often criticized prime-time coverage is about story-telling. It’s about laughing when you see two parents cringe, jump and lean as their daughter goes through her gymnastics routine. It’s about watching synchronized diving by two Duke students who are best of friends and win a medal together. It’s about the “badminton authorities” booting several teams for trying to lose – honestly, I’m not making that one up. Badminton is an Olympic sport – and it has some sort of authoritative body attached to it. It’s about an athlete who has worked as hard as they possibly can for one moment of glory – or simply one moment to step on the stage. If all you care about are the results, visit anywhere online to see who has won what, or pick up the morning paper. Prime-time coverage is athlete and story-centric. It’s refreshing to hear stories that we otherwise wouldn’t. If the Olympics were not taking place, can you imagine what celebrity fiasco would be filling the day’s headlines?

 With primetime viewership surpassing that of Atlanta in 1996, I suppose almost all of us are tuned in for the same reasons. I, for one, am soaking it up, after all Sochi 2014 is 18 long months away.

Hmmm, I do have a Russian visa…

This week I want to cover the third step of 5S which is “Shine.” You have cleared the area of clutter, created better production flow and now it's time for spring cleaning. This stage finely tunes your hard work up to this point and ensures that we notice problem areas more easily.    

• Sort
• Set in Order
• Shine
• Standardize
• Sustain
• Safety – The 6^th ‘S’

Cleaning should be a part of each department’s daily task list. What better way is there to survey the area and check the status of the work environment? It's much more than being neat and maintaining what we've accomplished. As your workforce cleans their areas, they begin to notice situations that could be out of the norm. Is there a large accumulation of oil, dirt, debris or do we have anything that has come up missing?

The people working in the area should always be responsible for establishing cleaning standards. We must remember that those most familiar with operations will know when something is wrong. This philosophy applies to the many other employee involvement methods (Standardized work, problem solving, process improvements, etc.)  Those involved with keeping the work area free of clutter and utilizing Store-boards™ will keep the area well maintained if they're the ones cleaning it too.

Excessive dirt, oil, parts, tools or materials show that there's a problem that needs to be resolved. Use this as a team meeting topic and involve your employees when coming up with a corrective action. I once worked at a facility that had a weird philosophy on oil leaks. If a machine leaked oil, we weren't supposed to fix the leak, rather build a wall around the machine with absorbent socks. They would even pay the janitors overtime to mop the same area four or five times a day. I hope this doesn't sound familiar. Dirt and leaks inform us that there is an "out of standard" condition easily seen through in a visual workplace with good housekeeping practices. 

We're in the time of year when it's important to maintain our lawns at our homes. There's nothing nicer to see when you pull into your drive than a well kept lawn. Your neighbors are jealous and you feel good about the appearance of your home. So when you maintain your lawn on a regular basis, you notice when there are weeds, grubs or other bugs around the outside of the home. When you maintain you can quickly problem solve to get the results you desire. Think about the following questions when you are housekeeping at the workplace:

• Are the floors clean?
• Do the walls need wiping down?
• Do we have clean lighting?
• Are the equipment, tools, and machinery clean of debris?
• Do we have leaky equipment?
• Do we have proper floor markings?

Shine is an important stage in the 5S process that enables us to see problem areas quickly. Like all activities, involve your work force to help set standards and take pride in their department or area. Take this step seriously and think of your work environment as you would your own home. 

Can you tell when there are "out of standard" conditions in your work environment and are you taking steps to fix these issues quickly? 

Each year, the American Society of Safety Engineers convenes its annual conference for continuing education, motivation, what’s new in the safety industry and of course, this year’s Safety 2012 expo and trade show. Educational and networking events include:

• Executive Summit
• Safety Professional Fundamentals Program
• Pre- and Post-Conference Seminars
• Academic Forums
• Networking
• Membership & Chapter Programs

Attendees from key industries included lean manufacturing, government, public administration, service and transportation industries were all in attendance.

But what’s most important to Accuform Signs is the opportunity to create awareness about our company and forge relationships with safety engineers and administrators, risk management officers, fire protection and even industrial hygiene managers, looking for new and innovative solutions for their facilities.

Hot topics in the booth included our 5S Store-Boards™ and Mobile Store-Boards™, Site-Boards™, STOPOUT® line of lockout/tagout solutions and GHS products, as well as our green solutions, electronic scoreboards, evacuation map holders and Blockade brand - as well as anything else a safety professional may be looking for.

This year, Safety 2012 was held in the “Mile High” city of Denver, which helped to attract a record number of exhibitors. And Accuform came home with a record number of leads for this annual event that we’ve attended for over 15 years. This was accomplished largely because of our product innovation, world-class service, turn-around times, and this year, because of Shur-Sales, our sales representative group in the Rocky Mountains.

Shur-Sales, owned by Craig Shur, hosted a safety “pub crawl” which started each day on the show floor. They invited 250 of their best customers and “decision-makers” from the territory to attend Safety 2012 then escorted them through the show to all of the companies they “rep” for. This allowed Accuform, over the course of two days, to give 10 presentations to groups of 10-20, showcasing our new products and capabilities. We were then available for more direct questioning with the customers after the show along Denver’s 16th Street outdoor mall area during the pub crawl.

It was a rousing success for Accuform and Shur-Sales. A great time was had by all and many relationships were cultivated through this event.

I want to take some time to review each step of 5S and emphasize the importance of having a good workplace organization program at your facility. So why should we implement 5S?

We want to ensure the following:

• Operations are performed in a safe manner and the work environment is comfortable to the employee.
• Operations are performed with the goal of zero errors. Having a clean manageable environment means there is less chance for quality defects. 
• Unwanted waste is made visible and allows continuous improvement to occur more easily on the production floor. 
• The frequency of machinery or equipment breakdowns are minimized through proper upkeep and housekeeping.
• The employees actually like to work in their environment. Employee morale is drastically improved in a clean workplace

The 5S System is stated below. The steps may vary in wording but the goal remains the same. Accuform Signs can help you roll out your 5S initiatives with 5S Motivational Banners and 5S Posters. Like most Accuform products, they can be personalized upon request if your wording is slightly different. It is very important to reinforce training with these messages throughout your facility.

• Sort
• Set In Order
• Shine
• Standardize
• Sustain
• Safety – The 6th "S"

The first step we will cover is the sort stage…

Sometimes we get used to items being in our work environment and come to find we don’t really use them anymore. If many of you walked into your garage at your home right now you may understand exactly what I mean. Don’t worry; it happens to the best of us. By nature we tend to hoard items even when they are not needed, thinking that one day we may just use it. Items slowly begin to accumulate in our workspace that at one time were necessary, but then become unnecessary. For example, a set of tools may become obsolete during a machinery update. We may not get around to removing them and they just become part of our work environment. Are there items in your workspace you haven’t used in the last month, 3 months, 6 months, or a year? Are these items critical to your manufacturing or work processes?  Longer than a year and I foresee a red tag event in your near future. 

How do unnecessary items affect the workplace?

• Takes up space that is very valuable
• Requires extra shelves and cabinets to store
• Confusion with obsolete parts, products, tools
• Excess material movement because of cluttered storage areas
• Working around clutter will cause extra movements and ergonomic stress
• Higher chance for slips and trips to occur which could result in a safety incident
• Bad product being mixed with good product

The list goes on and on. I will spare you from the other many reasons in order to keep this blog from becoming a book. The first step is to divide the needed items from the unneeded items. You can create a focus on tools, inventory, storage and equipment in a specific work area. Start with a small area and don’t try to change the world in one day. Work closely with frontline employees to manage a red tag event. Accuform has supplies available such as 5S Red Tags and Red Tag Area Signs to aid you in this process.

What is a red tag event?

Items deemed unnecessary will have a red label attached as a visual management tool for removal. Involve all shifts if there are multiple shifts and obtain agreement from all parties on objects being removed.  Create a red tag area where items can be temporarily stored until the operation can be successfully performed without the need of the red tag items. You do not want to dispose of an item and later realize it was needed. Please leave the safety items such fire extinguishers and eye wash stations. Although rarely used, you still need them!

In conclusion, it is important that your facility establishes a 5S program to ensure waste is minimized. 5S drives continuous improvement and most importantly increases employee morale. Next time we will dive into the "Set In Order" Stage. Please ask yourself the following question this week. Are all the items in my work area really necessary for day to day operations?   

A Place for Everything... and Everything in Its Place!

At a glance, see that tools and supplies are in their designated storage locations, displayed on the board. Store-Boards™ are for 5S process and other lean initiatives.

• Organize your tools, supplies, equipment, and materials
• Provide striking, graphical visual point-of-storage for the tools
• Shadow outlines with words identify where tools should be when not in use
• Show readily available tools to maintain machinery, equipment, and operations
• Account for missing tools and equipment, avoid time wasted looking for and replacing them, and ensure availability when needed next time

Store-Boards™ can be any size and shape with colors, images, and graphic schemes. Match the workplace theme, name, and location, as well as separate and identify tools for different uses.

Design your Store-Boards™ with us online, in real time …at no extra cost!
Interact with our graphic artist in real time to develop your Store-Board™. Your artwork comes to life right before your eyes. You get exactly what you want versus settling for something close. Contact us to have a professionally designed Store-Board™ customized for you!

The benefits:

• Get exactly what you want. Speak directly with your personal graphic artist.
• Get buy-in from all key decision makers on your team. The live, web-based meeting is an efficient platform to collaborate.
• Save time. The calls typically last under an hour. No more back-and-forth emails and eliminate miscommunication.
• It’s free. This service is provided at no extra cost. It’s all part of our “Yes We Can” attitude!
• It’s easy. WebEx™ web-based meetings make it simple to join the meeting and see your Store-Board™ fully develop online.
• It’s FUN! You’ll be amazed at how powerful and simple it is to design your Store-Board™ online.
• Get it done right! Leverage the expertise of our experienced staff to ensure your Store-Board™ effectively meets your requirements.

How does it work?
Go from drawing/idea to final product! Here is a snapshot overview of the personalization process:

STEP 1: Gather your list of tools, images, logos and colors. Any ideas at this time can be very helpful too!

STEP 2: Schedule a live, interactive art proof session (via WebEx™).

STEP 3: Attend real-time, on-line meeting to develop artwork.

• Present initial artwork for immediate results! Interact and design your board with our professional graphic artist.
• Collaborate with everyone on your team.
• Select the right design elements.
• Put them in the right order.
• Ensure it’s on target with your needs.
• Discuss materials, hardware, other board accessories.

STEP 4: An art proof is emailed for your approval. Once approved, your personalized artwork is printed and shipped in short-order.
 

MATERIAL OPTIONS:

Accu-Shield™ Material Store-Board™
Highest performance sign – with an extra-long 15-year outdoor durability guarantee. The non-glare polycarbonate plastic is specially formulated to resist color change, chemicals, corrosion, abrasions and wash-down – and will continue to look good for years, and maintain its superior strength. The two-ply, heavy-duty construction provides a rugged, yet stylish appearance with a thick-edge design and industrial-strength backing.

Ultra Aluma-Lite™
Ultra-lightweight properties combine with high-strength, rugged, engineering to make this composite aluminum sign extremely durable – enabling it to withstand tough conditions both indoors and out. Material is 40% lighter than solid aluminum, yet maintains the same durability, stiffness, and rigidity.

Max-Duty Aluminum
.080" Max-Duty Aluminum provides the strength of metal, yet never rusts. Aluminum withstands wash downs, harsh elements, abusive conditions, and features good chemical, abrasion, and impact resistance. Aluminum is excellent for indoor and outdoor usage, making it ideal for a wide variety of industrial strength applications.

Diamond Aluminum
Metalized, silver diamond plate pattern provides a rugged, 3D look on .080" thick, Max-Duty Aluminum. The realistic diamond plate appearance is actually a smooth protective surface for industrial style use. The diamond surface, high-strength aluminum withstands tough conditions, such as chemical splashes, pressure washes, scrapes, and impacts – yet does not corrode, rust, or weigh heavy like steel.

Store-Board™ Hardware

Finally, select the hardware to be used on your personalized Store-Board™ by viewing or downloading this hardware .pdf. Choose zinc-plated hardware for corrosion-resistance, and stainless steel for added resistance to corrosion, staining, and rust. 

**Store-Board™ pricing includes all required zinc-plated steel tool hangers/hooks. For other hardware options, contact us or a quote. Tools and other equipment not included.

Whether referenced by Lean, KPI, Communication, Safety, Process, Tracking, or Production Boards, Accuform Signs has been helping companies post continuous improvement performance figures and metrics in a visually impactful way. Plus, their corporate colors, logos, and branding can be incorporated as well. And our only limitation is your imagination.

Having walked into a number of manufacturing facilities in my career, I have seen hundreds of boards throughout the plant, usually dry-erasable, with lots of columns and rows made with a black marker and a yardstick. Now, with our digital capabilities and “Yes We Can!” attitude, Site-Boards™ can be dry erasable, magnetic (or a combination), complete with options like hangers, baskets, bins, and document holders for a professional and clean-looking visual workplace. They can be any size and shape (many are 8 feet wide by 4 feet tall), complete with unlimited colors, logos, photos, images, graphics, and more to meet your communication needs. It also includes factor to impress your employees and visitors.

Technology now allows you to get your Site-Board™ exactly as you want, versus settling for something close. Interacting with our graphic artist in real-time, your artwork comes to life right before your eyes. No more bouncing an art proof back and forth for three weeks and fourteen emails. The process is simplified to a 30 to 45 minute session.

Click here for an iBook catalog of some of our more robust Site-Boards™ -  Let me know how we can take your 5S / Lean Manufacturing process to the next level.

I have the pleasure of working for a company that believes in new things; that includes new technology, new products, new services and new ways of doing what it takes to serve customers and grow the business. We are "all ears" and we operate daily with the "YES WE CAN" attitude.

Accuform recently published our Best Ever Catalog...BEC12 (thus, the acronym BEC) A whopping 962 pages worth. This is an additional 60 pages from the previous year that includes dozens of new products and literally hundreds of new signs, labels and tags. WOW, how do customers even begin to understand all that is contained in almost 1,000 pages of products?

That's where the team of Account Managers goes to work; learning and understanding just what exactly the products are, how they work, how they're applied and best practices for environmental conditions. The BEC 12 is packed full of newly branded Accuform Products specifically designed and created by the Accuform team of research and development professionals. Our investment of new technology also keeps us at the cutting edge allowing us to produce more signs in a shorter period of time. It is all about the speed of delivery.

The Accuform Account Managers began 2012 meeting with the Accuform Merchandising experts to gain a better understanding of all of the new changes and revisions to various products and the catalog itself. This allows our front-line workers to learn about, touch and see the new products making it easier to sell them. The key is to get the front-line workers clued in to all of the new products before the customers start to formulate questions on the new products and materials.

The Accuform Merchandising team has always done a fabulous job at introducing new innovative products and always thinking of ways to serve the safety and facility identification needs of our distributor partners and customers in the most cost efficient manner with the products that they develop.

Some of our newly branded and trademark products include 5S & 6S Store Boards™ , Blockade™ , Multiple Stopout® Products, Lockout Store-boards™ , Ladder Shield Blockade, Hardware Store-boards™, Mobile Store-boards™ and much more. Please be sure to also check out the new section Facility and Worksite Safety section that was added this year. Other popular sections include eating healthy, electronic scoreboards, employee motivation, evacuation map holders, global harmonization services and green solutions.

The other important aspect of this BIG new BEC12 catalog is how to navigate through and around it, to find exactly what you're looking for. Yes, it can be overwhelming, but with minimal understanding of how it was assembled you can pick through and find just exactly what you need and where to find it in a very short amount of time. Starting at the beginning, there's a cool little adhesive index of pre-printed stickers that will allow you to mark your favorite pages. Then, the catalog is broken down into 10 sections for your convenience. You may ask, "But how do I find my one little sign or one little label that I am looking for?" And your answer: the “Legend Locator” lists all signs and labels published in BEC12. Simply look for the legend. For example, if you're searching for “hard hats required in this area”, then look for the header (this particular sign can be produced with three different header that would include, Danger, Caution or Notice) and you'll be directed to the page you are looking for. And as always, Accuform can create any sign or label with your personalized message and produce it.

We are very proud of the fact that Accuform is considered to be the leading manufacturer for safety and facility Identification solutions and products. I think you'll agree after looking at one of our new BEC12 catalogs.

Printed catalogs too big and bulky - not for you? Check out our virtual catalog online. Virtual catalog not for you? Just give us a call at 1.800.237.1001.

To order one of our new Accuform 2012 Catalogs please click, fill out form and submit.

If you are one of the "techie" folks that use QR codes to scan from your smart phone, you can also order your 2012 Accuform Catalog by reviewing our full-page advertisement in the January 2012 Issues of National Safety Council's Safety and Health Magazine or Industrial Safety & Hygiene News.

And remember, Accuform Account Managers take great pride in helping our distributor partners and customers navigate through all Accuform products and services.