Success with 6S

  • Published
  • By Micah Garbarino
  • 72nd Air Base Wing Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. (AFNS) --  Saving time and working more efficiently should be the goal of any large organization, especially one trusted with part of the nation's safety and tax dollars. To live up to their own high standards, the Air Force enacted Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century.

Along with any new military program come buzz words, acronyms and jargon. It can get confusing. One of the terms that stems from AFSO21 is 6S (rhyme's with success -- nifty). It's a term thrown around in meetings, briefings and stories like this one, but everyone wants to know, what does it mean? Why do I care?

The idea behind 6S, like so many other transformation models, comes from Japanese automakers, who for years have made a lot of cars and money by being rabidly efficient.

The cornerstone of 6S is that workers are more productive and happier in a clean, organized environment. Clutter is counterproductive and compromises quality.

To combat the inevitable buildup of clutter, 6S introduces workers to six steps, each beginning with an S (go figure). These steps are meant to establish visible order which eliminates waste. In order, the steps are:

· Sort
· Straighten
· Shine
· Standardize
· Sustain

But wait, those who have been counting realize that is only five S's. Aren't there six? Yes, and the sixth S is Safety, but it is not an independent part of the process. Safety is involved in every part of the process and cannot stand alone.

All these steps are vital to streamlining the workplace and it is important to fully grasp just how they should be implemented in a common-sense way. If workers can do this, then the concepts can be taken and applied to projects both large and small.

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