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5S is about Creating a Sustainable System

5S is one of the cornerstones of operational excellence. It could be considered a critical step in creating systems with predictable, sustainable results.

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How Duggan’s 5S is different

5S is more than cleanliness; it’s a structured way of organizing workspaces, eliminating waste and building sustainable systems that operate at maximum productivity.

Duggan’s proven 5S methodology helps transform your workplace into a high-performance system where your team can accomplish these goals:

  • Reduce time wasted looking for tooling, material and information
  • Enable a visual flow in your factory that results in quicker changeovers
  • Build a disciplined, process-driven culture

With 5S, you don’t just tidy up your space—you build a strong foundation for long-term operational excellence.

Companies that integrate 5S see:

25% 
increase

in productivity

Significantly

faster changeovers

Common 5S Challenges
(and How Duggan Solves Them)

Challenge: Lack of Context

Team members don’t have an understanding of what 5S is going to do for their process and how it’s going to help them deliver product to their customers on time, every time.

Duggan’s Solution

We integrate 5S into a value stream flow, ensuring it becomes part of your culture, not just a quick fix.

Challenge: Lack of Sustainability

Poor implementation leads to wasted time and minimal results.

Duggan’s Solution

Via our training and hands-on approach, team members understand their customer delivery system and know exactly how their process contributes to a guaranteed turnaround time that leads to long-term results. 

How We Do It

With our structured approach to 5S, Duggan Associates doesn’t just give you a checklist, we embed 5S into your operational strategy using our structured, design-driven methodology. Duggan:

Leads with education

using our 5S training material empowering your team to implement and sustain changes with measurable, real-world impact. This transfer of knowledge ensures all team members understand what 5S is, why we’re doing it, and why we’re doing it now.

We take your team from classroom to the shop floor.

We get our hands dirty with your team members. We apply the learning to a real-life project in your facility.

We lock in

by directly tying your 5S effort to the overall objectives of the value stream measurements so that it’s always clear and obvious to all team members if any actions must be taken.

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Why make operational improvement a perpetual process when you can make business growth a perpetual process?

IDEX Corporation - Linking Operational
+ Commercial Excellence

Multi-year rollout of Operational Excellence (OpEx) across
all sites, integrated with a corporate Commercial
Excellence (VOC-led growth) program.

Idex, a company that makes thousands of products for
Fluid & Metering, Health & Science, Dispensing, Fire & Safety worked with Duggan to improve operational excellence in their facilities.

Duggan worked with Idex on a multi-year…

Read More

5S

Frequently asked questions

How the approach works, and what it means for your operation.

What does 5S contribute beyond an organized workplace?

5S helps make tools, materials and information available where work needs them. Duggan connects that organization to the flow of work and customer delivery.

How does Duggan teach 5S?

We combine education with practical work in your facility. Employees learn the purpose of the changes and apply them to their own operating environment.

How do we keep the changes in place?

The work is connected to daily operating practices and value stream measures. Teams understand the expected condition and when action is needed.

What improvements can we measure?

Measures should match the problem: time spent searching, changeover time and interruptions to work are useful examples. Results depend on the starting conditions and implementation.

How do we get started?

Tell us which area is causing difficulty and how that affects delivery. We can discuss an appropriate starting scope and the team involvement needed.

Let’s discuss how workplace organization can support delivery

Tell us where finding tools, materials or information interrupts work, and what your team has already tried. We can discuss how 5S can support the flow of work and become part of daily practice.

Let's talk about
your 5s challenge.

Let's talk about
your challenge.