ABSTRACT
There is a curious JIT axiom that says, “Good workshops
develop beginning with the 5S’s. Bad workshops fall apart
beginning with the 5S’s.” The first part of the axiom refers to
the thorough implementation of the 5S’s that we need in order
to lay the groundwork for subsequent improvements. The
5S’s are our foundation blocks, upon which we can lay flow
production, visual control, standard operations, and various
other JIT building blocks. All of this long, hard block-laying
will in a few years turn the factory into a close approxima-
tion of the JIT production system.
