An investigation into Japanese 5‐S practice in UK industry

This paper presents the findings of a survey on the use of the Japanese practice of 5‐S for workplace organisation in the UK. The research methodology was to review the literature, conduct a survey using a questionnaire, follow‐up the questionnaire with a series of semi‐structured interviews and critique findings with the literature. The conclusions of the research are that practice and theory are closely related and any differences in the implementation of 5‐S can be attributed mainly to the maturity of the 5‐S programme. Clearly, there is great scope for the application of 5‐S in the non‐manufacturing environment.