Warehouse slotting – the practice of placing inventory items with the highest turnover near the picking/packing/shipping station – is a tried-and-true method to improve picking efficiency, save time, and reduce labor costs. Up to 50% of warehouse picking is travel time, and effective slotting can save over 90 minutes during a single 8-hour shift. The challenge is that rearranging inventory locations isn’t easy. You must make a…
CSS Editorial Staff | May 29, 2026 | 5S, Kaizen, Kanban, Lean
Sustain: Turning 5S from a Project into a Culture Anyone can clean up a workspace for a week. The challenge is keeping it that way. “Sustain” is the fifth and final step in 5S—but in many ways, it’s the most important. It’s where Lean becomes culture, not just a checklist. To sustain 5S, teams need routines, leadership support, and visual tools that reinforce accountability every day. Visual…
CSS Editorial Staff | September 2, 2025 | 5S, Lean | 5S, 5S In Action, Continuous Improvement, Facility Efficiency, Labeling
Make It Stick: How to Standardize 5S Visuals for Long-Term Success Without standardization, even the best 5S efforts eventually fade. After you’ve sorted, set in order, and shined your workspace, the next step is to make those gains repeatable and scalable. Standardization is what transforms short-term wins into long-term systems. And visual tools—signs, labels, floor markings, and more—are what make that standardization stick. From Training to Daily…
CSS Editorial Staff | August 19, 2025 | 5S, Lean | 5S, 5S In Action, Facility Efficiency, Facility Marking, Labeling, Lean
Shine Isn’t Just About Clean—It’s About Control In the 5S system, “Shine” isn’t just about making your facility look good—it’s about creating a culture of care, ownership, and constant improvement. Daily cleaning becomes daily inspection. And every sweep, wipe, and polish is a chance to spot issues before they become problems. A clean facility is a safe facility—and visual systems are key to keeping it that way.…
CSS Editorial Staff | August 5, 2025 | 5S, Lean | 5S, 5S In Action, Continuous Improvement, Facility Efficiency, Facility Marking, Labeling
After sorting comes the second S in 5S: Set in Order. But setting things in place means more than putting tools on a shelf—it’s about strategic placement, visual consistency, and creating a workspace where everything has a clearly defined home. When every tool, bin, and material is easy to locate (and even easier to put back), teams waste less time, reduce motion, and stay focused on the…
CSS Editorial Staff | July 8, 2025 | 5S, Lean
Sorting is the first step in transforming a cluttered, chaotic workspace into an efficient, safety-first environment. But too often, it’s treated like a one-time clean-up instead of what it truly is: the foundation of a sustainable, organized workplace. If you’re ready to put Lean thinking into motion, “Sort” is where it all starts—and visual organization is your most powerful tool. The Cost of Visual Clutter A…
CSS Editorial Staff | June 24, 2025 | 5S, Lean, Visual Safety | 5S In Action
Creative Safety Supply was honored to have the opportunity to interview a Lean manufacturing expert. In this interview, Andrew McCall of Creative Safety Supply talks to Brion Hurley of Business Performance Improvement about the concept of 5S and its implementation in businesses. Brian discusses the eight wastes of Lean, emphasizing inventory as a commonly overlooked waste. He explains that while inventory is necessary for operations, it also…
CSS Editorial Staff | June 5, 2023 | 5S, Lean, Training | 5S, Facility Efficiency, Lean, Lean Culture, Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma
You may not know it, but your facility could be losing hundreds of dollars every year in missing, misplaced, or stolen tools. By implementing a tool organization system in your facility, work is done more efficiently, a number of costs are saved, and you can be sure workers can easily find the tools they’re looking for. Before choosing a tool organization solution, you will want to sort…
Jesse Allred | January 16, 2020 | Lean, Safety Solutions | 5S, Facility Efficiency, Lean Manufacturing, Organized Workplace, Tool Organization
Uncover your facility’s biggest losses and discover how close to perfection your production line is running with our new OEE calculator. As leaders in the industry, we are consistently striving to provide the improvement tools needed by manufacturers. This calculator is intended to start you on the journey of OEE and make it as simple as possible. What is OEE? The Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) metric is…
Jesse Allred | July 11, 2019 | Lean, Safety Solutions
Gemba walks are a Lean management tool that fits in with many other Lean manufacturing concepts. The focus of a Lean manufacturing system in general is on identifying waste in work processes and eliminating it. That way only things that add value for the customer are performed or included. While a gemba walk can focus on many aspects of processes, it is possible to look for specific types…
CSS Editorial Staff | June 4, 2019 | Gemba, Lean | 5S, Facility Efficiency, Facility Marking, Gemba, Kaizen, Lean, Lean Manufacturing
With rows and rows of aisles and shelves, operating an efficient warehouse can be a difficult and complex task. There is a considerable amount of planning that takes place in the development of a warehouse management process, but rack labeling is a simple and cost-effective way to control inventory. Facilitating the flow of inventory, keeping products moving rather than sitting in between processes for extended periods of…
Jesse Allred | May 2, 2019 | Industry News, Lean, Safety Solutions | Barcoding, Facility Efficiency, Inventory Control, Labeling, Lean Manufacturing, Organized Workplace, Rack Labeling
Navigating the rough waters of any manufacturing process is a complicated and difficult undertaking. Managing risks, costs, time-to-market, the communication across departments, and the other aspects of your manufacturing project can make staying organized difficult and slow you down. But you don’t have to go into a project hoping and praying for the best. Thankfully, applying some simple project management tools and fundamentals to your manufacturing process…
CSS Editorial Staff | September 29, 2017 | Lean | Agile, Lean, Project Management
When it comes to safe and efficient operation of a workplace, most people are used to reading Japanese terms like Kaizen, Gemba, Gembutsu, Kanban, and more. Many companies, however, overlook the term Yokoten, and the many benefits it can bring. Barry Jeffrey posted an interesting article to the LinkedIn Group, “Gemba Academy,” where it generated some interesting discussion and ideas. The article is titled, “The Art of…
Tony Ferraro | December 22, 2016 | Lean | 5S, Gemba, Kaizen, Kanban, Yokoten
When most people think of LEAN, they think of manufacturing, and it is no surprise why. A recent post by Mark Bridges in the “Lean Six Sigma and Continuous Improvement Group” on LinkedIn, brings up the idea of using Lean strategies in an office environment. His post looked specifically at how the office side of a manufacturing company can benefit from Lean concepts. His ideas, however, can be applied…
Tony Ferraro | December 14, 2016 | Lean | Lean Strategies
Total productive maintenance, or TPM is a program that can help a facility to keep their machines in operation as much as possible. It is generally considered a part of the LEAN methodologies as it greatly reduces downtime, which is a form of waste. While the goal is simple (improved machine production) it is actually one of the more difficult strategies to successfully implement. This is because…
Tony Ferraro | August 1, 2016 | Lean | Lean Production, TPM
