Episode B.003 Overburden or MURI

The 3 Pillars of Lean: Remove Unevenness, Remove Overburden, Remove Waste.

• Unevenness 
• Overburden
• Waste

MURI - Any activity asking unreasonable stress or effort from personnel, material or equipment. In short: OVERBURDEN. For people, Muri means: a too heavy mental or physical burden. For machinery. Muri means: expecting a machine to do more than it is capable of or has been designed to do.

1. The first stage of 5S within lean manufacturing is that of Seiri or Sort and Removal of all clutter that is within the working area. This means everything that is not needed specifically for the processes being undertaken for the area in question, old tools and fixtures, the clutter under the desk, the spare off cuts of material stacked behind the machine in case it is needed. If it is not needed on a regular basis remove it! This is a step that should be participated in by everyone. At the end of this phase the only items that should remain in the area are the specific tools and materials required in this area and nothing else.
2. The second step of 5S is where we really start to make a difference to the efficiency and layout of the working environment. We now need to decide exactly where things belong and provide a clearly identified position for it. This is Seiton or "Set in Order", the second stage of 5S. Things need to be stored as close as possible to their point of use in a location that is both safe and easy for the item to be retrieved. Those involved need to consider how the individual works and how they will reach for each item. This is where the team can really come up with ingenious ideas for improvement. Components being fed from the rear of benches, racks of fixing with wheels that can be moved with the assembler, mobile desks and tool racks, tool pouches worn by the operator, roller tables alongside machines and tool storage so that heavy tools can be quickly put in place by hand without the use of lifting equipment and so on. Most ideas that are come up with at this stage are either zero cost or very low cost. This really starts the ball rolling for building a firm foundation for lean manufacturing implementation.
3. Seiso or "Shine and Check" is about cleaning the workplace thoroughly, you have removed all the clutter and organized everything so that there is a place for everything and everything in its place. Now clean everything and bring it back to good condition. Clean machines and repaint as required, fix oil leaks, repaint floors, remove grease marks and so on. Make the place look like new! The point of Seiso or "shine and check" is not just to make things pretty and nice for you customers, this has a far more important point, it is about making problems visible. Oil leaks, waste materials etc will all become far more obvious when you have cleaned up and force you to tackle the issues rather than living with them.
4. The first three stages of 5S are usually worked on together over a period of a few days depending on the size of the area. The fourth step of 5S, Seiketsu or Standardize is about maintaining the improvements and continuously improving. 5S and Lean Manufacturing are not something that you could do last week and forget, they are processes of continual ongoing improvements. Seiketsu is usually achieved through the use of specific audits and checklists, ensuring that what should be where and how things should be done are clearly specified. These audits should be scored in such a manner as to not be subjective and conducted by someone independent to the area being audited.
5. It is not enough to just do the first four stages of 5S, many companies only manage to achieve the first 3 or 4 stages and then after a while things begin to revert and after a few years you have accumulated huge piles of clutter and things are back where they started. This is why you need the 5th stage Shitsuke or Sustain. Without a culture that drives this process and continues to make improvements these changes are doomed to fail. Shitsuke,the  most avoided and most difficult stage is that of sustaining the efforts. Everyone from cleaner to the CEO should be 100% committed to making this change part of everyday life. The benefits of 5S are huge if implemented correctly, don’t lose them. This is a foundation stone to making lean manufacturing improvements to your business, it is about lean management as much as lean production.