5S and 6S audit scorecard

The five S, and the sixth

• Sort (seiri): remove what is not needed for the work. A red-tag area holds items nobody is sure about until someone decides.
• Set in order (seiton): a marked place for everything that is needed, close to where it is used, so anyone can see what is missing.
• Shine (seiso): clean, and inspect while cleaning. Cleaning is how leaks, wear and loose fasteners get found.
• Standardize (seiketsu): write down and show the standard for the first three, with photos, floor marking and checklists, so the area looks the same every day.
• Sustain (shitsuke): keep it up through habit, audits and leaders checking.
• Safety, the sixth S in many plants: guards, exits, labeling and hazards are checked in the same audit.

How the scoring works

Each criterion is scored 0 to 4, from not started to in place and kept up. Each S is the average of its criteria, and the area's score gives each S equal weight, so an S with many criteria does not swamp one with few. The overall percentage is that average divided by 4.

Write criteria that two auditors would score the same way. "Only this week's dies are at the press" can be checked; "area is tidy" cannot. Two or three criteria per S give a steadier score than one.

Reading the trend

A single audit says where the area is. The history says whether 5S is working. The common pattern is a quick climb after a clean-up event, followed by a slow slide when the attention moves on. That slide shows up first in Sustain. When Sustain is the lowest S, the first four were done to the area rather than built into how it is run.

Keep the audit short and frequent, rotate auditors, and close the actions. An audit whose findings stay open teaches people that the audit does not matter.

Safety is not averaged away

In a 6S audit, a high overall score can hide a serious safety gap. The checks flag any safety criterion scored 0 or 1, whatever the total. Treat it as an action now.

Where 5S fits

5S is the foundation the other lean tools stand on. Standardized work needs tools in a fixed place; kanban needs marked locations for full and empty containers; visual controls need a clean area to be seen in. A waste walk is a good way to find where to start.

On the exam

5S is a lean tool in the CQE (V.D.1), CQPA (II.C.1) and CSSBB (VII.B.1) Bodies of Knowledge, and the CSQP (IV.A.3) and CMDA (V.B.3) list it among the lean tools. The CCT applies 6S to housekeeping in the calibration environment (V.F.3). Expect to name the S in order, match an activity to its S, and explain why Sustain is the hardest.

Common questions

What is a 6S audit?

A 6S audit scores a work area on the five S's (sort, set in order, shine, standardize, sustain) plus safety. Each S is scored against written criteria so two auditors give the same score, and the scores are tracked over time.

How do I use this as a 6S audit template?

Enter your area and the criteria for each S, score 0 to 4 on the walk, and save the audit. The scorecard totals each S and the area, keeps the history and plots the trend against your target. Save it to a file to reuse the same template next time.

How often should a 5S audit be done?

Weekly by the area team and monthly by someone from outside the area is a common rhythm. What matters more is that scores lead to actions and the trend is reviewed.

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