The human factor in 5S implementation: perspectives from Poland Wieslaw Urban and Agnieszka Mazurek Lean management and 5S The Toyota Production System is widely known as the best and most efficient system in the world. Lean manufacturing (also called Lean production and Lean management) originates from Toyota and other Japanese companies which became famous by their quick and impressive success in international markets. Lean management exists in organizations in many ways. According to the literature there are Lean philosophies, policies, and practices (Simons and Zokaei, 2005). Philosophies are the least tangible; they consist of common values shared by people in an organisation. Policies are the rules of conduct towards customers, suppliers, and so on. But Lean practices are tools and techniques that are practically used in everyday work. These tools and techniques support Lean philosophies and policies. In this context, 5S is a Lean practice which supports waste elimination and continuous improvement. 5S system 5S is a basic tool for implementation, both on the factory floor and in offices. According to Bayo-Moriones et al. (2010), it is a system to reduce waste and optimize productivity and quality through maintaining an orderly workplace and using visual cues to achieve more consistent operational results. The explanation of the five letter Ss that form the basis of the system sheds more light on what 5S actually is. It is neither complicated, nor difficult to remember: B Sort – clean up; eliminate what is not needed. B Set in order – organize; put things at the point of use, in the amount required. B Shine – clean the work area. B Standardize – establish work methods and schedules to maintain cleanliness/order. B Sustain – implement metrics, auditing, recognition systems (Greulich, 2009). These routines to maintain order and organization of all the equipment are crucial to achieve a smooth and lossless workflow. The system begins with the elimination of everything that is not necessary in the work place, usually people support themselves by using red labels to mark equipment, etc. that is not used and not necessary. The second stage follows immediately as people make all the equipment easily accessible. In particular, this is the efficient placement and arrangement of equipment and materials by effective storage methods, labelling, and so on. The gold standard for 5S is that anyone should be able to find anything in their own workplace in less than 30 seconds, and anywhere else in the workplace in less than 5 minutes without talking to anyone, opening a book, or turning a computer on (McBride, 2003). DOI 10.1108/20450621111163322 VOL. 1 NO. 3 2011, pp. 1-6, Q Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 2045-0621 j EMERALD EMERGING MARKETS CASE STUDIES j PAGE 1 Wieslaw Urban is an Assistant Professor at Bialystok University of Technology, Bialystok, Poland. Agnieszka Mazurek is based at Bianor Sp z o.o., Bialystok, Poland. Disclaimer. This case is written solely for educational purposes and is not intended to represent successful or unsuccessful managerial decision making. The author/s may have disguised names; financial and other recognizable information to protect confidentiality.