Resource Centers

SHINE: Maintaining Workplace Appearance

Maintaining Workplace Appearance

Tips for maintaining the appearance of the workplace in the Shine phase:

Painting is a key part of Shine. Of course, before the area can be painted, it must be clean. Consider painting the walls, ceiling, equipment, and if appropriate, even the floors.
Establish a painting scheme. Different work areas don’t need to have the identical colors, but they should have the same color scheme.

It’s hard to “shine” when the work area is dimly lit. Even a clean area can look dingy under poor lighting.
Ensure that the work area is bright enough. Natural light is best; consider adding more windows to the work area. If it’s not practical or cost-effective to add natural lighting, add more lighting fixtures or consider replacing bulbs and reflectors.

Most of the clutter should have been cleared out and organized in the first two phases of the 5S’s, Sort and Set in Order.
Things that are often overlooked include postings on the walls or bulletin boards and hoses or wires running along the floor.

Equipment that uses cutting fluid, coolant, and hydraulic fluid “always” seems to have leaks or spills.
There are methods for preventing spills; one low-tech approach is to put a pan under an entire piece of machinery to collect and contain spills and drips.
One of the keys to minimize spills is to repair leaks immediately after they start.

Preventing housekeeping problems involves performing maintenance as necessary. If equipment starts leaking, stop the leak. If dust starts blowing around, find the source and fix it.
Don’t just use tape or other temporary fixes; follow the temporary measures with permanent fixes to the problem to prevent recurrence.

In manufacturing facilities and at building entryways, keeping carpeting looking acceptable is a difficult job. While regular cleaning and chemical guarding of the carpet will make the areas look better, consider installing darker, mottled carpeting in hallways and areas accessed from the plant or from the outdoors.
One technique to determine what color carpeting would hide dirt the best is to place small pads of white carpeting at the entrances to the office areas from the plant. Then, after a few weeks of traffic, take the now-dirty pads to a commercial carpet facility and have them match the color.