5S audit
Score the five S with your own questions on a 0–4 or 0–5 scale: share per S and in total, radar and trend over audits, actions; one project with the layered process audit.
Example project · Illustrative data: an imaginary assembly cell, not from a real plant or person. The questions are FactoKit’s own example wording, not an official checklist: edit them for your site. The 5S and LPA pages share this project.
The layered process audit of the same project: LPA page.
Result
The 5S audit needs JavaScript in this browser.
Download offline versionSingle HTML file · v1.4 · 559 KB · works without internet
How the 5S audit is scored
A 5S audit walks an area with a fixed list of questions, scores each one and turns the gaps into actions. 5S is a common practice, not a standard, and there is no official checklist: the questions here are FactoKit’s own example wording, to be edited. The 5S audit and the layered process audit are one project on two pages, saved together.
Formulas
- Score: a whole number from 0 (not at all) to the scale’s maximum (4 by default, or 5); a question can be left unscored when it does not apply.
- Radar: the five shares of the chosen audit, with the audit before it dashed. Trend: the total of every audit in date order.
Worked example (the tool’s example)
- Fifteen questions, three per S, on the 0–4 scale: 60 points possible.
- July: 20 points, 33 %; August: 35 points, 58 %; September: 44 points, 73 %.
- September by S: Sort 10 / 12 = 83 %, Set in order and Shine 9 / 12 = 75 %, Standardize and Sustain 8 / 12 = 67 %: the routine is the weak point, as the actions say.
Common mistakes
- Changing the questions from audit to audit: then the trend compares different things.
- Scoring generously to keep the peace: a low honest score with actions is worth more.
- Auditing without the team of the area: 5S is theirs to keep.
- Collecting scores without actions, or actions without owners and dates.
Files
- On this website the project is saved in this browser (IndexedDB) and shared with the LPA page; Save JSON keeps it as a file. The offline file stores nothing.
- Excel: the questions with every audit’s scores and the share by S as formulas; Word: the chosen audit as a filled checklist; CSV: the results of every audit; Print / PDF: the chosen audit on A4 with the radar.
- The blank 5S sheet (fillable PDF with a 0–4 choice per question, Word, Excel with formulas) is for auditing on paper.
Questions
- What are the five S?
- Sort (keep only what is needed), Set in order (a place for everything, marked), Shine (clean and inspect), Standardize (make the first three the routine, visible at a glance) and Sustain (keep doing it without being asked). The names vary between translations from Japanese; the idea is the same.
- How is the 5S score calculated?
- Every question gets a score from 0 to the maximum of the scale (4 by default, 5 if you prefer). The share of an S is its points divided by the points possible: the questions scored times the maximum. A question left unscored, for example because it does not apply, counts neither way. The total is all points over all points possible.
- Are these the official 5S questions?
- No. There is no single official 5S checklist; the questions here are FactoKit’s own example wording to start from. Change them to what the area really needs to look like, ideally together with the team that works there, and keep them stable so the audits stay comparable.
- How often should a 5S audit be done?
- Often enough to see a trend, rarely enough that each audit means something: monthly is common for an area, weekly while 5S is being introduced. The trend chart and the open actions matter more than any single score.
Related tools
- Layered process audit: the same project, auditing the process instead of the workplace.
- A3 report: when a finding needs a root cause analysis.
- SMED change-over analysis: set in order is half of a quick change-over.