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Perry Thompson
Perry is Lean Executive Director at Parsons Electric Company (PEC). Perry's interest in construction began with his family's tradition of construction in carpentry and masonry fields. Perry served honorably in the United States Air Force. Following the service, he spent many years earning degrees in the technologies industry until he joined Parsons and began his electrical construction career where he has served for the last twenty-plus years. Perry is a certified instructor for Lean Construction Institute (LCI) and is a certified instructor for Jeff Liker's Lean Leadership Institute (LLI).
Articles By This Author
Preparing The Team to Implement 5S
I usually share with people that 5S is a countermeasure. It solves the problem of a workplace having no standard or stability from which to improve. This means that 5S is not the goal but merely a starting point for improvement.
Introduction to the 5S System
This system was created by Ford and later improved upon by Toyota. Ford called it the CANDO system. CANDO is an acronym developed by Henry Ford to make the work area more organized and efficient.
Sort–the First “S”
Sort is to categorize all materials and remove what is unnecessary. The concept of sorting is simple. You simply remove all materials that are more than what is classified as the strategic amount for your job site. The good thing is that you get to decide what a strategic amount means to you.
Straighten–the Second “S”
Straighten is to make sure that there is a place for everything, and everything is in its place. The only way to guarantee this is to think about the visual controls needed right at the beginning of the process.
Sweep or Shine–the Third “S”
Sweep is the activity of bringing your area up to a standard and then using that standard -daily - to inspect and keep that area clean.
Standardize–the Fourth “S”
Standardize is the activity of making Sort, Straighten, and Shine part of the project routines. When the general contractor realizes how much benefit they receive from doing 5S, they introduce other standards as statements.
Sustain–the Hardest “S” of All
Sustain is the hardest S of them all. This makes sense because of two main reasons. One, it encompasses all the other Ss. You should ask many questions that start with how we should sustain.