5S is one of the key practices of the Toyota Production System. The 5 “S’s” derive from five Japanese words which when romanized, begin with the letter ‘S’: Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu, and Shitsuke.

The English word Straighten is frequently used as the translation of the Japanese word (romanized as) Seiton.  Often the literal interpretation of this principle is taken as a mandate for the use of shadow boards.  While that may be appropriate in some contexts, it may just as likely miss the point.

The intention of Seiton is to insure that everything is in proper the place for quick retrieval and storage.  There should be no wasted time because you have to search for tools or materials.  Tools and materials which are used constantly should be in specific locations intended to minimize both time and motion in their use.  Less frequently used tools should be stored in a way which insures it is out of the way, but easily accessible.

This storage of less frequently used tools is often done using shadow boards.  A shadow board is a pegboard were each tool is hung and a line is drawn around the tool.

My favorite bicycle shop practices this for shared tools which are infrequently used.  While allen wrenches are available at each repair station because they are in almost constant use, the tool to disassemble the pedal assembly (bottom bracket) is stored on a pegboard.  If it is not on the shadow board, it should be in use by one of the other mechanics.  There should never be a need for someone to go scouting around, or shouting out, “OK, who’s got the bottom bracket wrench.”

But in other contexts, shadow boards can seem anal retentive.  I tried this in my home workshop for example when I was remodeling.  I put up a pegboard, hung up all my tools and patted myself on the back for finally getting organized.  It lasted about an hour.

A week later, the pegboard was mostly empty, and my tools were strewn over my workbench.  It was more convenient to pick them up from the workbench than to keep going to and from the pegboard.  The problem is that eventually I’d move on to a different project, and those tools would get misplaced, and I’d spend a lot of time searching.  I needed something in between.

The solution came from my experience in the nuclear power industry.  When craftspeople came into the containment (the contaminated are of the plant), they would bring their tools in one or more 3 or 5 gallon buckets.  The reason for this is that it was convenient, it organized similar tools together, and the buckets were easy to decontaminated.

I adopted this practice for the remainder of my remodeling project.  Today I manage all my tools in buckets, and I no longer use my toolbox.  The pegboard is long gone.  I have buckets for carpentry tools, drywall tools, electrical tools and a couple of others.  When I set out on a project, I pick the appropriate bucket, and I’m off.  When I’m done with a tool, toss it in the bucket.

I’ve met the intention of Seiton, I have everything in a proper place for quick retrieval and storage.  But I don’t have a shadow board.

Keep this in mind when setting up your 5S program.  The goal of Seiton is to eliminate waste in finding appropriate tools for the job. This may mean using a shadow board, or it may not. Your implementation may not look anything like Toyota’s, and so long as it meets your needs, that’s perfectly fine.