Which of the 5S is hardest and why?

Some time ago I entered a competition over at the excellent gembapantarei which posed the question, “which of the 5S is hardest and why?”. Well, the winners have been announced but my own personal suggestion was:

the most difficult “S” is Sustain: (Shitsuke). Unless a Lean philosophy has been adopted then a 5S activity will not be repeated and will therefore not become part of the culture. Change is difficult for most people and people tend to slip back into their own habits.

Dee agreed with me, but Ron over at Lean Six Sigma Academy suggested:

While it is not an official “s” in the 5S line-up the hardest one to master is without a doubt - start. You see starting does not mean go and have a company wide 5S thrust event where everyone cleans up their desks. Instead it means to start having a kaizen mentality whereby every associate is empowered and expected to think about how 5S should not just start… but never end.

The main thing is to avoid L.A.M.E. (Lean As Misguidedly Executed) because:

Looking “nice” is not the goal with 5S, it should be about being effective, organized, and productive (and safe). It might look “nice” that the tools are hidden, but again that’s not the goal. It’s a workplace and the tools required to do the work should be right at hand, especially if changeovers are done often (and hopefully they are).

Did I win?

Well watch the video and find out.