SAAB Seaeye’s Small Assemble Department First with 5S
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First year’s 5S ChampionsLeague winners – Small Assembly Team – from left to right Shirley Mundy, Tim Moon, Aaron Jenkinson, Martin Lennon,DavidPycroft, Team Leader, Ken Baseley and Adrian Dixon, kneeling.
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Mark Exeter, Operations Director, presents 5S Champions League cup to DavidPycroft, Team Leader, Small Assembly.
Marking the introduction of the 5S manufacturing system into the company, Saab Seaeye’s Small Assembly Department becomes the first to win the accolade of top department.
The 5S system is adopted globally as a way of improving manufacturing efficiency. It is a building block of lean manufacturing. 5S was conceived in Japan by Hiroyuki Hirano and introduced to Toyota with great success. Adopting the system is found to quickly bring efficiency, improved quality and speedier delivery to an organization and its customers.
The 5S’s denote: sorting, setting in order, shining, standardizing and sustaining.
“Training and auditing keep the momentum going whilst scoring and league tables introduce friendly rivalry and fun,” Operations Director Mark Exeter explained, adding that the concept works best when habit-forming. Staff involvement is the key to success according to Hiroyuki Hirano who suggests that employees must feel valued by the company for the system to work.
The 5S Champions League winners for the first year, the Small Assembly Team, who achieved the highest score across company, get to hold the Champions League Cup for the year with each team member awarded an engraved medal along with a meal out together.
www.seaeye.com
August 2026
