5S to Success!

You CAN teach an old dog new tricks! 153 years and still learning – and with over 1000 pressure vessels in the works every year, efficiency is key.
We don’t do jargon at Abbotts, so the Japanese words seiri (整理), seiton (整頓), seisō (清掃), seiketsu (清潔), and shitsuke (躾) sounded a bit complicated!

For an old Boilerworks in Newark full of pressure vessel fabricators, we had to simplify this claptrap into layman’s terms to get the best out of it…

1. Sort

2. Set in order

3. Shine

4. Standardise

5. Sustain

In following these 5 simple rules, we ensure that our factory stays clean, safe, tidy and ready for efficient production. This methodical approach has made the 5S process a pleasure to follow, but still a daunting one at times.

Sort – Get shut of all of the stuff you don’t use! Here is our maintenance office, displaying only the necessary tools quickly on-hand – you can only imagine how much clutter had accumulated over the years!

Set in order – Organise, file and arrange kit, identified clearly and in sensible locations. Everyone can find what they need quickly, although putting it back when they’re done is still proving to be a challenge…

Shine – Workspaces are cleaned regularly and kept as tidy as possible. It seems ridiculous to have to write “Brush” on a piece of wood, but when you do you find that at least when some shyster nicks it, they know where to put it back – simple and effective!

Standardise – If something works well, make sure everyone else benefits from that knowledge. Share ideas – but only the good ones!

Sustain – Keep on top of it, keep tweaking and keep improving! The lads soon get over the pain of having a ‘jobsworth’ with a clipboard interrupting them mid-job. Their efforts pay off, and the benefits get noticed by all involved.

These rules have allowed us to optimise the efficiency and effectiveness of our processes. The result? We can manufacture your vessels with minimum lead time, best quality and maximum proficiency!

If you have any enquiries, please contact our team on +44 Tel: +44 (0) 1636 704 208 or drop us an email at .