KAIZEN has proven itself well in manufacturing. The methods are also suitable for increasing productivity in the service area.

• Waste awareness
• Workplace organisation
• Tidiness and cleanliness
• Structuring no-mans’ land

• Loss tree of the service industry
• Search for waste
• 5S campaign

The improvement process starts at Level 1 at the individual staff workplaces. Within the so called 5S campaign organisational bases are created.

The 5 S’s stand for the terms from Japanese:

• SEIRI (Tidy)... Sorting out unnecessary things
• SEISO (Cleanliness)... Clean the workplace and only arrange necessary items
• SEITON (Love of tidiness)... Arrange work tools ergonomically
• SEIKETSU (personal tidiness)... Make arrangements standard
• Shitsuke (Discipline)... Adhere to all points and continually improve

With this campaign the waste awareness of the staff is encouraged, waste is eliminated and search times are minimised. The 5S campaign creates a good basis for further improvements. It makes sense to talk about mutual goals and to define a road map for the next steps.