In a service-oriented economy such as Hong Kong, quality assurance of services and products rendered to customers is a key issue that companies have to tackle, especially when the local economy is in a tailspin and firms are fighting for survival. 'Quality is tied up with the organisation, and a good knowledge of it can guarantee success,' said Sam Ho Kong-ming, founder and chairman of Hong Kong 5S Association, which promotes quality assurance across industries through a management practice involving structure, systematisation, sanitisation, standardisation and self-discipline. It is better known as the 5S practice, and is an effective tool for quality management.
'Operational management is a big thing for many SMEs [small and medium-sized enterprises] that need something simple,' Professor Ho said, adding that the 5S practice had increased interest in industries that involved human contact and material handling. 'Most of the large construction companies have implemented the 5S practice,' he said.
'The manufacturing industry is the sector with the widest adoption of 5S for their production lines in factories, but in recent years the biggest growth has come from restaurants and food stalls. There are more than 20,000 of these in Hong Kong. The practice has become [part of] the culture of food stall operators in Hong Kong.'
A leading philosophy of the practice is housekeeping with a defined objective, and it addresses key issues most SMEs face, such as inventory control and space utilisation.
'With better stock control, wastage of goods and resources can be significantly reduced, and with better space arrangement and utilisation in the workplace, workers can save a lot of time locating things when the information [on] every item is accurately labelled with names and has its own place,' he said. 'If companies don't have this system in place, they will encounter shortages of stock, or customers won't be able to find what they want, leading to loss of sales. Space utilisation is especially important in minimising costs. With Hong Kong's rents among the highest in the world, it is important for companies to use minimum space to do maximum business. Convenience stores are a good example.'
Professor Ho's first encounter with the 5S concept goes back 20 years when he worked on a search project in Japan for Asian Productivity Research. The 5S practice was already popular among Japan's manufacturing industry and left him with the impression that 'everything was kept clean and in an orderly manner'.