Paper Authors

Abstract

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract

Incorporating the 5S Philosophy into a Modern Engineering Education Program at Texas A&M University-Commerce

Andrew E. Jackson, Ph.D., Mary E. Johnson, Ph.D.

Industrial Engineering and Technology Department Texas A&M University-Commerce

Abstract

Professional aviation organizations, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) teams, Indy Racing League (IRL) Teams, and Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc. (CART) have known about and practiced the principles of 5S for years. The 5S acronym stands for 1) Sort, 2) Set in Order, 3) Shine, 4) Standardize, and 5) Sustain. Simply stated, it encompasses the philosophy of workplace safety wherein there is a place for everything and everything is in its place. Faculty members in the Industrial Engineering Program at Texas A&M University-Commerce (TAMUC) are developing a curriculum-wide exposure to the 5S Philosophy to introduce students to the importance of workplace safety as it affects enhanced job performance, reductions in lost productivity, and smaller workmen’s compensation claims, to name a few. Sensitivity to workplace conditions helps foster a life-long appreciation for well organized work environments, by insuring that the correct tools are available when needed and where needed since they are where they are supposed to be and they are clean and in good repair. Correspondingly, 5S policies help managers and workers focus on effective process improvements without getting bogged down in workplace organizational activities that tend to waste time and energy with little effect on true productivity improvements. In addition, the 5S philosophy is used as vehicle to introduce lean manufacturing philosophies into the workplace and to help reinforce positive technical communication skills. Students from two classes at TAMUC are initially being exposed to the 5S Philosophical elements. This paper describes the 5S Philosophy an provides a high-level description of how it is being implemented in IE 101 – Introduction to Industrial Engineering and in IT 340 – Quality Management and Improvement. Future classes will be added to the program as appropriate, to reinforce the importance of the 5S model. Additional engineering tools are also being planned for cross-curriculum integration in the near future.

Introduction

The race is won in the pits! Teams from the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), Indy Racing League (IRL), and Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc. (CART) use the principles of 5S to improve their performance in an environment where extra fractions of a second spent during pit stops can mean the difference between victory and disappointing defeat. This is clearly demonstrated by the fact that for the racing speeds at this level of competition (approximately 200 miles per hour or more), one second of travel equates to

Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2005, American Society for Engineering Education

• Citation

• Format
  • APA
  • APA - LaTeX bibitem
  • MLA
  • MLA - LaTeX bibitem
  • Bibtex
  • EndNote - RIS

Johnson, M., & Jackson, A. (2005, June), Incorporating The 5 S Philosophy Into A Modern Engineering Education Program At Texas A&M University Commerce Paper presented at 2005 Annual Conference, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--14971