storage room 5s sadie roth akron children’s hospital

Storage Room 5S

Sadie RothAkron Children’s Hospital

BackgroundDuring a Lean Six Sigma project in the Rehab Department,

we discovered that therapists were lugging an exercise bike and other equipment up three floors to do treatment with special patients who were not permitted to leave their floor. When we asked why they didn’t keep a bike up on the floor, the floor said there was no storage space for the bike. Investigation showed there was actually a very large storage closet on the floor…

Pre-5S Picture 1but it was being used for other things…

Pre-5S Picture 2like a Christmas tree, Foosball table, office supplies,…

Pre-5S Picture 3donated toys, and broken chairs. We convinced the floor to work with us on a 5S of their storage space.

Post-5S Picture 1We sorted…and sorted…and sorted. We gave each remaining item a home and utilized visual management to communicate what went where. We repurposed old shelves and had custom shelves with a lip on the top shelf built to hold bikes in place.

Post-5S Picture 2We had peg-board installed to use as much free space as possible.

Post-5S Picture 3We marked off “parking lots” on the floor.

Post-5S Picture 4We found a new storage location for the Christmas tree.

Post-5S Picture 5We even found space for the exercise bike and other Rehab equipment. The floor was thrilled to have a clean, organized storage room, and rehab was able to reduce the time they spent moving equipment.