By R.T. “Chris” Christensen

As you have read the feature articles on NASCAR elsewhere in this issue of MRO Today, you may have asked yourself the WIIFM question: “What’s In It For Me?” 

What lessons from NASCAR can you apply to your daily activity? Just be observant. Next time there’s a race, tune in and pay attention — you’ll see applications of 5-S everywhere. The perfect place to view 5-S in action would be in the pits, but failing that, you can see a lot right from home on your TV.

From my armchair driver’s seat, I don’t know if they are doing 5-S deliberately, but they’re doing it alright. 5-S, while it seems simple, takes a concerted effort to implement and maintain. It is a tool that forces discipline in your staff, and when done right, really focuses on efficiently performing tasks at hand. The five elements of 5-S are:
• Sort: Eliminate unneeded items
• Set in order: Keep items in the correct place for easy and immediate retrieval
• Shine: Keep the workplace, tools and equipment clean
• Standardize: Eliminate deterioration of the first three tasks 
• Sustain: Make a habit of Sort, Set and Shine

5-S seeks to standardize tasks by having everything needed for the task clean, ready for use, and set in place the same way every time. Conversely, 5-S dictates that items not required for the task are out of the way, in their correct storage location.

In addition, the task itself is standardized — it is performed the same way every time. The entire process is then sustained so that everyone continues to do the task at the highest possible level of efficiency and does not regress.

Where can you see this in action in a NASCAR pit stop? It is the pit stop. Watching seven crew members change four tires, add a full tank of gas and make suspension adjustments — all in 13 to 14 seconds — is seeing 5-S brought to life.  A well-executed pit stop can literally be the difference between winning and losing; it’s worth that much.  

Sort, Set and Shine
Take a good look at what is going on during the pit stop. All the tools are clean; each one is there for a specific purpose; and only the tools needed are on the pit wall. The gas cans are filled and ready to go, as is the catch can. The jack is ready. The tires are marked for each corner of the car, with the proper inflation and the lug nuts glued in place with rubber cement.

Standardize
To the viewer, each crew member’s task is obviously assigned and all activities are well rehearsed. But in fact, every activity, every movement of each crew member, is beyond rehearsed; it is analyzed, mapped and choreographed. The entire pit stop process is structured to the point where each crew member’s task is fully, exactingly and incrementally defined.

Sustain
This is the hard part, sustaining what you have done so each task of the pit stop can be performed the same way and in the same manner each and every time. If done right, the results are immediately obvious.

When not, that’s obvious, too. Pit stop times can climb into the low 20-second bracket. There’s no consistency: some pit stops take longer than others.  The car leaves the pit with the catch can still attached. Lug nuts go missing. The air hose gets run over. The driver misses the pit box. (Those yellow lines on the pit lane surface are there for a reason: they are the 5-S standardized visual markers for where the car needs to be for the pit stop.)

Everything is anticipated. Pit crew chiefs have evaluated every contingency and know what they can do during pit stops and in the pit lane. High-speed, 200-mph car-colored racing tape (duct tape) is ready. Pry bars are ready. Ratchet wrenches are ready to add or remove wedge in the car. Other tools are behind the wall in the garage and they too are ready to go for larger repairs.

R.T. "Chris" Christensen is the director of the University of Wisconsin School of Business' operations management program. If you have a question, contact Coach Christensen by phone at 608-441-7326 or e-mail cchristensen@execed.bus.wisc.edu. 

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