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Seiri Sort - Red Tag Labeling

Red tag labeling is part of the Seiri, or sorting phase of 5s. Use red tag labeling to help eliminate items that are not essential.

5s programs begin with a sorting process where items in the workplace are prioritized with the goal of identifying and keeping essential items and eliminating everything that is nonessential. Getting rid of broken or unneeded tools, equipment, parts, instructions, materials, and other non-essential items is the purpose of sorting. At the end of the sorting process only those items that are actually needed would remain, freeing the work area of needless clutter and waste creating a more efficient work flow leading to increased productivity.

A disorganized workplace creates chaos and confusion, leading to poor productivity, poor quality, and inefficiency. This "sorting phase" is the time to evaluate each work space to determine what items need to be removed. An effective tool in the sorting phase is "red-tagging"; a visual method of labeling items that should be removed and discarded, or removed to other areas for further evaluation or storage. Items that are used only occasionally are red-tagged and moved to other locations where they are accessible but not interfering with work flow or taking up valuable space.

The SafetyPro industrial label printer is a helpful resource in this first 5s phase. Creating custom red-tags with the SafetyPro (and tags of other colors to help increase efficiency), enables you to produce the 5s labels you want, with all the custom information you need, right on the spot.

Tags: 5s red tag, red tag labeling, red tag label printer, 5s seiri, 5s sorting, 5s elimination