Achieved significant time savings (4 hours per week) by transitioning from paper audits and spreadsheet tracking to Weever.
Shift away from day-to-day housekeeping to focus on larger organizational continuous improvement projects pertaining to the 5S.
Real-time visibility, resulting in accountability and rapid issue resolution (monthly decrease from 60+ average open issues to less than 5 carried on a monthly basis).
Across the plant, 5S scores increased from 85% to 97% (nearly perfect).

"We have no paper any more. Dashboards are displayed on exisiting screens. The System pretty much manages itself."

Tim Clansey, 5S Champion and Training Coordinator at Adient

Tim Clansey, Adient

The Challenge

Adient is a global leader in automotive seating and headliners, with more than 288 plants worldwide. The Liverpool plant, with over 450 employees, faced challenges in managing their 5S auditing processes with paper forms and Excel spreadsheets. According to Tim Clansey, Training Manager and 5S champion at Adient, the process was very time-consuming. Documents would frequently go missing, audit failures would go unresolved, and open issues were difficult to manage and close through manual tracking.

In most areas, 5S scores were stagnant or declining. The process was disenfranchising frontline staff as it failed to improve workstation efficiency.

Adient needed a system that would save administrative time, streamline the process, and enhance visibility and accountability.

Weever and Adient banner image case study

Why Weever?

When evaluating 5S software platforms, Adient used Pugh analysis to analyze five solutions by prioritizing cost, functionality, flexibility, and ease of use.

They were looking for a simple solution that could be set up quickly and automate administrative tasks such as reporting. They were also conscious of the application's ease of use, so they could overcome adoption and resistance to change issues.

After a thorough evaluation, they chose Weever. Weever was the best software based on their requirements, as well as providing additional security through SOC2 type II compliance.

The Implementation Process

After the plant team set up tablets and mobile devices, the launch of Weever at Adient went very smoothly. Implementation involved key stakeholders, management teams, and a selected audit team from various departments.

The team began slowly, with a soft launch in certain areas to address process issues and gather feedback from the team. Within 6 weeks, Weever 5S audits were launched across the entire facility. Within three months, Weever was fully integrated into the plant's daily operations!

Adient adapted Weever’s scheduled 5S template to accommodate their specific requirements:

Provided on-demand refresher training to auditors to ensure compliance with standards.
Schedules and assignees ensure audits are completed on time and by appropriate auditors.
Audit pass/fail fields were explicit and unique to each “S” element, ensuring a deeper understanding of requirements.
Audit “Failures” automatically triggered action items and notified supervisors.
Conditional logic was used to hide and reveal only relevant fields based on the auditors selections.
Audits were automatically scored, providing a simple KPI for management review.
Photos and videos were captured, providing additional context and reducing time-to-close.
Resolution details were captured when action items were closed.

Resistance to digitization was minimal, with efforts made to assist less tech-savvy individuals in understanding the benefits and processes. Overall, there were no major challenges, as transitioning from paper and Excel to a digital platform significantly improved workflow and data management.

"The support from the Weever team is outstanding; they don’t waste any time getting back to you should we need advice or if we have encountered an issue in the system.”

Tim Clansey

The team at Adient found Weever easy to use, with most issues resolved in a timely manner, leading to increased efficiency and satisfaction among employees.

The Results

Measurable results include rapid issue resolution, consistent improvements in 5S scores, and enhanced visibility into plant-wide operations. Weever's solution eliminated the need for paper, simplified data management, and visibility through real-time reporting, leading to true area ownership.

“Issues are resolved, and quickly. 5S scores are increasing and sustained throughout, and the team is extremely happy with what we have achieved in a short space of time.”

Tim Clansey

Beyond measurable outcomes, Adient also benefited from enhanced visibility into areas needing improvement, facilitating targeted interventions, which led them to select Weever as the global standard for 5S audits.

Discussions are underway at the pilot plant to expand Weever into health and safety, manufacturing engineering, and process knowledge domains, demonstrating Adient's commitment to continuous improvement and waste reduction through the partnership with Weever.

Interested in learning more about Weever's 5S Auditing Solutions?

Explore Our Case Studies

“Having cloud-based forms on devices around the facility makes them so much more accessible, which makes it painless for operators to quickly provide a report.”

Johanna Velez, VP Quality Assurance

"Weever is really user friendly and will have a massive positive impact on our operations and training team."

Mel Cadle - Op Ex Lead Process Engineer

“It’s shifted our safety culture because now we are much more focused on what we should be looking at.”

Kody Crossen, Operations Manager of EHS

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