How Adient Transformed Their 5S Auditing Process in Less Than 3 Months
The global leader in automotive seating streamlined their 5S auditing process, enhanced visibility, and digitized plantwide with Weever.
weever case studies
case study highlights
- Significant time savings (4 hours per week) by transitioning from paper audits and spreadsheets to tracking in Weever.
- Shift away from day-to-day housekeeping to focus on larger organizational continuous improvement projects pertaining to 5S.
- Real-time visibility resulting in accountability and rapid issue resolution to (monthly decrease from 60+ average open issues to less than 5 carried on a monthly basis).
- Increased 5S scores from 85% -> 97% (nearly perfect) across the plant.
"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
The Challenge
Adient, the global leader in automotive seating and headliners with over 288 plants world wide. 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.
5S scores in most areas were stagnant or decreasing, frontline staff were becoming disenfranchised with the process because nothing was being done to improve workstation efficiency.
Adient needed a system that would save administrative time, streamline the process, and enhance visibility and accountability.
Why Weever?
When evaluating 5S software platforms, Adient used Pugh analysis to analyze 5 solutions by prioritizing cost, functionality, flexibility, and ease of use.
They were looking for a simple solution that they could set up quickly and automated administrative tasks such as reporting. They were also conscious of the application being easy to use so they could overcome adoption and resistance to change issues.
After thorough evaluation, they chose Weever. Weever was the best software based on their requirements and also provided additional security through SOC2 type II compliance.
The Implementation Process
The launch of Weever at Adient went very smoothly, garnering strong acceptance from the plant team once tablets and mobile devices were set up. Implementation involved key stakeholders, management teams, and a selected audit team from various departments.
The team started slowly with a soft launch in certain areas to address issues with the process 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 were 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 lead 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
SCHEDULE A DEMO
Take a Guided Tour.
In just 30 minutes you will learn about customizing and using forms, workflow automation, reviewing reports, and sharing data with other business systems.
Marks
Diageo
Niagara Bottling
Walmart
PepsiCo logo
McDonald's
Unilever
Monin
Hello Fresh
Rise Baking
Rockwool
Canadian Tire
SportChek
Greyston Bakery
Bell
Husqvarna
Home Hardware