Which of the following is NOT part of the 5S method?

• A. Sort
• B. Sustain
• C. Visual management
• D. Shine

Answer: (C)

The main idea is organizing the workplace through a structured set of actions to reduce waste and make everything easy to find and use. The five steps are Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain. Each step has a clear purpose: Sort removes unnecessary items, Set in Order arranges needed items for easy access, Shine cleans and inspects to keep things in good condition, Standardize creates consistent ways to maintain the first three, and Sustain embeds these practices so they last.

Visual management is a powerful Lean technique that uses visible signals—like color codes, labels, floor markings, and dashboards—to communicate status at a glance and guide behavior. It supports the 5S effort by making conditions and expectations easy to see, but it isn’t one of the five S steps itself. That’s why Visual management is not considered part of the 5S method, while Sort, Shine, and Sustain are. Standardize is the step that formalizes routines to keep the organized state, and Set in Order is the arranging that makes everything easy to reach.