NPC's 5S Certification Scheme

NPC has put in place a “National 5S Certification Scheme” to develop and sustain a productivity culture across the country, which encompasses high quality housekeeping & physical environment at the workplace. This Scheme is meant to be the vehicle to foster, motivate, recognise and certify Excellence in '5S' implementation for visibly demonstrating both progress and compliance.

NPC's 5S Certification process comprises the following stages:

A. Registration for certification

Any organisation implementing '5S' at its workplace can apply to the National Productivity Council (NPC) for registration. The registration process consists of defining the scope for certification and terms of reference for conducting certification & surveillance audit.

B. Conducting 5S Certification Audit

The Certification Audit process involves evaluation of the organisation for the degree of adoption of 5S practices conforming to the certification audit framework criteria developed by NPC. The certification audit framework criteria mainly cover five broad aspects/areas, as given below, having a total score of 600 marks.

• Organisational structure & approach for 5S Implementation including 5S Policy, 5S Organisation Chart, 5S Corner, Implementation zone/group and 5S zone/group Activity Record, Discipline/Worker's Attitude, Training Programme for the workers, No. of Kaizen received, No. of Kaizen implemented, SOPs available and their compliance, Promotion Activity and Appreciation to the workers, Evaluation of Effectiveness, Management Review etc.
• Administration & Office Area including Floor Visual Control, Equipment Arrangement, Equipment, Aisles, File Arrangement & Record Management etc.
• Manufacturing / Production / Service Divisions including Process Flow and Finished Product/Goods, Equipment Arrangement & upkeep, Equipment (Workshop), Machine (Workshop) & their maintenance system, Material (movement, Store & storage), Plant shop floor and Visual Control, Aisles, SOPs available and their compliance, File Arrangement & Record Management etc.
• Storage, Record Keeping & Material Handling Area including Plant shop floor, Material (movement, Store & storage), Visual Control, Inventory File Arrangement & Record Management, Aisles, Warehouse, Chemical Storage (Hazardous & Non-Hazardous), SOPs available and their compliance etc.
• General Area including Safety & Fire Fighting System, Security/Guard Post, Waste Disposal, Common/Rest Area, Visitor Waiting Room, Canteen, Open Space Housekeeping etc.

These framework criteria will be shared with the organisation after the registration process. The certification audit requires 2 to 3 days depending on the size of the areas to be covered during the audit and the type of organisational activities. The Certification Audit will be carried out for the areas defined in the scope and terms of reference of the offer for Audit by the Organisation. On completion of the Audit, observations & non-conformances to the framework criteria will be submitted in the form of an audit report.

C. 5S Certification

A certificate will be awarded by NPC in 5 categories depending on the score obtained by the organisation during the audit, as tabulated below.

Table 2: Certificate Categories

Sr No.	Category	Score Obtained
1	“प्रदर्शक”	99% and above
2	“उत्कृष्ट”	90% and above but less than 99%
3	“श्रेष्ठ”	80% and above but less than 90%
4	“उत्तम”	70% and above but less than 80%
5	“प्रयत्नशील”	50% and above but less than 70%

The Certificate is valid for three years, comprising one certification audit and 2 surveillance audits at an interval of one year, to check on sustained actions by the recipient organisation for continued validity of certification. Organisations that are not implementing 5S can avail of NPC's 5S related training and consulting services before they aspire to compete for the certification.

D. 5S Surveillance Audit

The Surveillance Audit will be conducted at an interval of one year to revalidate the degree of adoption of 5S practices conforming to the certification audit framework criteria and the degree of compliance to the observations & non-conformances made during the certification audit. Based on the score obtained during the surveillance audit, the category of the certificate can be changed. During the surveillance audit, organisations cannot change the scope of certification; for any change, the organisation has to go through the process of certification audit again.

E. Recertification

The organisation can apply for recertification after 3 years. During recertification, organisations can change the scope of certification.