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92 PCB007 MAGAZINE I FEBRUARY 2021 Gemba walks are activities in which one goes to and sees the place where the work is happening. Is the process designed to achieve its purpose? Are operators engaged to accom- plish this purpose? Continuous improvement teams discover wastes to eliminate by search- ing for symptoms rather than prescribing solu- tions. ese teams rely on operators to provide valuable information. Five S (5S) is a workplace environmental hy- giene technique that originated in Japan. In modern applications, safety is segregated out for heightened awareness. e six S's are: sort, straighten, shine, standardize, sustain, and safety. Six-S (6S) enables anyone to distinguish between normal and abnormal conditions at a glance. Six-S is the foundation for continuous improvement, zero defects, cost reduction, and a safe work area. Kaizen events are changes for the good that impact continuous improvement activities. Kaizen development is credited to Toyota Mo- tor Company. Kaizen events have a simple tac- tical focus, employ intellectual capital before money, look for "no brainer" fixes, and are short (2–5 days). Benchmarking is a systematic process of searching for best practices, innovative ideas, and highly effective operating procedures that lead to superior performance. Benchmark- ing activities focus on either process, perfor- mance, or strategy. • Process: Seeks to identify the most effective operational practices • Performance: Price, technical quality, ancillary product or service features, speed, reliability, and other performance characteristics • Strategic: Longer-term competitive patterns Figure 3: Continuous improvement tools.