I feel your pain. I have been involved in 5S projects in non food manufacturing and it was so easy because you could use anything you wanted. We are going to embark on 5S the beginning of 2011 and biggest concern is being able to find the right material, tools and equipment that allows creativity without creating food safety issues.
One question I would have is "did you do everything you could to eliminate the need for tools?" I know my goal is going to be to eliminate the need for toolboxes (we currently use durable plastic, like rubbermaid, boxes with trays). In places I have been in the past we reduced tool needs by 75-80% through creative maintenance (quick connects, handles, hand turn devices vs tools, etc.). It goes more into set up reduction than 5S but is sure helps to get rid of the 5/16, 3/8, 1/2, 7/16 and 3/4 inch wrenches and settle on one size fits all if you can!
We've gotten our tool set down to what we think is a minimum (standardizing fasteners, eliminating when possible, etc.), but we're still in the "everything tossed in a toolbox" mode of tool storage.
Our FSSC certifying auditor was really, really, really big on "tool sanitation". We got the whole "how do you know you aren't contaminating the sanitized equipment by adjusting it with those tools??" lecture along with some case studies showing that yes indeedy, maintenance department tools as well as equipment specific operator used tools (setup, changeover, adjustments, etc) can be sources of contamination. So, to be compliant, and to be able to show that we're serious about food safety, FSSC 22000 methodology, and all that, we put the operator's tools (and toolboxes) on the master sanitation schedule and the environmental sampling schedule.
Just seemed like a good idea to incorporate some physical separation of the tools rather than the "pile-o-tools in a box" method currently used. it also allows instant inventorying of tools (not in slot, missing. All slots filled, all there) for the supervisors so they aren't digging through tools and matching them to a checklist one at a time as they pull them out of the box.
It all sounds like a great idea, but I can't find a good sanitizeable toolbox that won't turn into a rust pile or hold water or just generally turn to crud in a month.
I guess I'll start to dig into the Grainger website more deeply, but if anyone has a turn-key solution for me, I'm all ears.
