The internationally coveted 5 S Certification was awarded to MMBL-Pathfinder Group at a ceremony held at ‘River Point’ 339/6 Negombo Road, Peliyagoda on May 12 by the International Certification Services Pvt. Ltd. of Mumbai, India.

While handing over the certificate, Lal Fonseka, Chairman and Managing Director of Kaizen Productivity (Pvt.) Ltd., who is also known as the ‘5 S Guru’ in Sri Lanka, highlighted the fact that this was the first time the 5 S Workplace Management System’s international certificate was issued to a Sri Lankan company.  He further added that time taken to reach this high standard was a surprisingly low duration of 7 weeks, which itself was a commendable achievement.

The certification was done after assessing and registering the company as an entity that is complying with the requirements of international standards, guidelines and practices. The scope of the group covered, providing private equity investment business, brand/franchise management, investment banking, accounting, legal, general management & management consulting and project promotion.

Validity of the certificate will be based on periodic audits of the management system and is contingent upon prompt written notification of significant changes to the management system and /or its components to the International Certification Service (Pvt.) Ltd. based in Mumbai. Consequently, MMBL-Pathfinder Group will be subjected to its next audit in January 2015.

The widely practiced Japanese concept of 5 S or good house keeping practices cover five broad areas i.e. Seiri (Sort), Seiton (Set), Seiso (Shine), Seikethsu (Standardize) and Shitsuke (Sustainability), practice of which is widely accepted as good house keeping for relieving stress and increase productivity at work plaice.  ‘Seri’ helps sorting out and removal of what is not needed. ‘Seiton’ helps proper management and easy retrieval of material, whether they are files, goods or tools.  ‘Seiso’ focuses on cleanliness and helps to keep workplace free of dirt, thereby improving performance. ‘Seikethsu’ helps standardizing work, using a colour coding syste, which helps visual control and ‘Shitsuke’ helps inspire pride and adherence to standards.