Explain the 5-S practice for improving both the physical and thinking environment of an organisation.

The 5-S practice is an approach to achieving an organised, clean and standardised work place and can be seen as a part of the kaizen (continuous improvement) approach to quality. 5-S is based upon 5 Japanese terms 'seiri, seiton, seiso, seiktsu and shitsuke' but can be translated as sort, organise, clean, standardise and discipline. These easy principles can encourage the standardisation of procedures and clarification of management processes.