In the series of acquiring certification on various quality aspects, Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala has acquired 5-S certification for five more shops/departments viz Accounts, Personnel, Chief Material Manager's Office, Shell Store Depot, and Metallurgical & Chemist Lab in Phase-II of '5-S' Project conducted yesterday.

RCF has already acquired 5-S Certification for Sheet Metal and Paint Shop in Phase-I. RCF became the first organization over Indian Railways to get this certification. Plans are afoot to acquire 5-S certification for entire RCF in the immediate future.

5-S is one of the Japanese quality tools used for work place management. The 1st -S (SEIRI) stands for organization, 2nd -S (SEITON) for neatness, 3rd - S (SEISO) for cleanliness, 4th -S (SEIKETSU) for standardization and 5th-S (SHITSUKE) for discipline, sources at RCF said.

The objective of obtaining this certificate is to enhance the efficiency of staff by better house keeping and easier traceability of items. It improves safety standard also. RCF is already ISO 9001 -2000 certified and it was the first organization in the country to obtain ISO-14001 certification for both workshop and township.RCF has also been recently selected as winner of the Golden Peacock Environment Management Award-2008.

S K P Agrawal, Chief Auditor, Quality Circle Forum of India (QCFI) Hyderabad, conducted an extensive audit of Accounts, Personnel, CMM Office, Shell Store Depot, and Metallurgical & Chemist Lab before recommending for 5-S certification.

On this occasion Agrawal, said that RCF had excellent house keeping management and it could acquire 5-S certification for the complete unit by maintaining the current pace. On this occasion, S K Suri, General Manager, RCF urged all the Heads of Departments to maintain highest standards of house keeping in RCF and continue to achieve such high professional standards.