Free template
Shadow board planner
A shadow board is a board where each tool hangs over its own outline, or shadow, so anyone can see at a glance what is there, what is missing and where it goes back. It is a set in order tool from 5S, used at workstations, changeover points, maintenance benches and cleaning stations. The work is in the planning: what the station really uses, how often, and where each tool sits for the least reach and the right order. Page 1 of this template is a tool list (tool, size, quantity, the task it is for, how often it is used and the label text) next to a squared grid to lay the board out before anything is cut or painted. Page 2 is a daily check for a month, with a mark per tool for in place, out in use, missing or damaged, and a log of missing and damaged tools.
Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.
When to use it
When to use a shadow board planner
- When setting up a new workstation, changeover cart or maintenance bench.
- During the set in order step of a 5S event.
- When time is lost looking for tools, or tools keep going missing.
- For changeovers, to have every tool for the job in one place before the machine stops.
How to fill it in
- 1
Watch the work
List what is really used at the station over a few jobs or shifts. Red-tag what is not used, and move what is used monthly or less to a store.
- 2
Fill in the tool list
Tool, size, quantity, the task it is for and how often it is used: every shift, daily, weekly, monthly.
- 3
Lay out the board
On the grid, put the most used tools where they are easiest to reach, between waist and shoulder height, and group them in the order the job uses them.
- 4
Make the board
Outline each tool, label the outline and the tool, and leave space for a name card when a tool is out in use.
- 5
Check it daily
At the start or end of each shift, mark each tool: in place, out in use, missing or damaged. Log missing and damaged tools and replace them.
- 6
Adjust
A tool that keeps going missing, or is always out, is telling you the layout or the quantity is wrong. Change the board.
A filled-in example
Illustrative, not a benchmarkAn example: a shadow board for a press changeover (illustrative).
- Before: the setter walked to the tool crib twice per changeover for a torque wrench and a die clamp key.
- Tool list: 11 tools used at every changeover, two used weekly, one used about once a quarter (moved to the crib).
- Layout: the tools in changeover order from left to right, the torque wrench at shoulder height by the die area.
The board went on the changeover cart, the walks to the crib stopped, and in the first month the daily check logged one missing hex key, found on the next press.
Common mistakes
A board for every tool you own
A shadow board full of tools nobody uses hides the ones that matter. Watch the work first.
Outlines without labels
Two similar spanners with two similar outlines end up swapped. Label the outline and the tool.
The board far from the work
If the board is a walk away, tools stay at the machine. Put it where the tools are used.
No daily check
Without a quick look each shift, empty outlines become normal and the board stops working.
Download the template
Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.
Run this template in LeanSuite
In LeanSuite a failed Set in Order line on a 5S audit becomes a corrective action with its photo, routed to the right lead, and it can't close without a verification photo.
In the lean glossary
Free tools
FAQ
Shadow board planner: common questions
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A shift handover sheet, a red tag log, a changeover checklist for one machine: if your team uses it on the floor, ask.