Managing a business effectively is a challenging task in a rapidly changing world. If we combine the management of the business with improving the business operations, then it becomes very rare as well. Managers don’t seek improvements in their business operations while doing their jobs because of their busy routines. Gemba walk provides them a chance to observe the processes, the problems, and especially the Gemba boards in order to improve the processes.
In the Lean manufacturing Toyota system (Toyota Production System), they introduced the concept of Gemba. Before diving into the details of this tool, let’s have a look at the history of Gemba and its meaning.
History of Gemba
As it is a Japanese word, In Japanese, the meaning of Gemba is “the actual place/ place of work”. In Japan, Police call the crime scene “Gemba” and sometimes reporters also narrate that “I’m here, live from the Gemba”. In the manufacturing sector and corporate world, this terminology comes into the limelight during the mid-1900s (the post-World War II era).
When Japanese Car manufacturers, the Toyota motor corporation started the lean journey and start developing the Toyota Production system. The concept of Gemba was used to raise the game of improvement in the processes. This concept was initially quoted as “Gemba Kaizen”.
As the word is showing that it is related to continuous improvement/ good change at the workplace. The main purpose of the concept is to go on the shop floor or the place of work and observe the processes with the intent to improve them.
Gemba Walk
Gemba Kaizen then evolved to the concept of the “Gemba walk” and managers along with the management representatives from various departments go to the place of work, observe the processes, talk with people and check the dashboards where the data is placed to learn about the insights of the processes. This from where the Gemba boards concept comes in.
Lean doesn’t happen in the office
Gemba Boards
Gemba boards are the dashboards where various relevant KPIs are showing the actual status of the processes. The main purpose of the Gemba board is to display the relevant KPIs to the management so that they can get an idea about the analytics of the process. It also plays a role of an ice-breaker between the higher-ups and Team Leaders of the processes.
These boards are placed nearer to the place of work. The KPIs most of the companies are showing on the Gemba boards are given below;
- Cost
- Efficiency
- Lead time
- Work in Process Inventory
- Safety
- Quality
- Morale
These KPIs are very crucial to check the health of a particular process. The reason for displaying the boards on the floor is that the management can see the performance and check where the process is showing gaps so that they can mark the projects to improve the process.
The Gemba Equation
Engineers in Lean manufacturing Toyota system (TPS) developed an equation that shows the factors contributing to making a Gemba walk successful and the outcomes. The equation is;
GTS6 + E3 = DNA
The first part of this equation is GTS6 which is the abbreviation of the following;
1- Go to See (GTS1)
2- Grasp the Situation (GTS2)
3- Get to Solution (GTS3)
4- Get to Standard (GTS4)
5- Get to Sustainability (GTS5)
6- Get to Stretch (GTS6)
The second part of the equation is E3, which stands for the following words;
E3 = Everybody, every day, Engaged
These two parts GTS^6 and E3 equate to the DNA which is the outcome of an effective Gemba walk. DNA stands for Discipline and Accountability.
DNA= Disciple and Accountability
Now, this equation can be read as if we Go to the See, Grasp the situation, get the solution, get to standard, get to sustainability, get to stretch, and engage everyone every day then we can create an environment of discipline and accountability. This will ultimately lead us towards an organization where people at the lowest tier think about improving their work, involve others, and get habitual with Kaizens.
Gemba walk template (excel)
There is always an objective of the Gemba walk, the managers conduct a Gemba walk to check the process working, the 5S condition, to solve a particular problem, etc. This is why a Gemba walk template excel is being developed to make the problem solving and achievement of the objective easy. The managers keep the template (Gemba walk template excel) with them while going to a Gemba walk and fill the template while standing in the area of work.
In the end, Taiichi Ohno- The father of lean emphasizes the importance of going to the area of work, checking the current state of the process, checking if any problems you had encountered last time and want to solve, and communicate with the team, ask questions, engage people and without any doubt, the result will be a disciplined workplace and an accountable workforce which always strive to improve their work. This is how the continuous improvement journey starts.
