Managers and leaders are naturally focused on improving a specific production process. Achieving this improvement without understanding what’s happening on the shop floor can be quite challenging. Diving into the process, both literally and figuratively, enables managers and leaders to maintain a well-founded improvement strategy. A Gemba Walk offers a structured roadmap for extracting the necessary information from the shop floor.
What is a Gemba Walk?
The term ‘Gemba’ originates from Japan and can be literally translated as the ‘real place’. In the context of production processes, this place often refers to the shop floor where the processes are carried out. A Gemba Walk therefore, is nothing more and nothing less than visiting the shop floor to closely examine the processes you want to improve and to gather input from the employees directly involved in the process. The Gemba Walk is one of the most well-known applications within the realm of continuous improvement and the Lean philosophy. In a Gemba Walk, the emphasis is primarily on observation and understanding. By immersing yourself in the production process, you can spot and analyze many potential improvements by keenly observing and listening. Presenting these points for improvement directly to the shop floor workers demonstrates respect and trust, and allows you to gather valuable information to optimize the improvement processes.
Go to the Gemba
If you often follow the Lean philosophy, you’ve probably heard the phrase “Go to the Gemba” frequently. “Go to the Gemba” is a saying increasingly used in the culture of continuous improvement, mainly to remind managers and leaders that it’s time to dive into the factory themselves. This concept perfectly aligns with the original meaning of the Gemba Walk. Immerse yourself in the process, observe carefully, and engage with employees. Only through this approach can you truly discover where the bottlenecks exist and how to address them to further optimize the process. It sounds logical, but in practice, Gemba Walks are still not conducted frequently enough. In some cases, Gemba Walks are performed regularly, but they lack structure. To incorporate this structure into your Gemba Walk, we provide our favourite 8-step checklist below.
Gemba Walk checklist: a better process in 8 steps
Lean Gemba can be incredibly effective in manufacturing processes. If you want to get the most out of your Gemba Walk, use a Gemba Walk checklist. Below, we have outlined our Gemba Walk checklist, consisting of eight clear steps.
Step 1: Create a clear roadmap
Ensure you have a clear step-by-step plan at hand that aligns with the specific goal you have in mind. For instance, you can use this provided checklist for a specific production process goal.
Step 2: Pick a theme
Determine a theme for which you want to collect more information. This can include aspects like cycle time, quality or safety. But themes such as costs or workload can also provide valuable insights regarding improvement potential. Immediately jot down a set of questions related to the theme that you would like to address during your Gemba Walk.
Step 3: Introduce the Gemba Walk
Make the Gemba Walk known on the shop floor. If, as a manager or leader, you rarely visit the shop floor, employees may perceive your presence during the Gemba Walk as control or additional workload. By explaining the purpose of the Gemba Walk and when it will take place, you maintain a sense of calm on the shop floor, making employees more inclined to share their input regarding improvements on the theme.
Step 4: Focus on the process
Focus on the process rather than the employees. Lean Gemba Walks revolve around process improvement, not immediately assessing the employees on the shop floor. Remember that the primary goal is to identify deviations and analysis comes later.
Step 5: Apply Open Problem Solving
Dare to discuss minor obstacles or problems respectfully and immediately. Employing Open Problem Solving on the shop floor fosters transparency and allows for immediate minor adjustments. Open Problem Solving also provides an opportunity to discuss the identified process improvements directly with your employees, making them feel heard, seen and appreciated.
Step 6: Collect without analysing
Don’t rush to conclusions. Note all the noticeable points during the Gemba Walk, but take the time to analyze this information later. Only when you have all the concrete information, you can gain an overview and conduct a root cause analysis efficiently.
Step 7: Asks someone to walk the Gemda Walk with you
Involve others in your Gemba Walk. Two pairs of eyes always see more than one, especially if the second pair is less familiar with the production process and can provide fresh insights you might not have thought of. For example, invite a manager from a different department to join the Gemba Walk and share their observations with you afterward. Together, you create a more comprehensive picture of the production process than you could have done alone.
Step 8: Feedback
Share your findings with the team. Neglecting this feedback can make the team feel controlled or undervalued once again. By sharing the points for improvement you discovered during the Lean Gemba Walk and explaining why and how you think these points should be improved, you also give the team an opportunity to prepare and provide feedback.
Applying Lean Gemba on the shop floor
To effectively implement Lean Gemba on the shop floor, it is essential to take the time to discuss the observations and support them with data. This data can include information gathered by completing digital checklists or through organized task management for shop floor workers. The findings may also align with the results of audits conducted. In such cases, the areas with improvement potential become clear and it’s time for action. All this data can be collected and analyzed through a digital platform like the EZ-GO app, which is usable for the entire factory. Additionally, the information that emerges during the Gemba Walk can be documented here. Finally, and we can’t stress this enough, it’s crucial to involve the team in the improvement process; from organizing the Gemba Walk to executing the improvement strategies. Employees are the true experts of the shop floor and, thanks to their experience with production processes, can provide valuable input. The more interest and respect you show regarding their work, the more relevant information you’ll receive, all through a simple conversation!
Curious about how to best apply Gemba Walks within your organization and how the EZ-GO app can assist? Feel free to contact us!