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Take a Walk and Go to the Gemba
July 22, 2015 6:36:00 PM

Have you heard of “Going to the Gemba” or “Taking a Gemba Walk?” Lately I’ve been more mindful about looking for evidence of Gembas early in the PDCA. The Plan, Do, Check, Act cycle is the essence of continuous improvement and a vital component of a lean management system. I would like to share some thoughts to enhance the use of Gemba as part of your next PDCA continuous improvement project.  

How can your gemba represent a more purposeful attempt to learn what is really going on before you implement long term corrective actions?  Beyond Gemba’s foundational “Go See, Ask Why, Show Respect,” how do we learn more to really make a significant impact on our PDCA? Simply use the 4 gemba walk steps with a focus on your PDCA project.

Know your Purpose.  As a PDCA team you should have a Problem Statement which is guiding you in what you need to observe and what you are trying to learn.  Your goal is to better understand the current process.

Know your Gemba. The Gemba is wherever the activity is performed that you are trying to learn and understand. The point of the activity is your Gemba. Don’t be in a rush and allow the process to flow to you. Your goal is to identify problems and compare to target conditions.

Observe with a framework through Kaizen Eyes. Using “Kaizen Eyes” is the difference between looking around, and observing: are you just seeing what is on the surface such as equipment, people, and material?  “Kaizen Eyes” see opportunities to improve and allow you to delve deeper into discovering what you don’t currently know but need to know.  On the walk take notes, write what you don’t see, ask questions to help you understand.  Be sure to look from several angles and at different times.

Validate what you see after the walk debrief with the PDCA team.  Describe to each other what you saw and what you didn’t see. Often there are many things that cannot be seen on the surface, such as processes in people’s heads, or process variations from one person to the next.  Once you have captured your observations, validate your conclusions with those doing the work (if they are not already a member on the PDCA team). If necessary develop a plan for a second Gemba Walk and discuss what was different between the first and second Gemba.

Going to the Gemba is increasingly popular because it is powerfully effective. As a PDCA team it can have a significant impact on how your team attacks its next corrective action implementation.

Click here to read about MAU’s lean services and commitment to continuous improvement. 

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