Gemba Orientation

Key takeaways

 The Gemba walk is a lean manufacturing technique that allows leaders to identify and solve problems on
the production floor by observing work processes and gathering feedback from employees.
 The Gemba walk is an effective tool for promoting continuous improvement and identifying opportunities
for kaizen, or process improvement. It is a core component of the lean manufacturing philosophy and is
essential for effective leadership in this field.
 Some of the benefits of the Gemba walk include increased employee engagement and morale, better
communication and collaboration between teams, faster problem-solving and decision-making, and higher
levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty.
 To get the most out of the Gemba walk process, leaders should start by identifying key objectives and areas
of focus, set clear expectations and guidelines for participation, and be willing to invest time and resources
into ongoing training and development for themselves and their teams.
 With the right approach and mindset, the Gemba walk can be a powerful tool for driving lean
manufacturing and kaizen, improving customer satisfaction and loyalty, and creating a culture of
continuous improvement that helps organizations thrive in today's competitive marketplace.
Definition of a Gemba Walk

"Gemba," or "Genba," is a Japanese word that means "the actual place," the place where work happens. In
manufacturing, it typically refers to the shop floor, providing tangible insight into how products are created and
what processes take shape at their source. This concept was developed by Taiichi Ohno, an executive at Toyota.

"Gemba" is similar to the Japanese term "Genchi Genbutsu," one of the first principles of the Toyota production
system, and consists of going directly to the factory floor to see what the problems are, discussing them with
the people involved in the site, and thus making more informed decisions.

Gemba walks offer managers and leaders an effective way to get real insights into what problems may exist
on their team and areas that need improvement. By visiting the "Gemba" instead of staying in the conference
room, managers can observe processes firsthand, ask questions to their team members, and provide feedback
directly.

Here are the basics of Gemba walks:

● Who: Managers and executives are the typical participants of Gemba walks.

● What: Through these walks, managers aim to identify potential problems while executives get an overall view
of how processes function. By having specific themes for their walk, they can pay attention to certain parts or search
out a particular type of waste (referred to as "muda" in Japanese) to make informed decisions later informed
decisions later on.

● When: The frequency is determined by those taking part but normally depends on the situation at hand. For
example, daily observations are more common among managers, and weekly/monthly visits are done by higher
levels of management.

● Where: A traditional Gemba walk brings managers to the real place, hence the shop floor, so they can get a
first-hand impression of processes. This provides them with detailed information on what's working well or not quite
up to expectations. In this way, it's possible for leadership teams to also better bridge theory and practice when it
comes to understanding operations.
● Why: Gemba walks provide a great opportunity for businesses to gain insights into their daily operations and to
implement improvement projects. Managers can observe first-hand how processes are conducted and identify areas
where small, incremental improvements could be made. Furthermore, input from all levels of the organization
involved in Gemba walks promotes collaboration that leads to benefits beyond just process improvement.

What does Gemba Walk mean in Lean Manufacturing and Kaizen?

Gemba walk is a powerful tool to make sure your business runs smoothly and efficiently. It is used in the
Lean management philosophy and the Kaizen method. The former (Lean Manufacturing) uses it to identify
potential problems before they get worse, while the latter uses this approach by engaging front-line staff in making
sustainable changes that produce better results over time.

Is Gemba Lean or Six Sigma?

Gemba is a Japanese concept with origins in Lean Manufacturing and Kaizen, but it's also been adopted
for Lean Six Sigma process improvement. This data-driven approach is used to optimize processes for greater
efficiency.

What about Gemba Walks and MBWA?

Although both are similar, Gemba Walk and MBWA (Management By Walking Around) should not be confused.
The former is done with a clearly defined objective, structure, and frequency established beforehand. The latter is
done more generally by observing the work floor and talking to the employees on the spot.

How does Gemba Walk apply to Lean Manufacturing?

In the context of operational excellence, the Gemba walk is an essential tool for Lean Manufacturing to help
managers recognize areas where operations can be improved. By visiting the Gemba and observing processes in
action, organizations gain valuable insights that allow them to identify wasteful activities and streamline their
operations with more efficient solutions. The ultimate goal is to reach a higher level of performance.

Why is Gemba Walk important in Kaizen (continuous improvement)?

Gemba walk is an important tool in Kaizen because it empowers employees to change their work and enables
managers to get their valuable input. Engaging with the source of work processes can help create an atmosphere
that drives continuous improvement while promoting employee ownership in their job - all vital aspects
of proactive management.

Examples of Gemba Walks

Some examples of Gemba walks include:

● Quality control: A quality control Gemba walk is a tool used to ensure excellence in production. During the
process, a manager visits the production line to gauge performance and pinpoint opportunities for improvement. By
closely observing processes and identifying product defects or issues with quality, solutions can be formulated
quickly to achieve better results.

● Inventory management: To ensure the smooth operation of a warehouse, inventory management managers
take Gemba walks to help identify any potential improvements. By observing processes and analyzing stock
levels, they can pinpoint where changes may be required for maximum efficiency. With targeted adjustments from
these experts in supply chain optimization, warehouses are set up for success.

● Lean manufacturing: A manager conducts Gemba walk in the factory to identify potential improvements
and make processes run more efficiently. Through careful observation, they can pinpoint any bottlenecks or
broken equipment that could be slowing progress down, paving the way for an optimized production
cycle. The Gemba Walk also contributes to the monitoring of performance indicators (KPI) since it allows
validation progress directly on-site.

● Safety: Managers can identify potential safety hazards by walking the production line and observing work
processes. This process allows them to collaborate with employees to make any necessary changes for improved
workplace safety.

● Mass production: This Gemba walk involves visiting each step of the assembly line process and engaging in
conversation with workers to gain further insight into the process’s strengths and weaknesses.

How to improve a Gemba Walk?

To ensure an effective Gemba walk, it's important to follow best practices. From pre-walk planning goals to post-
session follow-up, these best practices make sure everyone involved achieves maximum benefit from the
experience:

Plan your Gemba walk - To ensure that your Gemba walk is as effective and productive as possible, planning
properly for the visit is important. Consider objectives and questions to hone what you'd like to get out of it. Refer to
our Best Gemba Walk Checklist article for all the questions that you should include in your Gemba walk.

Be respectful - Respect your employees and the work they do. It's essential to display a genuine interest in what is
going on when you conduct a Gemba walk. To get the most out of this experience, avoid interrupting any processes
or activities that are taking place.
Engage employees - Unearth quality insights and ideas from your team by engaging them in meaningful dialogue, a
must in the Management 4.0 era. Ask insightful questions, listen actively to their feedback during Gemba walks,
and empower employees by making them part of any problem resolution and valuing their suggestions for
improvement opportunities.

Take notes - Note-taking is essential for getting the most out of your Gemba walk. Doing so can help you uncover
opportunities to improve processes and track progress. Here, a digital tool like UTrakk can make your life much
easier by digitalizing your Gemba walk questionnaire. You’ll also be able to take photos, create action items on the
spot and assign them to colleagues.

Mix up the schedule - To gain a full understanding of the process, Gemba walks should be varied regularly. Step out
of your routine and explore new times to observe. This involves varying days, hours, and even parts of the month to
offer interesting insights.

Follow up - After completing a Gemba walk, use it as an opportunity to follow up with employees and
provide constructive feedback. By doing so, you can make changes where needed, which will help ensure progress
is tracked in the long run.

Gemba Walk and Lean Management

The concept of Gemba says that the problems are in front of us and the solution will come from going to
the Gemba. The Gemba walk is an activity that takes managers and the senior leaders to the front lines to
observe, engage and improve.

Gemba walks is going to see the actual process, understand the work, ask questions, and learn. It is also
known as one fundamental part of Lean Management philosophy. The practice of regularly going to the
workplace or the branch lobby to see the actual practices is known as Gemba walking

Closer look at Lean Management

The concept of lean management looks pretty simple but following through, performing and executing
them is more complex.

Lean is not only about cost reduction, yes it involves reducing waste but more importantly it's about
changing the way, that people work and it requires both creative as well as critical thinking.
Value stream mapping or “material and information flow mapping” can be used extensively in the
financial services. It is a visual tool that displays all important steps in a specific process and calculate the
time and volume at each stage. Once the current process is understood, we can look for unnecessary
steps and gaps that could be eliminated.

Availability of Lean software allows banks and financial organizations to dimension the impact of
improvement in areas such as cost reduction, customer experience and Net Promoter Score, TATs, and
other KPIs

Cultural Shift

As discussed earlier, the theory is pretty simple but the execution is complex because people process
requires a significant shift in the culture and the way activities are managed. Lean is a management
practice that requires flow of information from the ground, it is more of a bottom-up approach, hence
requires an active participation from all and also the challenge of changing the way people behave, must
be addressed. Employees normally resist changes if they don't know how to help improve the process and
value they are adding to the organization.

One need to understand that changes are not made during Gemba Walk. Leaders go to the shop floor
observe, ask questions, and learn. They identify the opportunity for improvement and start working of the
improvement once they are back from Gemba walk.

Risk Management

Lean approach like any other method comes with an inherent risk. With more efficient system one need to
have focus on quality control as well as risk management to avoid a small slip up becoming a big problem
and hence banks and financial organizations implementing Lean must have strict checks and controls.
Standardization improves operations by reducing errors and reducing exposure.

The risk is inversely proportional to the change management. The better we manage and implement
change, the lower is the risk. Risk management starts with implementing standard work and the Best
Practices are shared across the organization.

It is equally important for the employees to understand the strategic direction of the company and their
work is important toward achieving the important goals, this risk mitigation approach is known as
strategy deployment.

Customer Experience and Satisfaction

Customer experience and satisfaction is of paramount importance in the service industry and hence one
of the important part of the Gemba Walk and Lean philosophy, is to focus on customer needs. The
processes should be made with a clear objective to deliver value for customer. Since it is difficult to
understand what provides value to customers, especially when views of frontline staff are not taken in
consideration, organizations presume what is essential to the customer based on an inadequate
understanding or incomplete information. Gemba walk helps in solving this by eradicating silos and
examining the flow of value from a broader perspective. Customer satisfaction is one of the key
performance indicator.

Lean in Banking

We have to look at it separately for Customer facing branch lobby and back-office operation

Customer facing staff: The front line and the customer facing staff should be empowered to take quick
decisions, which will reduce the TAT and also enhance the customer experience

Back Office operation: Improve the operational efficiency and reduce operational risk

Some of the key benefits of Gemba Walk and Lean methodology in the Finance and banking industry
are as follows:

First Time Right (FTR)

FTNR increases duplication of work and in turn wastage of human resource, which can be analyzed using
lean analytics, using this techniques we can eliminate redoing of work as well as unnecessary work.

Manpower and Productivity:

When we make use of lean in the banking industry, staff performance and productivity improve, both at
an individual level and overall. With proper MIS, clear discussions regarding individual performance can
be conducted and clear actionable can be given to the staff.

This will ensure better work quality using the best practices possible. Lean practices also highlight the
comprehensive, hence every staff member will feel like they play a critical role in a big, important process.

Analyzing the Outcome:

We can analyze the result of the process change and improvement and quantify the increase in bottom
line as compared to cost incurred in change in process

Conclusion

Though Gemba Walk and Lean Management were introduced by the manufacturing sector, it can be
effectively used in financial sector and banks. For process-oriented businesses such as banking, Lean has
significant potential. In the financial sector and Banking industry, lean can be applied to bank-office
operations for standardize processes, reduce operational risk, and empowering customer facing
employees. The benefits of applying lean methodology to the banking industry include First Time Right,
TAT improvement, improving productivity, and last but not the least improving customer experience.