What is GEMBA and GEMBA walk?
Gemba (or genba “現場”)
: a Japanese word meaning “the real place”.
: It’s where value creation happens, but also where most
problems occur.
: In manufacturing or service, the idea of gemba is that the
problems are visible, and the best improvement ideas will
come from going to the gemba.
: In quality management, the idea is that if a problem occurs,
the concern must go there to understand the full impact of
the problem, gathering data from all sources.
Gemba walk
: denote the action of going to see the actual process,
understand the work, ask questions, and learn.
: is an opportunity for sta to stand back from their
day-to-day tasks to walk the floor of their workplace to
identify wasteful activities
What is MBWA?
Management By Walking Around (MBWA) basically refers to
managers spending some part of their time listening to
problems and ideas of their sta s, while wandering around an
o ice or plant
Why need GEMBA walk?
Top-level
Increase productivity;
Increase OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness );
Reduce health and safety hazards;
Increase management and workers autonomy;
Shif from reactive to proactive supervision.
Mid-level
Increase management credibility;
Increase proactive supervision;
Reduce time spent on reactive problem solving; Increase
time spent on improvement generation; Simplify problem
management.
Floor-level
Day to day problems solution management
Increase implication in the improvement projects;
Decrease waiting time;
Decrease stress;
Improve processes and tools; Increase feedback.
