What Is a Gemba Walk Actually?

The term “gemba” comes from Japanese and it means “the real place”. In Lean management, “gemba” is the most important place for a team as it is the place where the real work happens.

Quite simple, for rock bands the “gemba” is the recording studio. For Formula 1 teams the “gemba” is wherever the car is. For manufacturers it’s the factory floor and so on. In other words, it is where the real work happens, so you can observe and analyze it.

?he Gemba walk is a concept developed by Taiichi Ohno, who is often considered the father of  Just-in-time production.

By developing such a concept, Ohno offers a real opportunity for executives to leave their daily routine, see where the real work happens and build relationships with workers based on mutual trust.

There are 3 important elements of this lean manufacturing tool:
1. Go and see. The main idea of the Gemba walk is managers and leaders on every level to take regular walks around the shop floor and to be involved in finding wasteful activities.
2. Ask why. The main objective of a Gemba walk is to explore the value stream in details and locate its problematic parts through active communication. The good leader is always eager to listen rather than talk. Here is why you may use different techniques such as  5 whys in order to identify problematic parts of the process.
Respect the people. Have in mind that a Gemba walk is not a “boss walk”. Pointing fingers and blaming people is exactly what you don’t have to do. You are not there to judge and review results. You are there to collaborate with the team and find problems together. Try to focus on finding the weak spots of the process, not of the people.

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