The Gemba Walk
Learn how to prepare, lead and sustain a regular shop-floor walk that replaces second-hand information with observations made with your own eyes, and that leads to actions that are followed up.
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This course is aimed at team leaders, shop managers and continuous improvement facilitators who manage their area from a dashboard and realise that the figures do not tell what is really happening at the workstation. It explains what the gemba is, the place where value is created, and how to go there in a structured way: map out a route, choose what to look at, ask questions that open up the discussion rather than close it, then come back with answers. By the end, you will be able to launch a Gemba Walk on your line as early as next week, at a fixed time, with an observation sheet ready and a simple way to track the actions that come out of it. You will also be able to recognise the drifts that turn this routine into an inspection or a courtesy stroll, and how to correct them.
What you will be able to do
- Explain in one sentence what the gemba is and what distinguishes a Gemba Walk from an inspection or an audit.
- Map out a shop-floor route and select three to five observation points linked to the area's indicators.
- Set a sustainable frequency and time for the walk, then keep to them without cancellation for a month.
- Lead a discussion at the workstation using open questions, without judging or proposing a solution on the spot.
- Record observations and follow up the actions decided until they are fed back to the operators.
- Spot the three signs that show a Gemba Walk has lost its substance and know how to correct them.
The path
- Go and see rather than read the report 4 min
- Mapping out the route and choosing what to look at 4 min
- Set the frequency and keep to the time 3 min
- Leading the exchange at the station 4 min
- Record, act, come back 4 min
- The drifts that empty out the routine 3 min
Prerequisites
No Lean prerequisites. You need to be in charge of a production area or work in it regularly, and have at least one indicator tracked in that area (OEE, scrap, delays, stoppages). Having completed the 5S or Visual Management topic helps for the step on control points, but is not necessary.
The closing quiz
The topic ends with a 7-question quiz, and a certificate is issued on success.