gemba
{{Short description|Japanese term meaning "the actual place"}}
{{about|a Japanese word|a Japanese politician|Kōichirō Gemba|the Japanese animation studio|GEMBA (studio)}}
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{{Italic title}}{{nihongo|Genba|現場||also romanized as gemba}} is a Japanese term used in business for the location where value is created, such as a factory floor, construction site, or sales floor.{{cite book |last=Imai |first=Masaaki |title=Gemba kaizen: a commonsense low-cost approach to management |publisher=McGraw-Hill Professional |location=New York |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-07-031446-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/gembakaizencommo00imai/page/13 13] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/gembakaizencommo00imai/page/13 }}
In lean manufacturing, the most valuable ideas for improvement are thought to occur at the genba where problems are visible. Management teams may go on a gemba walk to look for opportunities to improve the practical shop floor (known as the genba kaizen). Unlike the similar strategy of management by walking around, gemba walks are typically not done randomly, but with a clear frequency, goal, and structure.{{cite book |last=Womack |first=Jim |title=Gemba Walks |publisher=Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc. |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-934109-15-1 |page=348}}{{cite journal |last1=Delisle |first1=Dennis R. |date=July 2012 |title=Book Review: Gemba Walks, by Jim Womack |journal=American Journal of Medical Quality |volume=27 |issue=4 |pages=352 |doi=10.1177/1062860611434364 |s2cid=74508872}}{{cite journal |last1=Mann |first1=David |date=Fall 2009 |title=The Missing Link: Lean Leadership |journal=Frontiers of Health Services Management |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=15–26 |doi=10.1097/01974520-200907000-00003 |pmid=19791484 |id={{ProQuest|203892154}}}}
Glenn Mazur{{cite book |last1=Daetz |first1=Doug |title=Quality function deployment: a process for translating customers' needs into a better product and profit |date=1990 |publisher=GOAL/QPC |oclc=25351789 }}{{rs|date=May 2022}}{{pn|date=May 2022}}{{psc|date=May 2022}} introduced this term into Quality Function Deployment (QFD, a quality system for new products before manufacturing has begun) to mean the customer's place of business or lifestyle. The idea is that to be customer-driven, one must go to the customer's gemba to understand their problems and opportunities, using all one's senses to gather and process data.
Etymology
The word genba is a Japanese term meaning "the actual place" and is used in non-business contexts to refer to crime scenes or topical locations where TV may report. In a movie set, gemba refers to the practice of shooting a scene at the actual location rather than a studio.{{cite web |title=Daily Walking Is a Healthy Activity in Lean Plants |url=https://www.assemblymag.com/articles/94291-daily-walking-is-a-healthy-activity-in-lean-plants |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230526121823/https://www.assemblymag.com/articles/94291-daily-walking-is-a-healthy-activity-in-lean-plants |archive-date=26 May 2023 |access-date=26 May 2023}}
Gemba walk
Toyota executive Taiichi Ohno developed the gemba walk as a way for staff to stand back from day-to-day tasks and walk the floor of their workplace to identify wasteful activities.{{cite journal |last1=Castle |first1=Andrew |last2=Harvey |first2=Rachel |title=Lean information management: the use of observational data in health care |journal=International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management |date=6 March 2009 |volume=58 |issue=3 |pages=280–299 |doi=10.1108/17410400910938878 }} The objective of gemba walk is to understand the value stream and its problems rather than review results or make superficial comments.{{cite web |last1=Womack |first1=James |title=Getting Over Gemba-phobia |url=https://www.lean.org/the-lean-post/articles/getting-over-gemba-phobia/ |work=Lean Enterprise Institute |date=22 July 2011 |access-date=4 May 2022 |archive-date=22 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240822184207/https://www.lean.org/the-lean-post/articles/getting-over-gemba-phobia/ |url-status=live }}{{self-published inline|date=May 2022}} Along with Genchi Genbutsu or "Go, Look, See", gemba walk is one of the 5 Lean guiding principles that should be practiced by Lean leaders on a daily basis. The gemba walk, is an activity that takes management to the front lines to look for waste and opportunities to practice gemba kaizen, or practical shopfloor improvement.
Variations
W. Edwards Deming suggested a similar idea of looking at the system from suppliers, through the entire organization, and to customers. Deming shared the idea during a 1950 visit to Japan.{{Cite web|url=https://deming.org/speech-by-dr-deming-to-japanese-business-leaders-in-1950/|title=Speech by Dr. Deming to Japanese Business Leaders in 1950 - The W. Edwards Deming Institute|website=deming.org/|access-date=2021-10-16|archive-date=2024-08-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240822184208/https://deming.org/speech-by-dr-deming-to-japanese-business-leaders-in-1950/|url-status=live}} The commonly used models of production associated with lean, such as "value-stream mapping," do not extend to include suppliers, customers, or include a feedback loop to foster continual improvement of the system.{{cn|date=July 2024}}