Component manufacturers who implement Gemba Walks experience a number of benefits. Consistently executing our Gemba Walk and delivering on action items yielded both short-term and long-term improvements across the production floor.
In addition to the obvious benefits that came with developing our own Gemba practices, we also observed some unexpected ones.
Metrics
A benefit we expected to see from our daily Gemba Walks was around metrics. Unlike our previous attempts, we standardized the KPIs that each cell tracked to:
- Safety
- Quality
- Delivery
- Productivity
Not only are these metrics tracked at each cell, but they also roll up to a company-wide metrics board that's reviewed by the management team each day, at weekly leadership meetings, and by the entire organization at our weekly operations meetings.
Management Effectiveness
In addition to a daily review of the most pressing metrics, the Gemba Walk improved our management team's efficacy. Because we have representation from manufacturing, production scheduling, engineering, quality, and Continuous Improvement, nearly all issues that come up can be escalated and acted upon immediately.
Whether a cell needs material right away or a job is going to finish early, management can execute the required actions to keep cells, jobs, and machines running.
Leadership Development
An unforeseen benefit of implementing Gemba was leadership development at the cell level. The daily Gemba Walks provided cell leads with an opportunity to be more vocal and to escalate problems they were seeing faster.
As a result of the daily discussions, they feel empowered to bring issues to management's attention, who in turn can remove barriers to them being able to do their jobs.
Customer Visibility
Another unforeseen benefit to the Gemba Walk was organization-wide visibility into customer needs. Before implementing Gemba, specific customer issues were known by the one or two employees who are a customer's main points of contact.
Whether it's unique customer requirements, a new project, or an expedite, if it's relevant to that cell it's going to be communicated through the Gemba. Over time, more of our employees are learning about our customers and their specific needs.
Ideation Opportunities
Although the Gemba Walk is one of the best avenues for problem-solving and issue escalation, it is also an opportunity for effective brainstorming. With representatives from those key teams, solutions are readily available.
But there are occasions when a cell lead knows there's a problem, but it isn't understood enough in that moment that they can articulate what solution is required. There's still research to be done around the problem before they can request specific help from management, but the Gemba Walk provides them with a very insightful sounding board that they can bounce ideas off of.
Because the problems we solve are incredibly complex, this opportunity to ideate and brainstorm with different team members is one of the most important benefits.
Amanda White
