Gemba（現場)-Place of value-add operations

We are all aware of the word “Gemba（現場）” We have heard about its various contexts and have an almost right knowledge of its meaning.

Gemba（現場）is a very commonly used word and has many meanings in different industries. To summarise, the Gemba（現場） is a place where value add operations take place, the place where the production goes on.

In a manufacturing factory, Gemba（現場） may be the shop floor, in road maintenance and repair, it may mean the place where the maintenance work is going on kouji gemba (工事現場?こうじげんば) 。In journalism it may mean ??ground report i.e. to report from the actual place of an incident (an accident, minister’s speech) in which case it is called gemba shuzai (現場取材?げんばしゅざい) etc.

The word Gemba（現場） is composed of two words, gen (現?げん) and ba (場?ば). While gen (現?げん) means "current" or "existing", the word ba (場?ば) means a place. The literal meaning would be existing place….and given more contextual fine tuning it means, “the actual place.”? The word Gemba（現場） featured in Toyota Production System(TPS) where the detailed way of arriving at root cause of a problem is narrated.

?The purpose of the Gemba（現場） is problem solving or resolving problems. When we say a Gemba（現場） is the place products are made, we should also understand that it is also a place where problems may arise, cause confusion, errors in work, defects being produced and bringing production to a standstill. If production stops even for a few seconds, it has big cascading effect on the volume produced as per the production plan. A small problem may mushroom into a big issue resulting in the managers being answerable and trustworthiness of the company being at risk.

This makes the existence of problem palpable. What is going wrong that so many defects are being surfaced? Why does my line stop frequently? How am I answerable lost manhours hampering volume of production?

The answer to these and many other such questions which torment team managers and the higher ups lies in the Gemba（現場）.

In the Toyota production System (TPS), there is one problem solving motto – “Go to the specific place (genchi) or the actual place (gemba), see the actual thing(genbutsu).”(Explained later)

Gemba in other words is the answer to all questions pertaining to production.

The Origin of the Concept of the Gemba（現場）

The word Gemba（現場） found its beginnings in writings of the Taiichi Ohno, an executive in the Toyota Motors who established the Toyota Production System (TPS). Taiichi Ohno believed in the premise that the management cadre should keep watch on the production floor (gemba) and identify opportunities to improve. The observations of the Gemba（現場） must be empirical and non-based on hearsay. (i.e. the information about the Gemba（現場） must be one’s own direct observation and not got from team members or colleagues)

Which boils down to the basic fact that the management must personally walking the Gemba（現場） and find the pointers for improvement. This is called the gemba walk.

Gemba walk (現場視察?げんばしさつ /Gemba shisatsu)

Gemba walk (現場視察?げんばしさつ /Gemba shisatsu) pertains to the walks by the management folks in the Gemba（現場）. By doing the gemba walks the management identifies wastes in production systems and finds ways to promote employee involvement at work. Gemba walks promote a spirit of continuous improvement in the shopfloor and in the entire organisation. The whole idea of gemba walks is the management team interacts with employees to gain a shared understanding of work processes and are enabled to quick identification of potential process issues.

Gemba walk is based on the ?TPS concepts, namely the Gemba(現場) , Genbutsu（現物） and Genjitsu（現実） wherein the Gemba(現場) ?is the shop floor, Genbutsu（現物）is the? tangible product produced? which can be inspected with hands and eyes, and Genjitsu（現実）is the actuality or the actual state of the product. In Japanese its「実際に現場で現物を視察し現実を認識する」「じっさいにげんばでげんぶつをしさつしげんじつをにんしきする」which means Go to the gemba, see the actual product and be aware of the reality of its state.

This is called sangen shugi 三現主義?さんげんしゅぎ　or the 3-gen principles.

What are the Sangen Shugi or the 3-gen principles?

The sangen shugi are principles which emphasize on three gens (現/げん). Gen (現/げん) refer to the three actual things-Gemba（現場） or actual place, Genbutsu or the actual product and Genjitsu or the actuality.

As per the Japanese rule, managers should go to the Gemba（現場）, see the actual product and be aware of the reality of its state. This rule is expressed in Japanese as 「実際に現場で現物を視察し現実を認識する」「じっさいにげんばでげんぶつをしさつしげんじつをにんしきする」.

Benefits of the Gemba walk (現場視察?げんばしさつ in Japanese)

Enables waste identification: When walking or patrolling the Gemba（現場）, certain things which would otherwise go unnoticed will stand out and be picked by those who walk. These include inefficiencies, wasteful works, wastes which could be influencing work results. Once identified they will be driving corrections and improvements

Provides direct insights: When walking the Gemba（現場） the management gets information directly from the frontline workers which provides insights about processes and potential complications and enable drawing correction measures.

Promotes employee involvement: Gemba walks fosters trust building between the employees and management. It fosters an environment for open and straightforward feedback and a sense of ownership among the employees.

Increases collaborative working relationships: Gemba walks promote cross functional collaboration and synergistic process related problem solving.

In short the gemba walks benefit: Increased insight into daily operations Enhanced communication , Improved efficiency , Reduced wastage , Instant feedback and greater collaboration between teams .

.The above areas are considered to arrive at the changes which needs to be made, its feasibility and training in required. This work on change is in other words KAIZEN.

Unforgivable Aspects of Gemba Management

Speaking about a few unforgivable points which result in poor production, and rejections by customers, the most important is time management.

Firstly the gemba walk is not about micromanaging the employees. Micromanagement would backfire the purpose by fueling resentment rather than respect and trust on the managers. The focus of the managers shifts to scrutiny of the individual instead of looking at the system-level issues holistically.

Secondly lacking consistency of the gemba walks will cause inefficiencies to remain and lead to bad practices.

Thirdly, understanding the issues and perspectives of the employees would result in the actual causes for problems to remain unrealized and unresolved.

Fourth, managers being data oriented without taking actions coupled with pointless data collection would demotivate employees who eagerly await to see the result of their feedbacks.

The other points include

Lack of time consciousness

In factories, even a second is precious for the work to finish as planned. Any stoppages, however small is unacceptable. To make workers conscious of these various trainings are done.

Ignorant of the process.

Being ignorant has led to defects, bad quality and customer dissatisfaction and lack of trust. The workers must understand this interconnectedness.

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5Gen Principle (Gogen shugi 五現主義?ごげんしゅぎ)

In the recent past (not very recent, though) the sangen shugi (三現主義?さんげんしゅぎ)　was considered inadequate as it was felt whether in adoption of the sangen shugi (三現主義?さんげんしゅぎ) are we not missing out the theory　Genri （原理） and differing from the principles, Gensoku（原則）?

Why add Genri （原理） and Gensoku（原則）to a rule which is complete in itself- where you go to the gemba, see the product (genbutsu) with your hands and eyes and know the actual state Genjitsu to know the problem and find measures to correct or change the problematic state?

The reason is about judgements. It’s considered that a correct view of the reality does not by itself lead to correct judgement. The point is the finding out of the cause which lead to the reality. To find the correct cause its recommended to think taking into perspective the theory　Genri （原理） ??and principles, Gensoku（原則）.

For example: Why a person is repeatedly making the mistake? Finding that a person is making a certain mistake cannot lead to a judgement about the actuality. We need to know the cause. Maybe the person misunderstood the explanation given during training, or perhaps the person who trained was not very sure, or certain aspects made it convenient for the employee to work in a self though out method and end up making the mistake.

There go gen(五現?ごげん） or the five principle theory gives a well rounded resolution of the problem identified.

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