A new take on Gemba (S.O.A.P)

Organizations in this ever-changing landscape must constantly look for new ways to evolve, change and transform from not only a customer service perspective, product delivery and services but also how to look inward and align their internal team and external partners to execute their mission.

Improving the way we see the business becomes a critical milestone when we speak about changing a company’s landscape and driving forward to achieve long-range objectives. We all heard the words, “process improvement.” In its simplest terms, process improvement is the proactive task of identifying, analyzing and improving upon existing business processes within an organization for optimization and to meet new quotas or standards of quality.

Process improvement is an ongoing practice in a company and should always be followed up with the analysis of tangible areas of improvement. I believe that all stakeholders from the receptionist to the CEO play a significant role in developing the organization from the perspective or process improvement.

Most of us have heard Albert Einstein’s definition of insanity, “doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.” Unfortunately, many Managers fall in this category more often than you think. Why you ask? Results will not change by you sitting in your corner office and only going to your spreadsheet and KPI meeting. Managers need to go watch where the real work happens. Let us take a stroll down the Gemba walk path and view from a different perspective – one that may be easier to understand.

I remember earlier in my career I was sitting at my desk designing equipment, my boss came up to me and said, “Let’s go out in the shop – I want to show you something.” Picture this, it was one of the hottest August summer days, our shop was about 200,000 sq. feet and I was hoping we would not be going on a mile-long tour. We entered through the fabrication door, took 10 steps in and stopped. My boss asked me, “What do you see?” Since I was quite green in my job and only been there for 1 year I said, “Workers cutting, sawing and welding material.” He responded, “Yes that true, but that’s not what I wanted you to see.”

Back then, I did not realize this would be one of the most important lessons learned and ever received. My boss said, “What you should be seeing is money, cost, waste, and opportunism.” He went on to explain that everything you see here is money (cost) the company is having to spend to produce what we sell and the longer that costs stays here in this shop the more the company spends. We need to figure out how to improve the “process” so the material continues to move and stay in the shop for less time. I will never forget this powerful statement. One that gave me the ability to view the organization from a different lens.

Over the years, I took Gemba to the next step and developed the S.O.A.P. method to help me in my job.  Here is an example to help demonstrate the S.O.A.P. method.

S (See): You must go look, watch and see the work happening to truly appreciate the work that exists in your workshop. Typically, organizations are structured vertically, which fosters the ideas of people in a staff position to look for those above for leadership. If done properly, start this journey by taking 5 minutes observing, reviewing and listening to your employees in the work area where value is created. You will get a fresh perspective on the areas of the business where change starts to occur.

O (Observer): The next step is to start gathering observations related to the machines and equipment. The focus here is to identify areas of non-production or unused machines and tools. At this time, we are not solving problems and making changes but rather observing, gaining input and reflecting. It is a time to ask your inner self-questions. For example, what are the reasons those machines are not busy or what are those tools not being used?

A (Analyze): This step is very similar in nature observation. Here we look at the material and the possible lack of flow or movement. There could potentially be many reasons why the material is not moving, for instance:

• People have to wait on other people
• People are being continuously interrupted by other people
• There are delays in feedback

Machines are backed up due to excessive WIP.

The idea here is also a simple one. We are not looking to solve a problem, but to look and see what is or is not moving and to take notes and ask why.

P (Process Improvement): Finally, this is where the rubber hits the road and we start to develop process improvement ideas. We will not be going in depth into process improvement, but more at a high level. Process improvement makes processes better through some form of change. The effort involved in enhancing business processes can be complex. Companies can identify, evaluate and improve their existing processes on a proactive basis if they have the proper tools and a great organizational culture and strategy.

This simple statement refers back to the main reason for developing the SOAP method. A company will fall behind the market if an organization is not continuously improving the way it performs processes.

Finally, part of improving your processes is to go around the shop floor and collect insightful information about what needs to be improved and if required, go back to where you started.