Lean tools in metal fabrication: Go to Gemba

As I write this article, I am sitting here in the Rocky Mountains enjoying a short vacation. The view is majestic, the aspens have turned bright yellow, and the air is crisp. But it is not until I take a hike up a trail that the real beauty comes into focus—an oddly shaped tree, a steep incline, and the awesomeness of a mother moose and baby running by the creek.

What does this have to do with metal fabrication? It illustrates, albeit in a different context, the benefits of going on a gemba walk. In manufacturing, we go to gemba to see operational details and to appreciate value-adding work.

Observing the plant from the supervisor’s desk, the manager’s office, or the executive’s corner suite is like viewing the Rocky Mountains from your car.

You probably think you know what is going on based on reports and meetings. Hike the gemba trail, though, and you see and experience the detail.

Defining gemba

gemba is a Japanese term that translates to “where the work is at.” Some definitions specify “the real place” or “the actual place,” but the most important point is the reference to “where value-adding work is taking place.” Put simply, gemba is where work occurs.

Everyone at your company works, of course—the welder, assembler production manager, the accounts payables clerk, the plant manager. We all work, and we all have gemba. In the current context, though, we will define gemba as work that, from the customer’s perspective, adds value. And we’ll define value as anything that helps transform a product or service into something the customer wants and pays for.

The welder’s gemba is the weld table and surrounding cell. The assembler’s gemba is in the assembly station where he puts together parts. The engineer’s gemba is at the SolidWorks®gemba station, where he develops a 3-D model for a design-to-order product. From customers’ perspectives, these examples represent value, and that value is created in gemba.

A gemba walk helps everyone at the company understand what is really happening. It helps solve problems and puts the focus on where you can have the greatest impact for the customer. The person on the gemba walk must observe seriously, ask questions, and develop a deep understanding of the work. In short, the gemba walk is a learning opportunity. It could be in response to a specific situation or simply an opportunity to learn about the work.

Customer Problem

Say you work at a plant experiencing operational problems affecting a customer. Orders have shipped late for the past couple of months. The customer is understandably upset, but more importantly, the customer is beginning to question the plant’s capability and reliability.

What does the leadership team do? They look at the timing of order entry, lead-time offsets in the system, dates the operations are completed, and other system- and administrative-related items. They create a stir in the production planning and customer service areas. The result is order realignment, expediting, and general havoc for all involved. Yet little attention is directed toward going to gemba. The result: Leaders are probably working on the symptoms rather than root causes of the late-delivery problem.

Had they gone to gemba, they might have seen that material was queued in front of the press brake because of downtime incurred as a result of an ongoing hydraulic malfunction that caused multiple 7- to 15-minute stoppages every shift. The problem caused a defective bend that led to rework and, ultimately, further erosion of capacity.

Compared to major stoppages—like, say, a blown pump that grinds an entire operation to a halt for two shifts—minor stoppages just don’t get much attention, yet collectively they are just as disruptive. The shop just limps by. Without the gemba walk, this problem is destined to show up again.

Things Are OK … Right?

Now imagine you manage a plant where, all in all, things seem to be going well. Daily and weekly performance reports show positive trends. Cost, quality, and delivery metrics are meeting targets. The pace around the office is steady, and the stress levels seem low. It sounds like the plant manager and her staff have everything under control. The least risky approach is to stay out of operations’ way and let them keep doing what they are doing … right?

As a progressive plant manager, though, you take a different approach. Buying in to the purpose of the gemba walk, you go to the various operations (where the work really happens), observe, and learn. Though everything appears to be running smoothly, you still have good reason to invest time in getting to know and understand the work.

You and other leaders find a spot on the floor to stand and observe people in action: machine operators, welders, material handlers, supervisors. You ask all of them questions. You seek to understand the flow and what happens when the flow is disrupted. You see how machines and equipment work, as well as the state of cleanliness and organization (5S). Your newfound knowledge and appreciation make you and your team better decision-makers, strategy-setters, and problem-solvers.

Design Your gemba Walk

Regardless of what you do in your organization, I encourage you to develop a gemba walk plan. It’s all about observing, learning, and, perhaps most important, asking. To that end, write down some questions. The following list gives you a starting point that may trigger specific questions pertinent to your company:

• What are the highlights on the production control board in the cell or department? Can you clearly tell how the area is performing?
• Did the cell’s output vary from hour to hour yesterday or today? Do you have good flow in this work area?
• Do visual controls indicate what job is being worked on, what operation is being performed, how the operation should be performed, how much inventory should be available, and where materials/tools should be located?
• Did today’s sunrise meeting in this area give you anything you could act upon? Did anyone follow up on the issues mentioned?
• How did you use takt time and cycle time analysis to determine the proper staffing/resource levels?
• Do you have the appropriate tools to do your job? Are the tools organized on a shadow board so you always know where they should be?
• Is everything in this workstation used every day? If not, should some tools be moved out of the immediate work area?
• Do operators in the cell or workstation understand their takt times?
• Why is this queue so large between workstations?
• What gets in the way of your having a good day every day?

Having your gemba-walk question sheet in your back pocket will prepare you to learn and understand the work. Ask questions to help guide your interaction with shop floor personnel. By asking some of these questions repeatedly over time, you will reinforce what is important. Further, you may influence how people behave and work. Most important, you will develop your own knowledge of the work done at your company.

It can be so easy for us to lose sight of the value-added work that occurs every day, whether we are on the front lines or in the executive suite. For this reason, “going to gemba” should be a part of your regular routine.

Sure, seeing operations from your front office gives you a panoramic view, but it’s like looking at the Rockies from your car window. You really can’t see the details, the best practices, or the real problems. I challenge you to do the equivalent of hiking that Rocky Mountain trail: Take a gemba walk to really see the operations. Go observe, ask, and learn. Don’t be surprised if you learn something new every time. Happy hiking!

Jeff Sipes is principal of Back2Basics LLC, 317-439-7960, www.back2basics-lean.com. If you have improvement ideas you’d like to read about, contact him at jwsipes@back 2basics-lean.com or Senior Editor Tim Heston at timh@thefabricator.com.