Every successful Gemba Walk begins with a well-thought-out Gemba Walk Checklist. This creates structure and ensures you don’t miss out on anything important. It would be ineffective to come back from a Gemba walk, having missed something like knowing if the right-sized pallets were available or not…
Creating a checklist will help you keep that from happening. This article gives you tips on creating the best Gemba Walk Checklists and important questions you must not forget to ask.
What is a Gemba Walk?
Like many lean manufacturing terms, Gemba has Japanese roots. It can be translated as ‘the real place’. In the manufacturing world, this refers to where products are manufactured, AKA, the factory floor.
Gemba Walks refer to going down to the shop floor and interacting with workers. This lets you get first-hand insights into the production process, problem areas and so on.
Why are Gemba Walks so Important?
Gemba Walks play an important role in ramping up production and minimizing waste. Walking through the factory floor allows you to see processes in real-time. It also allows you to speak directly to workers and get their perspective. In turn, this gives you a more realistic view of the factors affecting productivity and efficiency rates.
This can help design solutions that are beneficial to everyone. It can also help you distribute the workforce more efficiently. Safety issues also become easier to identify and address. Most importantly, it opens a direct channel of communication between workers and management.
Conducting Gemba Walks
Gemba Walks are aimed at understanding the work processes and identifying ways to improve them. There are 4 key elements.
- Observe
The first step is to go around the work floor and observe the different machines and processes in action.
- Engage and Question
Secondly, engage with workers and get their feedback. A Gemba Walk should not be a performance evaluation or a fault-finding mission. Talk to the workers to earn their trust.
When you spot a problem, ask questions to understand it. The lean manufacturing 5 Why and WWWWHW (What, When, Where, Who, How, Why) techniques are particularly helpful.
- Collect Data
You will need to record all observations, figures and other kinds of relevant information. This is where a Gemba Walk Checklist is helpful. Digitizing data collection with Fabriq ensures traceability and can save time.
- Identify Opportunities for Improvement
Throughout the walk, look for areas and processes that you can improve. This may be connected to safety issues, bottlenecks, process inefficiencies and so on.
After Gemba Walks
Use the data collected during a Gemba Walk to drive discussions at your next meeting. Identify the activities that add the least and most value to the process. Finally, follow up on the points noted on the Gemba Walk.
Reporting no issues isn’t always a good sign. It usually indicates a flaw in the Gemba Walk. For example, you may not have spoken to the right person or asked the right questions.
Creating a Gemba Walk Checklist
A Gemba Walk checklist is a series of questions and inspection points. The ideal checklist differs from situation to situation. Here are 6 steps to design a Gemba walk checklist.
Define your purpose
For a Gemba walk to be fruitful, it must have a purpose. It is not possible to address productivity, worker health, lead time, etc. simultaneously. Hence, define your primary objective.
Identify focal points
Go through the processes that take place on the factory floor and identify the areas or processes you intend to cover with this Gemba Walk. You can base your questions and observation points on this.
List your points
Involve other team members in listing down the observation points and a set of questions for the Gemba Walk. These points must align with the purpose of the field tours and the areas of focus.
Assign roles and responsibilities
Unless you are conducting the walk on your own, gather the participants and define their roles and responsibilities. For example, you can designate one person to lead the walk, one person to take photographs and someone else to record observations.
Schedule Gemba Walks
Regular Gemba Walks are key to continuous improvement. Decide how often you want to conduct these walks and try fitting them into your routine.
Review and update
Like any good checklist, your Gemba Walk Checklists should not be static. Review and update your checklist as required to ensure you’re addressing current issues.
Choosing Questions for a Gemba Walk Checklist
Always direct the questions on a Gemba Walk Checklist toward finding solutions, not assigning blame. You do not need a long list of questions. Fewer, broader questions allow you to spend more time understanding the issue.
Here are a few questions you could include for various roles:
Gemba Walk Checklist Questions for Machine Operators
- How often do machines not work properly?
- When did you usually update the daily boards?
- Do you always have the raw materials you need?
- How often can you meet your hourly delivery rate?
- What recent quality issues have you seen?
Gemba Walk Checklist Questions for Team Leaders
- How do you determine if the right workers are assigned to each station?
- How often is production on schedule?
- How do you ensure that workers are clear on what to do next in the process?
- How do you make sure your team has the right tools for the next task?
- What quality challenges or issues have you encountered recently?
Gemba Walk Checklist Questions for Managers
- How do you ensure new workers receive the training they need to succeed in their roles?
- How do you determine if the team has enough people to complete the next job?
- Is the team meeting production targets for the week?
- How often does the team leader conduct Gemba walks?
- What issues have you encountered that you feel higher management should be aware of?
Gemba Walk Checklist Questions for Directors
- What critical issues, if any, are currently impacting our ability to meet production goals?
- How do you stay informed about new technology updates, and are there any you feel could improve our operations?
- How do you assess the unit’s overall performance, and are there areas where we’re falling short of our KPIs?
- What safety concerns, if any, have you encountered recently?
- How are our operational processes aligned with corporate goals?
Digitalizing your Gemba Walks
Working with pen and paper can make a Gemba Walk overwhelming. There’s also a risk of information loss if a sheet goes missing. Hastily handwritten notes also stand the risk of being unclear – a ‘7’ may look like a ‘9’…
Digitalizing the checklist and data handling process can help overcome this. It can also give you access to real-time analytics.
You can go through a digital checklist on mobile devices and capture data through notes as well as photographs and videos. This information can be directed to a central repository making it easy to access at the end of your field tour.
With Fabriq, you can also raise a ticket while you are on your walk. This means you can report problems without interrupting a Gemba Walk. Linking the ticket to the Gemba Walk routine makes it easier to navigate between them.
Using Gemba Walk to Optimize Production
Gemba Walks are powerful tools for organizations moving towards operational excellence. They make it easier to pinpoint problems and take appropriate corrective action. A Gemba Walk Checklist is like a compass guiding you through this process.
You’re less likely to miss out on important details and can harness the full potential of your Gemba Walks. Digitizing the process takes this a step further. When scheduled regularly, Gemba Walks can drive continuous improvement, minimize waste and bring you closer to your goals.
