Gemba Walks…Don’t Forget to Teach!

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We’ve all experienced the importance of gemba walks and know they are an absolute necessity for a lean enterprise.  There are many posts and sights that detail this importance for a transformation and also speak about “good” gemba walk practices.  However, there are a few bad habits that I find myself and others slipping into quite easily.

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Undercover Boss – Going to the Gemba on CBS

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Genchi gembutsu.  Go to the gemba.  The importance of going to the ‘actual place’ to see the ‘actual thing.’  It’s something that lean practitioners value a lot.  CBS’s new reality show, Undercover Boss, premiering on February 7th after the Superbowl is where corporate leaders do just that – the voyeuristic ritual of reality shows goes lean?

Respect for People – Corrective Actions

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We recently came across a situation in a very long cycle time process. During the “automatic” process an operator is to check the status of the operation every 30 minutes and make any corrections for process deviations.   Now that we are focusing on this process, we created a plan to poka yoke the system so that we don’t have to rely on an operator remembering to check every half hour,

Lean Haiku – Fujio Cho in the Gemba

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When I was in elementary school I couldn’t stand poetry.  I didn’t mind reading it, but I absolutely despised having to write poems.  I found it bothersome trying to make everything rhyme.  Then the teacher taught me about haiku.