Gemba, in Japanese, means “site” or “scene” - which is the place where the action is happening. While we go to the Gemba all the time, “The Gemba Walk” is a structure routine where the management team walks the shop to see truth, prevent hypocrisy, and give the General Manager the information they need to make good decisions.

The Gemba Walk

Daily Habit

Leadership shows face daily

Hear kaizen improvements

Develop relationships on the shop floor

Audit our factory

See problems as they arrive

Build trust

Details

If you implement a Gemba Walk, even in its simplest form, you should expect:

  • Leaders feel more connected to the people on the shop floor

  • Leaders have less surprises in their day

  • The shop floor people see leaders more regularly so they know it’s not a bad thing to see leadership showing face

Expected Outcomes

We meet daily in front of the Gemba Walk board to grab our audit card. Then, we walk around the shop auditing the contents of our card. We capture observations on our card so that our conductor (Ken, the GM) can set priority for things we want to do. We rotate the categories weekly.

Format

Audit Cards

Gemba Walk Team

  • Ken Govertsen | General Manager

  • Tyler Hagens | Develop Section Leader

  • Oliver Milton | Integration Section Leader

  • Darrin Wright | Aerospace Build Section Leader

  • Amgad Shafik | Build Section Leader

Common Questions

  • We have been doing this walk for 15+ years. Early on, each walker had a category to focus on but we realized that “Safety” or “Quality” are large categories and that lead to variation in what we looked at.

    Additionally, we found that capturing information on a card can help us remember things we may want to take action on.

  • We have learned that starting the habit is the most important thing. Whether we are talking Team Clean, Gemba Walk, or Team Train - just start the habit. Instead of spending most of your day away from the value creation, go for a walk - in community - and see what you observe!

  • We use Adobe Illustrator and have created a template to be able to create + print with ease.