Gemba is a Japanese concept that involves site visits to understand outlying problems with your manufacturing process. Using Gemba, senior management can better understand why the manufacturing plant might be facing efficiency and productivity issues. They can be guided by the plant manager during their Gemba walk or choose to take a walk themselves and interact with the workers on the shop floor. A Gemba walk is meant for employees who are higher up in the management hierarchy to interact with the workers on the floor. Furthermore, it allows the senior management to further understand the manufacturing process. This understanding enables them to gain insight into different steps of product development and ask the right questions when problems appear.

 

The Traditional Gemba Approach

 

However, the traditional Gemba approach is more centred on what the managers see with their own eyes. The role of data in a Gemba walk is minimal, and hence the decisions made on the basis of a Gemba walk can often not be backed by the data generated at the shop floor. Additionally, the Gemba walk can often lead to decisions skewed in favour of workers and detrimental to the company. If the Gemba walk is periodic, it is often possible to ‘rig’ the walk by ensuring that the plant works fine during the duration of the walk. Since the walk happens during the plant’s normal working hours, the time available for workers to answer questions is limited. The walk can also disrupt the working of the manufacturing process. A Gemba walk can also potentially have a narrow view and not be able to look at all the issues that the plant is facing.

 

e-Gemba

 

Based on the above issues and challenges of traditional Gemba walks, the concept of e-Gemba has been developed. At its core, e-Gemba is a data-driven Gemba approach that consolidates what the manager observes on the shop floor with the data that the shop floor provides. Among the major prerequisites for e-Gemba is the digital transformation of the shop floor. The concept of e-Gemba can be a major component of industry 4.0. Especially in manufacturing facilities where end-to-end manufacturing is involved, e-Gemba can provide actionable and valuable insights into the bottlenecks of your manufacturing process and help you address these challenges through data.

There are several ways that e-Gemba is currently performed. Since there is great emphasis on the collection of data, this is done using tablets, cameras, or even computer vision capabilities. Additionally, augmented reality plays a huge role in performing e-Gemba walks since it helps managers survey the manufacturing process while data collection occurs concurrently.

 

Many advantages come with e-Gemba. Here is a brief overview of just a few of them.

 

• Reduction in Bias: As noted above, traditional Gemba can potentially be biased one way or another and be detrimental to the company’s bottom line. Since the manager will generally be taking the subjective opinion of workers, it is possible that decisions taken after the Gemba walk can go excessively in workers’ favour. However, Gemba walks that are based on data allow you to maintain a balance between the workers and the bottom line of your company. Using advanced data analytics tools, you can preempt the impact that a particular decision will have on your bottom line.

• Reduced Resistance to Change: Among the main advantages of traditional Gemba is that workers are accorded respect by the management. They are made major stakeholders in the decision-making process, and hence their resistance to changes that you introduce is minimized. However, changes made in workers’ favour might meet resistance at the senior management level. This can be reduced by using data to back your decisions, satisfying the workers and the management.

• Transparency: Since traditional Gemba is more of a subjective method, it is hard to maintain transparency in business decision making when using it. When data is involved, a greater amount of objectivity is brought to decision-making, and all stakeholders’ concerns are addressed while maintaining the transparency of your business data. Through the real-time insights that this data provides, it is possible to indulge in continuous improvement of your manufacturing processes without bringing about radical changes that can disrupt your manufacturing process.

 

 

Improved Bottom Line Through e-Gemba

 

There is no doubt that the initial cost of shop-floor digitization for creating a smart factory can be significant. However, these costs can be quickly recouped through the improvements you make in the company’s bottom line. Among the most significant advantages of using data alongside Gemba is that the impact of changes on the bottom line can be forecast and significant losses can be reduced or avoided altogether. 

 

Conclusion

 

The concept of e-Gemba is capable of bringing about a major change in how manufacturing decisions are made. It combines data-driven insight with what is observed on the shop floor to address the concerns of all involved in the manufacturing process. It also makes your decisions more justifiable and improves the transparency in your business decision making. These factors combine to result in a better bottom line.

Shopworx provides end-to-end solutions for shop floor monitoring. Our software has become the go-to solution for improving shop floor productivity. Contact us to book a demo.