Kaizen Theory - E-book - ePub

Adoption of the word gemba has lagged behind adoption of thekaizen concept in the world. This is unfortunate butunderstandable; being present on the gemba can be a greatermind-set and behavior change than simply doing kaizen. The Cambridge Business English Dictionary is one of a fewsources, as of November 2011, to give the definition of gembaas an English word:gemba/'gemb/ nounin Japanese business theory, the place where things happenin manufacturing, used to say that people whose job is tomanufacture products are in a good place to makeimprovements in the manufacturing processThis definition captures the spirit of gemba as it pertains tokaizen, but we must first understand gemba in its broadercontext beyond manufacturing.
The meaning of Gemba is "real place" in Japanese language, which is actually a place which is known to host real action. This word is extensively used in spoken Japanese language. So, in live TV reporting for an earthquake this word is used whenthe reporting is meant to be telecasted from the scene itself. Hence, all sorts of crime scene, film location, workplace, excavation site, meeting place etc.
etc. can all be referred to asGemba - a place where facts and evidences can be found. Butfrom business perspective, the customer satisfaction derived outof the value added services is the ones which are referred toas Gemba. So, in Japan, Gemba is as popular a word asKaizen is. Not only that, experts of Japanese business sectoropioned that both these words have greater significance inbusiness parlance as well, so much so that important businessdecisions are taken based on the understanding of a manager'srespective Gemba.
Any business operation practices threeactivities to maximize their profit, without which they don't existand they are to develop, produce and sell. And in braodersense, Gemba forms the common ground of all these threemajor activities, wherein they occur. In this present project, we will use the word in this narrowercontext because these sites have been one of the businessarenas most neglected by management.
Managers seem tooverlook the workplace as a means to generate revenue, andthey usually place far more emphasis on such sectors asfinancial management, marketing and sales, and productdevelopment. When management focuses on the gemba, orwork sites, they discover opportunities for making the companyfar more successful and profitable. In many service sectors, the gemba is where the customerscome into contact with the services offered.
In the hotelbusiness, for instance, gemba is everywhere: in the lobby, thedining room, guest rooms, the reception desk, the check-incounters, and the concierge station. At banks, the tellers areworking in the gemba, as are the loan officers receivingapplicants. Most departments in these service companies haveinternal customers with whom they have interdepartmentalactivity, which also represents the gemba.
A telephone call to ageneral manager, production manager, or quality manager at aJapanese plant is likely to get a response from the manager'sassistant to the effect that "He is out at the gemba."