The name "Gemba Tales" is borrowed from Mark Hamel's two Shingo Prize-winning books, Kaizen Event Fieldbook and Lean Math within which there are dozens of tales. Each tale is based upon the experienced (some successful, some not) of the author and other lean practitioners and shared for the purpose of providing insight into the application of certain lean concepts. The purpose of this blog is really no different, just a bigger community for sharing and learning.
The kaizen pre-event planning phase is critical to event effectiveness. It includes the obvious - event definition from the perspective of scope and targets, team selection, communication and certain acceptable pre-work, but sometimes the simple stuff gets missed.
I just had an experience that prompted me to think about the effectiveness, or sometimes lack thereof, of visual controls. Yesterday I was at a client site. No kaizen, just training.
The Toyota Production System (TPS) "house" is the model home within the lean business system neighborhood. Its roof of highest quality, lowest cost and shortest lead time is supported by the two pillars of JIT and jidoka.
The KPO, short for kaizen promotion office or officer (a.k.a.
Recently, I added a new step to my kaizen event standard work.
Imagine that you were only allowed one chart (or board) at the gemba. What would you pick? What is the Swiss Army knife (I'm more of a Leatherman Multitool fan myself) of charts that gives you insight into process adherence and process performance?
Kaizen event team selection is a critical driver of event effectiveness. Selection criteria includes team representation (to promote diversity, perspective, ownership, and development opportunities), size, chemistry, kaizen experience, and behavioral and technical skills.
Understanding the current reality within the context of time and space is extremely critical. The time observation form is a powerful tool to facilitate direct observation.
This may be a blinding flash of the obvious, but while leaders typically work hard, it’s a different type of work. Most leaders are engaged in a lot of firefighting.
