Definition Gemba is a japanese term for place (Where the action is)

T

tyker

#1
After several decades in quality assurance, I am, as you would expect, frail in both mind and body.
I work for a multi-national organization which has its head office in the dark, frozen wastes of northern Europe and, as only those with a disease of the throat can speak the Scandinavian languages, the company has decreed English to be it's chosen mode of communication.
Unfortunately, our management has discovered Japanese and it has become fashionable amongst the upper echelons to toss in the occasional oriental expression when discussing quality. I'm too old to learn another language but have got used to Kaisen, Muda and so on.
Yesterday, my manager asked for meetings to be arranged on the shop floor to include "Gemba". I hadn't come across this and, assuming it to be another Japanese term, you can imagine my surprise when I Googled my way to gemba.org.uk to find it was an acronym.
Quite what the Gloucestershire Ethnic Minority Business Association will bring to the meeting I'm not sure (I just hope they're not too noisy) but, as my manager is so commited, I felt it only fair to share this information with fellow Covers.
I'm now going to partake of some warm milk and retire to a darkened room until the voices stop.
May our American friends have a truly joyous Thanksgiving.
 
Elsmar Forum Sponsor

reynald

Quite Involved in Discussions
#3
Gemba is a japanese term for place.
But it has the connotation of place where the action is found. example if you are an electrician, your gemba is where the wires are found, and not where fishes are found (it is a fishermans gemba). if you are a process engineer, your gemba is where your machine is. not where the paperworks are.
The concept came from toyotas' lean manufacturing which in part says that in solving problem, get the firsthand information by going to the gemba.
 
#4
tyker said:
I work for a multi-national organization which has its head office in the dark, frozen wastes of northern Europe and, as only those with a disease of the throat can speak the Scandinavian languages, the company has decreed English to be it's chosen mode of communication.
LMAOROTFSTC :lmao: Actually one of my coworkers is a brit, and guess what? He learned to communicate in reasonably good Swedish in about six months. Now, a few years later a very slight accent is all that gives him away. I always found that very impressive, but now I realize how poor a shape he must be in. :lol:

tyker said:
Unfortunately, our management has discovered Japanese and it has become fashionable amongst the upper echelons to toss in the occasional oriental expression when discussing quality.
Yeah, I hear you. Anything to complicate simple matters, eh? The nasty thing to do is to ask them to explain the terms they're dropping all over the place: There is a fair to good chance that less than half of them are able to do that.

tyker said:
I'm now going to partake of some warm milk and retire to a darkened room until the voices stop.
Managers voices? Hmmmm. For how long are you prepared to wait? :rolleyes:

tyker said:
May our American friends have a truly joyous Thanksgiving.
Agreed.
 
F

FlavioLima

#5
Adding more Gs to your lexicon

Japanese terms are quite common in Brasil in explanation of all quality stuff.
It's not my intention to prorougue your stay in dark room :D , but anyway here is more richness to your G's lexicon and influence your management :lol: :


Japanese 5 G's

1. Gemba (actual site)
2. Genbutsu (actual thing)
3. Genjitsu (actual situation / occurrence)
4. Genri (the theory)
5. Gensoku (standards)

So if you go to the place where things are happening, study the thing is suffering / producing effects, analyse the real situation using the theory, probably you're going to find a solution and "create" the standards to avoid re-occurrence.
Hope it helps you to get out of dark room.
Best regards.

FL
 
#6
Milton Keynes..the home of concrete cows???

well, Mr Tyker, greetings from an ex-Bradville dweller (or should that be "Braddle") from the late 70's! Sorry to bring up the cows, it's a long while since I lived there! Should I do a GEMBA next time I'm visiting the U.K? Oh! and Turkey Day here was good, if a little cold!

Andy
 

Caster

An Early Cover
Trusted Information Resource
#7
Pure poetry

FlavioLima said:
Japanese 5 G's.......... go to the place where things are happening, study the thing is suffering ...........FL
Flavio

I just barely have 5S memorized, now I have to start again with 5G. Do they have a 'list of 5" for every letter of the alphabet?

I really like the imagery of the quote above...it just makes me happy. Reduce suffering in the plant! People and machines both can suffer I guess. And we should reduce suffering. I like it.

Thanks for this list, I only knew gemba alone, it is much more powerful with 4 brothers.
 
W

wmarhel

#8
This all ties into the concept of "Genchi Genbutsu" or, going to, and observing the place where the work is actually performed.

Of course, asking some people to get off their chair and out of their office into the :eek: shop floor is just downright inexcusable.

Wayne
 
F

FlavioLima

#10
Caster said:
Flavio

I just barely have 5S memorized, now I have to start again with 5G. Do they have a 'list of 5" for every letter of the alphabet?

I really like the imagery of the quote above...it just makes me happy. Reduce suffering in the plant! People and machines both can suffer I guess. And we should reduce suffering. I like it.

Thanks for this list, I only knew gemba alone, it is much more powerful with 4 brothers.
Suffering was just a poetic license, but anyway you got it. lol lol
5 is the cabalistic number to japanese people - 5S's, 5G's, 5 Why's ... How many big islands are they? Only 4 + 1 (complex of Ryukyu), maybe this is the reason. lol lol
 
Thread starter Similar threads Forum Replies Date
K Gemba Walks - Do you practice Gemba Walks in your organizations? Lean in Manufacturing and Service Industries 8
P Lean ISO 9001 - Lean Documents, use of Gemba, Inspection Methods, etc. Lean in Manufacturing and Service Industries 9
Chennaiite "Unusual Situation" in Gemba? Just Food for thought Quality Manager and Management Related Issues 0
P Gemba - Morning Markets - Lean program called Gemba Morning markets Lean in Manufacturing and Service Industries 8
P How do you know 3G (Gemba, Gembutsu, Genjitsu) in workshop kaizen? Lean in Manufacturing and Service Industries 9
DanteCaspian Gemba Lot / Box Label Printing? Manufacturing and Related Processes 7
B Purchasing AS9100D Standard in Japanese AS9100, IAQG, NADCAP and Aerospace related Standards and Requirements 2
K Comparator drug with Japanese label use in Clinical trials? US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 0
I Japanese medical device recall requirements & procedure for foreign manufacturers Japan Medical Device Regulations 4
M Are English translations required for Japanese Certs Japan Medical Device Regulations 1
E IVD Classification in Japan based on the Japanese Pharmaceutical Affairs Law Japan Medical Device Regulations 2
Y How to distribute CE marked product for Japanese market? EU Medical Device Regulations 3
I UDI requirements vs Japanese Barcode Marking guideline Japan Medical Device Regulations 1
W Japanese Steel Specifications - A material called HNCM220M Manufacturing and Related Processes 1
R Japanese Requirements for Medical Devices - JPAL Ordinance 169 + "law" references Japan Medical Device Regulations 5
AnaMariaVR2 FDA Puts Japanese Manufacturer on Import Alert after Disastrous Inspection US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 1
P Japanese Pharmaceutical Affairs Law (JPAL) Internal Audit Checklist Quality Manager and Management Related Issues 4
Z How does Japanese Customs Clear and Control Devices shipped into Japan? Japan Medical Device Regulations 3
Q Japanese Pharmaceutical Affairs Law (PAL) doc and "Essential Principle Checklist" Japan Medical Device Regulations 2
AnaMariaVR2 2011 Top 10 Players in the Japanese Pharmaceutical Market US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 0
S Need help with Japanese Specification - Wire callout of "SWIC-F-SW-C" Customer and Company Specific Requirements 4
R Why 7 & 3 are in most of the Japanese Tools Misc. Quality Assurance and Business Systems Related Topics 8
M Why Japanese are ahead? Misc. Quality Assurance and Business Systems Related Topics 27
C 5S Pictures with Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu and Shitsuke in Japanese Coffee Break and Water Cooler Discussions 3
B New Japanese automotive launch (composite plastics molding) - Acceptable Cpk? Capability, Accuracy and Stability - Processes, Machines, etc. 12
Q JMDN (Japanese Medical Device Nomenclature) codes list needed Japan Medical Device Regulations 23
Crusader Hosting Japanese Business Visitors - Need the Cove members advice / opinion Travel - Hotels, Motels, Planes and Trains 43
M Japanese rule on EtO residuals in sterilized medical devices? Various Other Specifications, Standards, and related Requirements 16
S 5 Zu - Japanese concept Quality Tools, Improvement and Analysis 14
O Training of Japanese Manufacturing Tools Lean in Manufacturing and Service Industries 6
T How to handle medical product changes? - Japanese market ISO 13485:2016 - Medical Device Quality Management Systems 7
Stijloor Training Materials: "Working With Japanese Colleagues" Training - Internal, External, Online and Distance Learning 1
I J-STD-002 - Japanese Standard - Solderability Tests - Where to find Various Other Specifications, Standards, and related Requirements 6
Govind What is a Proof Reading Ratio? Japanese Customer Questionnaire General Measurement Device and Calibration Topics 10
T ISO 10993 Tests of End Product vs. Test of Material - Japanese Requirements ISO 13485:2016 - Medical Device Quality Management Systems 6
S Japanese companies don?t adopt SIX SIGMA / ISO - Still they are leading in Quality Misc. Quality Assurance and Business Systems Related Topics 66
Marc The Japanese Foundation of Quality Philosophy, Gurus, Innovation and Evolution 41
F ISO13485:2003 vs. the Japanese PAL Ordinance No. 169 - Seeking Gap Analysis ISO 13485:2016 - Medical Device Quality Management Systems 1
Q If iso 9001 registration is a mandatory, would... Japanese auto manufacturers pass? ISO 9000, ISO 9001, and ISO 9004 Quality Management Systems Standards 16
H Japanese Regulations for Medical Devices - Three Questions ISO 13485:2016 - Medical Device Quality Management Systems 6
S What are the Japanese Big 3 Requirements - Nissan, Toyota, Honda Customer and Company Specific Requirements 16
W Japanese Market - Any special requirements (regulatory or quality)? ISO 13485:2016 - Medical Device Quality Management Systems 3
Y New Japanese EMC/electrical safety standards - Additional product testing required? 21 CFR Part 820 - US FDA Quality System Regulations (QSR) 1
R The term "Benefit Risk Ratio" in EU MDR, do I need to present benefit risk analysis as a RATIO Risk Management Principles and Generic Guidelines 4
lanley liao How to understand the term 3.1.21 'Servicing' and the clause 5.7.1.2 'Servicing' of API Spec Q1? Oil and Gas Industry Standards and Regulations 19
R What's the major difference between Green Belt and Black Belt in term of training and project Six Sigma 3
M Intention of Planned Arrangments term in ISO 14001 2004 vs 2015 ISO 14001:2015 Specific Discussions 3
Ajit Basrur Definitions - Short-term and Brief exposure Occupational Health & Safety Management Standards 2
P Why does the standard clause use the term Issues in place of Context - ISO 27001 4.1 IEC 27001 - Information Security Management Systems (ISMS) 3
M FDA News Statement from USFDA on steps to strengthen the long-term safety oversight of the Essure device Medical Device and FDA Regulations and Standards News 0

Similar threads

Top Bottom