What is Gemba Kaizen? Gemba Kaizen. The path to lower costs and higher quality - Masaaki Imai. Basic elements of the Kaizen concept

Gemba Kaizen. The path to lower costs and higher quality Masaaki Imai

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Title: Gemba Kaizen. The path to lower costs and higher quality

About the book “Gemba Kaizen. The Path to Reducing Costs and Improving Quality" Masaaki Imai

Gemba kaizen is the continuous improvement of the most important aspects of an organization’s activities, directly related to the creation of added value and customer relations. First of all, these are production processes and trade contacts. The book is practical and offers solutions that are based on common sense and do not require significant resources. The roles and responsibilities of top-level managers, middle managers and performers in improvement processes are considered. A lot of examples are given from a variety of business areas - from the automotive industry to insurance, from electronics to chemistry. The book is addressed to managers at all levels interested in finding methods to maintain and develop the long-term competitiveness of their companies. The new edition adds current cases from the experience of leading Japanese companies, as well as their best Western followers. The book will be of interest not only to undergraduate and graduate students involved in management, marketing, quality, logistics and other relevant approaches to doing business, but also to anyone interested in the development of modern economic thought.

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jazzina

funkyguy wrote:

This kaizen gemba and mudu or mudu were introduced at GAZ in Nizhny, they bullied everyone, there was no point. Idiot Japanese system. As a result, GAZ still ended up in the “fifth point”. I know that several thousand people (perhaps they no longer work there) would be happy to give the author of this book and the implementers of this technology a good 3.14 salaries.

Do you even know what kaizen is? Or are you going by rumors?
But the owners of Toyota and Honda would not give it, but erect a monument.
Kaizen/TQM turned Japan from a backward country into a second world economy, and Toyota became the largest manufacturer of the most reliable (!!!) cars, and you say “stars”
Whatever you want, but somehow a Toyota with kaizen is more interesting than a GAZ without kaizen
So there is no point in blaming the mirror, if... etc. according to the text.
Better read the book, and then you will understand why Kaizen failed miserably at GAZ.

pjohnscombs

Quote:

Kaizen/TQM turned Japan from a backward country into a second world economy, and Toyota became the largest manufacturer of the most reliable (!!!) cars, and you say “stars”

Oh, yes, it turns out that TQM is based on Japanese soil, their attitude to work, company, management and life is one and the same as the Russian attitude to work, company, management and life. Yes, you really enlightened me, thank you! But the men didn’t even know

funkyguy

overlove wrote:

In Nizhny there are two enterprises that have tested this system - GAZ and TechnoNIKOL. So at GAZ they tried to rebuild only the workers and engineers of the lower and middle management, the top management "rebuilt" only in words

I especially remember that the introduction of this equipment at GAZ began with the issuance of conveyor belts to the workers toilet passes during working hours - 2! coupon for the day... Russia has a stock of idiots for 100 years ahead (c)

overlove wrote:

and TechnoNIKOL was implemented so successfully that the enterprise from a hole turned into one of the most advanced in its industry and God forbid everyone works.

As a resident of Nizhny, I have not heard of such an enterprise, I suspect that its role in the city’s economy is very insignificant; there are probably no more than 150-200 workers there. Therefore, talking about successful implementation on such a “dwarf” on a Russian scale is simply not serious.

future_edge

funkyguy wrote:

Yes. Classics of the genre.
- I don’t like Pavarotti, he burrs, doesn’t hit the notes...
- Have you been to Pavarotti’s concert?
- No, Rabinovich sang it to me.

grifinus

future_edge wrote:

funkyguy wrote:

28144016This kaizen gemba and muda or mudu were implemented at GAZ in Nizhny, they bullied everyone, there was no point. Idiot Japanese system. As a result, GAZ still ended up in the “fifth point”. I know that several thousand people (perhaps they no longer work there) would be happy to give the author of this book and the implementers of this technology a good 3.14 salaries.

Well, the typical mass of people don’t want to work)) after all, first of all, it makes you think, and not so much that you passed your pass and poured a glass)))
and gas)) where is gas now - the leader of the domestic industry
VAZ adopted technologies from foreigners, and there is continuous kaizen and lean production
and where is the Muscovite and others)) alas and ah))

Sasha Borodach

grifinus wrote:

63994004a gas)) where is gas now - the leader of the domestic industry

Well, Gazelles run and will continue to run.

grifinus wrote:

63994004VAZ adopted technologies from foreigners, and there is continuous kaizen and lean production

But I don’t even see Zhiguli cars in Khrushchev cars... Japanese innovations didn’t help

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Gemba kaizen is the continuous improvement of the most important aspects of an organization's activities, directly related to the creation of added value and customer relations. First of all, these are production processes and trade contacts. The book is practical and offers solutions that are based on common sense and do not require significant resources. The roles and responsibilities of top-level managers, middle managers and performers in improvement processes are considered. A lot of examples are given from a variety of business areas - from the automotive industry to insurance, from electronics to chemistry.

The book is addressed to managers at all levels interested in finding methods to maintain and develop the long-term competitiveness of their companies. The new edition adds current cases from the experience of leading Japanese companies, as well as their best Western followers. The book will be of interest not only to undergraduate and graduate students involved in management, marketing, quality, logistics and other relevant approaches to doing business, but also to anyone interested in the development of modern economic thought.

Characteristics of the book

Date written: 2012
Date of translation: 2014
Name: Gemba Kaizen. The path to lower costs and higher quality

Volume: 520 pages, 82 illustrations
ISBN: 978-5-9614-3379-1
Translator: D. Savchenko, Tatyana Gutman
Copyright holder: Alpina Digital

Preface to the book "Gemba Kaizen"

Many books have been published in Russia on the topics of increasing business efficiency, reducing losses, and developing organizational management systems. Among them, the books “Kaizen: The Key to the Success of Japanese Companies” and “Gemba Kaizen: The Path to Reducing Costs and Improving Quality” are world classics. The author of these books, Masaaki Imai, is a guru in the field of developing company business systems. It was he who first introduced the Japanese word “kaizen” into the vocabulary of modern business, formed from two hieroglyphs - “change” and “good”. In Masaaki Imai's interpretation, kaizen means the continuous improvement of all processes and operations of an organization, in which all employees, without exception, participate.

Kaizen is the experience of many Japanese companies, and primarily Toyota, where the greatest attention is paid to the creation of its proprietary production system and which is considered the standard of application kaizen. But, as we know, there are no limits to perfection, which means there is something to strive for. Therefore, for half a century, Toyota has continued to search and find reserves of efficiency, as if “squeezing water out of a dry towel,” as Shigeo Shingo, who worked for many years on creating the production system of the Japanese concern, put it.

The successes of Japanese companies inspired the popularizers of this experience, who coined the special term “lean production” to describe the concept of a business system. For a reader already familiar with kaizen and lean manufacturing may be considered to be the same thing. This is not entirely true. Lean is the state of the enterprise, a kind of status that companies strive for. By becoming Lean, they can count on business success, minimum costs and maximum efficiency. Having become such, they can look to the future with confidence because they feel ready to quickly change in accordance with consumer demands and can overcome the crisis period with fewer losses. In recent years, many have learned what it means to be lean, i.e. Lean. The question remains: how to become a Lean organization? Answer: kaizen!

Kaizen is often thought of as a sequence of small improvement activities. Masaaki Imai offers a strategic approach that goes beyond just JIT, Kanban, Value Stream, or Quality Management techniques. The author shows a way to integrate long-term strategy, improvement projects and daily employee activities to reduce waste. Against this background, a special corporate culture is being formed in the company, introducing a much-needed element of creativity for both people and the company as a whole. Kaizen is a business strategy that involves all employees without exception, at every level and in all functional areas, in joint work, uniting people rather than dividing them.

"Gemba kaizen: The Path to Reducing Costs and Improving Quality" is the second book by Masaaki Imai, published 11 years after the first. By then, KAIZEN Institute, founded and headed by Masaaki Imai, had expanded its activities throughout the world. In consulting with his clients, Masaaki Imai formulated an approach gemba kaizen, which is based on, firstly, the management of the workspace - the place where value is directly created, and, secondly, the organization of a continuous flow of the process in which jobs are combined into a value stream.

Gemba is a Japanese term literally meaning "place where work is done." This could be a manufacturing site, the front desk of a hotel, a construction site, or the underwriting department of a bank. Thus, the concept " gemba kaizen” can be translated as “a continuous process of improving workplaces and processes.” This approach has become one of the key practices for KAIZEN Institute. During intensive kaizen-improvement sessions are carried out in workshops or administrative departments in real time. This organization of work allows you to learn not only to make immediate improvements, but also to gain the skill of recognizing direct losses and problems that may arise in the future in the work process.

Enterprise management is puzzled by the problem of “how to make people work” and sometimes does not think at all about the fact that the main leadership role is not only to indicate “where to go”, but also to support this process, providing comprehensive assistance to people striving for change. And those managers who understand the importance of support often try to implement it “from their office”, without even being in production. Base your decisions on facts. “To solve problems, go to gemba" - to the place where the process takes place, be it a workshop or a customer service window!

Each of us has encountered a situation where, having spent a lot of time and resources on creating an ideal solution or product, over time we see a lot of shortcomings in it. But, realizing the amount of effort invested, we are in no hurry to change anything, exploiting this solution to the last. The essence of the Japanese approach is different. By creating something new, the Japanese are ready to further improve it tomorrow. And the sooner you start improving, the fewer improvements will be required. That's what it is kaizen- an addition to innovation, ensuring its maximum efficiency. At the same time, the effect of improvements is comparable to the result of introducing innovation, and the costs are many times lower.

Some of the author's statements intrigue the reader with an unexpected combination of concepts. For example, how can “continuous improvement” and “widespread standardization” be combined? And the title of the book itself indicates the existence of a way to simultaneously improve quality and reduce costs. How is this possible? After all, we are often told the opposite: “Cheap is never good” or “Is it cheap or high quality for you?” Masaaki Imai constantly draws attention to the key property of any standard - maximum simplicity while ensuring the required level of quality. The search for the simplest path is on a continuous basis, because simplifying the standard reduces the possibility of errors.

But often management imposes culture and standards on employees; this conflicts with the established concepts of the employee and gives rise to conflict. The development of corporate culture in isolation from production further widens the gap between understanding “what I do” and “what I think.” Masaaki Imai speaks of the need to improve standards through “physical changes” of workplaces with the direct participation of employees, since only this can lead to the acquisition of new experiences, the development of new habits and, as a result, a change in thinking. Thus, he justifies the need for constant experiments and improvements not in offices, but where products are actually created or services are provided, i.e. gemba.

Gemba Kaizen. The Path to Reducing Costs and Improving Quality - Masaaki Imai (download)

(introductory fragment of the book)

The Japanese word kaizen literally means change (kai) made for the purpose of improvement (zen). The key elements of this approach are: quality, effort, desire to change and communication. The basis of kaizen is the gemba house, which includes five components:

• teamwork;
• personal discipline;
• high moral qualities;
• quality circles;
• suggestions for improvement.

With these foundations in place, kaizen focuses on eliminating muda (waste, waste, and inefficient work), applying the 5S business success model, and standardization.

When to use the model

Kaizen can be used to solve several types of problems: process inefficiencies, poor quality, high inventory, long order delivery times, and production cycle times. In this model, employees are encouraged to make suggestions for improvements and do so during weekly meetings (called workshops). Suggested improvements may be large or small. Kaizen is primarily focused on eliminating muda. Losses and unnecessary expenses come in many different forms. Let's look at some of them.

• Defective products. If the products produced are of poor quality, consumers will refuse to buy them. The effort and resources spent on creating such products are a waste. To obtain at least some benefit from such products (and this requires their processing or other actions), it is necessary to resort to new management processes.
• Overproduction. This situation occurs when units are manufactured or purchased before they are needed. This is the most dangerous type of waste for a company, as it hides production problems. In addition, such products need to be stored somewhere and also managed.
• Transportation. Every time a product is transported, there is a risk of damage, loss, delivery delays and many other problems. All movements incur costs without adding value. At the same time, transportation does contribute to the transformation of the product for which the consumer is willing to pay.
• Downtime. They occur when workers have to wait for the required products to arrive from a previous step in the production process. Downtime also occurs due to equipment breakdowns. Efforts for positive changes in this case should be directed towards ensuring a balanced operation of the equipment and implementing preventive measures to prevent unplanned equipment shutdowns.
• Excess inventory. Whether in the form of raw materials, work-in-progress, or finished goods, excess inventory is an investment that is not offset by the income of either the manufacturer or the consumer. If any of these types of inventory are not actively involved in the value-adding process, unnecessary waste occurs.
• Moving. Unlike the word transportation, which is associated with a product, the term moving refers to a worker or equipment. Moving is accompanied by processes such as damage (injury), wear and safety. When movements occur during production, capital assets are used, which results in costs.
• Irrational approach. This kind of excess can be called, for example, the use of a more expensive or more valuable resource in other respects than the one required to solve a given problem, or endowing a product with a property that the consumer does not need. This factor creates a particular problem. To maintain their competence, employees sometimes have to solve tasks that are too simple for themselves, that is, their qualifications allow them to engage in much more difficult operations than those they perform. Unnecessary expenses can be considered training costs, which allows them to be removed from the “loss” category.

A gemba house is a place where products are produced or services are provided.

After reducing unnecessary expenses, the 5S model (so named because its five elements in Japanese begin with the letter s) comes first, designed for successful business management. It consists of the following components.

• Seiri(sorting). A clear separation of the necessary and unnecessary and getting rid of the latter. Helps make work easier.
• Saiton(maintaining order). This accuracy helps improve work efficiency by making decisions about where materials, equipment, files, etc. should be located.
• Seiso(keep it clean). Every person should keep their work area clean, look good and be comfortable to work in.
• Seiketsu(standardization, maintaining order). An effective way to ensure continuous improvement is regularity and orderliness of actions aimed at maintaining a clean and organized workplace.
• Shitsuke(discipline). Personal responsibility for fulfilling the four previous conditions. It is she who largely determines whether things will go well or the company will find itself in a crisis situation.

The final building block in the gemba house is standardization. Standardization of techniques and institutionalization of 5S components make the work of all company employees, including newcomers, easier, and help all employees more successfully engage in continuous improvement. Top managers play an important role in the widespread dissemination and implementation of kaizen, the 5S model and standardization, as well as in coordinating the efforts made during these processes.

The correct implementation of the kaizen concept involves:

• to increase productivity;
• quality improvement;
• improving labor safety;
• speeding up product deliveries;
• cost reduction;
• increasing the degree of consumer satisfaction;
• improving employee morale and increasing their job satisfaction.

How to use the model

When conducting workshops, the following steps should be followed.

• State the problem you will be addressing and the purpose of the workshop.
• Analyze the facts.
• Suggest possible solutions.
• Plan the actions required to implement your chosen solution.
• Follow the solution.
• Check and record the results of your work.

The last step is key, since at the final stage of the kaizen seminar, participants begin to look for opportunities to conduct the next such seminar, which can slow down the process of implementing the results of an already made decision into practice.

conclusions

The Kaizen philosophy ensures high dynamics of changes occurring in the company at production levels. Perhaps the most compelling argument in favor of kaizen is the sustainability of the proposed improvements once they are implemented at the production level. The apparent simplicity of this approach makes it easy to implement, although it should be noted that some cultures do not have the same high level of personal discipline as the Japanese.

Kaizen has greater potential in situations where change is implemented gradually than in situations where there is a sudden change in policy. A culture that focuses on short-term success and big profits is not good for kaizen. Success in this model requires the cooperation and discipline of all employees at all levels of the company.

Earlier I already talked about Masaaki Imai's book "". Let me remind you that Kaizen (Japanese: 改善) is a Japanese philosophy/practice that focuses on continuous improvement processes of production, development, management, as well as all aspects of life.

Chapter. 1. Introduction to Kaizen

Although the improvements achieved by implementing the concept of kaizen are slow and subtle, over time they lead to very significant results.

Management must learn to implement some basic concepts and systems in order to implement kaizen strategies:

• Kaizen and management
• Process, not result
• Following the PDCA/SDCA cycles
• Quality comes first
• Speak with data
• The next process is the consumer

Download a short summary in format

Kaizen and management. The Japanese view of management can be summed up in one concept: maintain and improve standards (Figure 1).

Rice. 1. Japanese perception of job functions

Western managers tend to be impatient or oblivious to the benefits that kaizen brings to the company. On the other hand, the concept emphasizes people's effort, morale, communication, learning, teamwork, commitment, and self-discipline - a common sense approach that is also very inexpensive.

The process, not the result. Kaizen fosters a process-oriented mindset, as processes must improve in order for results to improve. Failure to achieve planned results reflects failures in the process. Kaizen strategies have failed in many companies simply because they ignored process. The most significant elements in the kaizen process are the input and involvement of senior management in the process.

Follow the cyclesPDCA/SDCA. The first step in the kaizen process is to establish a plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle. PDCA means never being satisfied with the status quo. Because employees prefer the status quo and often do not take the initiative to improve conditions, management must implement the PDCA cycle (Figure 2). In the beginning, any workflow is unstable. Before operating in the PDCA cycle, any ongoing process must be stabilized in a process called the SDCA (standardize-do-test-act) cycle.

Every time something out of the norm comes up in an ongoing process, the same questions need to be asked: Did this happen because we didn't have standards? Was it because we didn't follow the standards? Or is all this a consequence of the inadequacy of our standards?

Rice. 2. PDCA/SDCA cycles

Quality comes first. No matter how attractive the price and terms of delivery of goods are for the consumer, “quality comes first.” This will require the input of the company's top management into this process, because managers are often tempted to satisfy delivery conditions or reduce prices at the expense of quality. By doing so, they risk sacrificing not only quality, but also the existence of the business itself.

Speak with data. The Kaizen concept is a problem-solving process. In order for a problem to be properly understood and solved, it must be identified and relevant data collected.

The next process is the consumer. All work is a series of processes, and each process has its own consumer and its own supplier. Most people working in organizations deal with internal consumers. Never pass on defective spare parts or incorrect information to people involved in the following process.

Basic Strategy Systemskaizen

• Total Quality Management (TQM). The role of management is to plan to test the process rather than the outcome, to improve the process rather than criticize it based on the outcome.
• Just-in-time production system
• General equipment care
• Policy deployment. Management must set clear goals and take the lead in all improvement efforts.
• The proposal system is an integral part of a people-centered kaizen strategy. It aims to encourage the participation of all employees in the process. The main goal is to develop kaizen-minded and self-disciplined people.
• Small group work. ... their role is often exaggerated ... management has a decisive influence.

Chapter. 2. Gemba Kaizen

Gemba and management. Gemba refers to the place where products or services are created. In a gemba, customer satisfaction value is added to a product or service. When management doesn't respect and value the gemba, it results in a tendency to "outsource" its instructions and projects (often out of sync with actual facts and requirements).

Management exists to help the people in the gemba do their jobs better by removing obstacles of all kinds (Figure 3). However, in reality I am surprised at how many managers misunderstand their role. Almost always, managers view the gemba as a source of disruption, where everything always goes wrong, and deny responsibility for these problems.

The following chapters will discuss in detail what managing a gemba actually means. Managers must play a key role in managing the gemba, and often lack the most basic training to manage it properly or to do their most important job: maintaining and improving standards and achieving the required level of quality, optimal cost and optimal delivery conditions.

Rice. 3. Gemba and management. In this perspective, the role of management is to support the gemba.

Instilling a sense of pride and a sense of mission is an integral part of gemba management's responsibility. This approach contrasts sharply with the perception of the gemba (Figure 4), where the gemba is the place where things always go wrong, the source of failures and customer complaints. In Japan, work related to production is often referred to as the three Ks, meaning the Japanese words for “dangerous” (kiken), “dirty” (kitanai) and “stressful” (kitsui). Once upon a time, the gemba was a place that good managers avoided, and if they had to work there, they considered it the end of their careers. Today, on the contrary, the presidents of some well-known Japanese companies have extensive gemba experience. They have a good understanding of what is happening in the gemba and provide the necessary support.

Rice. 4. Gemba and management. In this perspective, the role of management is to manage the policies and resources at the gemba.

Gemba house. With regard to resource management, two major activities take place in the gemba on a day-to-day basis - namely, maintenance and the kaizen problem-solving system. The former has to do with maintaining existing standards and maintaining the status quo, while the latter has to do with improving such standards. Gemba managers perform one function or another, and as a result, the required level of quality, optimal cost and optimal conditions and delivery times (QCD) are achieved. Figure 5 shows a bird's eye view of the QCD activities in the gemba.

Rice. 5. Gemba House

Standardization. Effective day-to-day resource management requires standards. Whenever problems or variations occur, the manager must investigate, determine the root cause, and revise existing standards or implement new standards to prevent recurrence of the problem.

5 S. One day, Japanese managers refused to cooperate with a European enterprise. This is how they commented: “We discovered a very poor standard of management and found the plant in complete disarray. To make matters worse, we noticed some workers smoking while working on the line. If management allows this kind of thing in a gemba, it can't be serious about producing parts vital to vehicle safety, and we don't want to deal with management that isn't serious enough."

Elimination m at Yes– losses, waste. Only two types of activities take place in a gemba: value-adding and non-value-adding (m at Yes). Customers don't pay for activities that don't add value. When employees notice the incredible changes that result from kaizen, they become more enthusiastic and self-disciplined.

Golden rules of gemba management. Most managers prefer to work at their desks in the workplace and want to distance themselves from the events at the gemba. Many managers only face reality in daily, weekly, or even monthly reports and meetings. Staying in close contact with and understanding the gemba is the first step in effective production management. Here are the five golden rules of gemba management:

1. When a problem (variation) occurs, go to the gemba first. By making coming to the gemba automatic, the manager will develop the confidence that this habit will help him solve specific problems. Taiichi Ohno said: “Go to the gemba every day. And when you go there, don't waste your shoes. You should come back with at least one kaizen idea.” The only place that is definitely not a gemba is the manager's desktop. When a manager makes a decision at his desk based on data, he is not on the gemba, while the original source of information must be carefully verified. Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa, one of Japan's quality management gurus, used to say: “When you see data, question it! When you see measurements, question them!”
2. Check out the gembutsu. The word gembutsu means something physical or tangible. In the context of a gemba, the word can refer to a broken machine, a defective part, a tool that has been broken, a returned item, or even a customer with a complaint. In case of a problem or deviation, managers should go to the gemba and check the gembutsu. Some managers believe that when one of the company's machines breaks down, the manager's gemba becomes not the place where the machine is located, but the conference room. Kaizen starts with defining the problem. One of the manager's tasks should be to constantly monitor what is happening on the ground and identify the problem based on the principles of gemba and gembutsu.
3. Take temporary countermeasures on site. However, temporary measures only address the symptoms and not the underlying cause. That's why you need to test gembutsu and keep asking the "Why" question until you determine the root cause of the problems.
4. Find the root cause. There are always opportunities in gemba, and one of the most popular gemba kaizen axioms is: “Do it right away. Do it right now! 90% of all gemba problems can be resolved immediately. One of the most useful tools for identifying root cause in a gemba is to ask the question “Why?” until the root cause is found. This process is sometimes called the “five whys” because, most likely, if you ask the question “Why?” five times, then the root cause will be found.
5. Carry out standardization to eliminate the possibility of recurrence of the problem. Each deviation triggers a kaizen problem-solving system project, which should ultimately lead to either a new standard or an improvement to the current standard. One of the definitions of a standard is “the best way to do a job.” Managers who do not take initiatives to standardize work procedures lose out in managing the gemba.

Chapter. 3. How to manage quality, costs and delivery at the gemba

In this context, quality means the quality of goods or services. In a broad sense, however, the word also refers to the quality of the processes and work that result in those goods or services. We can call the first type of quality the quality of the result, and the second the quality of the process. The activities that precede work on the gemba are called bottom-up management (design, research...). While craftsmanship remains one of the most important pillars of quality, people are increasingly recognizing that quality in the areas of creation, product ideas and understanding of customer requirements must precede actions in the gemba.

Quality management in gemba. Gemba solves quality problems somewhat differently than bottom-up management. To reduce variability, management must set standards, encourage worker self-discipline to maintain standards, and ensure that no defects are carried forward to the next process.

Professor Hitoshi Kume, from the University of Tokyo, said: “I think that while quality control in the West is focused on “controlling” quality and conformance to standards and specifications, the Japanese approach is characterized by a focus on improving the quality of the problem-solving system. kaizen. In other words, the Japanese approach is to apply the kaizen problem-solving system systematically and continuously.”

As long as the quality level remains the same percentage, companies can achieve improvement through actions such as reviewing standards, organizational actions, collecting defect information, and conducting group problem-solving activities. Review existing procedures by asking questions (Figure 6A):

• Do we have standards?
• Are organizational activities (5 S) carried out at the gemba?
• How many useless activities are there? at is there a gemba at the workplace?

Then start taking action. For example (Fig. 6B):

• Implement the five gemba principles
• Train workers to avoid sending defective parts to the next process.
• Encourage group activities and suggestions for problem solving.
• Start collecting information to better understand the nature of the problems and solve them.
• Start making simple assembly jigs and tools to make your work easier and more reliable.

Rice. 6. Quality improvement process

Quality begins when every person in the organization makes a commitment to never send defective parts or incomplete information that is input to the next process. "The next process is the client." “Don't accept it. Do not do that. Don’t send it away.”

Reducing costs at the gemba. In this context, the word "cost" does not mean cost reduction, but cost management. Unfortunately, many managers try to reduce prices by cutting corners: typical actions that include laying off workers, restructuring, and attracting profitable suppliers. Such price reduction invariably disrupts the quality process and results in decreased quality. But today's customers are increasingly demanding; they want higher quality at a lower price, plus faster delivery.

To reduce costs you need:

1. Improve quality. Improving quality is also synonymous with a higher percentage of suitable products at the output. There is a term in the gemba that refers to the way in which products or services are produced and delivered – 5M. It refers to the management of resources in the gemba: workers, machines, materials, methods and measurements.
2. Improve performance. Workers released during kaizen should not be fired. Management should consider the workers released by kaizen activities as resources for other value-adding production processes.
3. Reduce inventory. Inventory takes up space, lengthens the time it takes to prepare new products for release, creates transportation and storage problems, and absorbs financial resources.
4. Reduce the length of the production line. A longer production line requires more people, more parts to be processed, and a longer period of time to prepare the product for release. The more people on the line, the more likely it is that errors will occur, leading to quality problems.
5. Reduce equipment downtime.
6. Reduce footprint.
7. Reduce production cycle time. Shortening this interval should be a top management priority. Exclude m at doo!

The role of gemba in total cost reduction. If gemba cannot make procedures very short, flexible, efficient, trouble-free and free of machine downtime, then there is no hope of reducing the quantity of raw materials and spare parts, nor of providing enough flexibility to meet today's stringent customer demands for high quality. low price and fast delivery. Kaizen must start at gemba. The kaizen in the gemba helps identify gaps in bottom-up management.

Improving quality and reducing costs go hand in hand. In fact, quality is the foundation on which cost and delivery are built.

Chapter. 4. Standards

Successful management in everyday life comes down to one rule: maintain and improve standards. If things aren't going well at the gemba, such as defects or unhappy customers, managers must find the cause, take corrective action, and change operating procedures to correct the problem. In kaizen problem-solving system terminology, managers must implement the standardize-do-check-act (SDCA) cycle.

If standards exist and workers perform their work according to those standards without deviation, then the process is under control. The next step is to ensure the status quo and raise standards to a higher level. This entails a plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle.

The SDCA and PDCA cycles replace each other (Fig. 7).

Rice. 7. Dynamics of SDCA and PDCA cycles

In this context, there are two types of standards. The first is management standards, which are required for managing employees for administrative purposes, and which include administrative rules, personnel guidelines and policies, job descriptions, etc. The other is called operational standards, which refer to how people do their jobs to implement QCD. While standards relate to internal employee management objectives, operational standards relate to external demand for achieving QCD for customer satisfaction.

In the West, the word standards is often interpreted to mean that standards impose unfair conditions on workers - the introduction of piecework wages, for example. However, the word standards is used in this book in the following sense: it means using the process that is safest and easiest for workers, and using the most economical and productive way for the company to provide quality to the consumer.

Main features of the standards:

1. Reflect the best, easiest and safest way to do a job.
2. Propose the best way to preserve know-how and experience.
3. Provide a way to measure worker productivity.
4. Show the relationship between cause and result.
5. Provide a basis for maintenance and improvement.
6. Provide objectives and indicate learning goals; provide a basis for learning.
7. Provide a basis for auditing and diagnostics.
8. Provide means to prevent the recurrence of errors and minimize variations.

Kaizen story– A standardized form for recording kaizen events conducted in small groups. One of its benefits is to help managers visualize and communicate the problem-solving process. This is also an effective way to communicate about kaizen events.

Chapter. 5.5S: Five Steps to Stay Organized

The five steps of farming were developed through intensive work in a production context. Service-oriented companies can easily spot similar conditions in their own “product lines”—whether they are in the form of a request for a quote, a financial close, an application for an insurance policy, or a client request for legal services. Whatever the starting point in a service company's work process, the conditions that exist in the work process add unnecessary complexity to the work (too many forms?); impede progress toward customer satisfaction (does the size of the contract require three officials to sign it?); actually hinder potential customer satisfaction (do company overheads really make it impossible to participate?).

Standardization, 5S and muda elimination (Figure 5) are the three mainstays of the kaizen problem solving system in the gemba.

Five steps to tidying up and their Japanese names:

1. Seiri: Separate the required and optional items in the gemba and get rid of the latter.
2. Seiton: Organize all the items left after seiri in order.
3. Seiso: Keep machines and work area clean.
4. Seiketsu: Communicate the message of cleanliness to everyone and constantly follow the above three steps.
5. Shitsuke: Develop self-discipline and make it a habit to implement 5S by setting standards.

Chapter. 6. M at Yes

The resources in every process - people and machines - either add or do not add value. "Muda" is any activity that does not add value. Tahiti ABOUT but classified the muda in the gemba according to the following categories:

1. Muda overproduction
2. Muda stocks
3. Muda repair/defect
4. Muda movements
5. Muda processing
6. Muda waiting
7. Muda transportation

Muda time. Inefficient use of time leads to stagnation. Materials, goods, information and documents are in the same place without adding value. On the shop floor, muda's temporary useless actions take on the form of inventory. In office work, they occur when a document or some amount of information is on a desk or computer, awaiting a decision or signature.

M at ra – irregularity (variability). M at ri – stress, both for the employee and for the process.

Chapter. 7. The basis of the gemba house

Only when management shows itself to be highly motivated, self-disciplined and has a kaizen (problem solving) mindset can the people in the gemba do their job of maintaining and improving standards to satisfy customers by achieving quality, cost and delivery goals ( QCD).

Ten basic rules for implementing a kaizen problem solving system in a gemba:

1. Get rid of the usual stereotypical ideas about manufacturing.
2. Think about how to do something, not why it can't be done.
3. Do not need to apologizes. Start by reviewing current practices.
4. Don't look for perfection. Do what you do, even to achieve 50% of your goal.
5. Correct errors immediately.
6. Don't waste your money on a kaizen problem solving system.
7. Wisdom emerges when difficulties arise.
8. Ask the question “Why?” five times in a row, and look for the root cause.
9. Collect the wisdom of ten people, not the knowledge of one.
10. Remember that the possibilities for a kaizen problem solving system are endless.

Managers focused on short-term results cannot improve results. Only managers who support the long-term efforts of their colleagues in managing work processes can cope with this task.

In learning, people learn by doing - through constant repetition. Qualification cannot be obtained by simply reading a book or listening to a lecture: it requires practice.

Proposal submission system. An important part of the gemba's structure is the suggestion system and quality circles - proof that employees are actively participating in the kaizen problem-solving system.

Suggestion systems create a kaizen (problem solving) thinking style among workers and give workers the opportunity to speak out to their managers, as well as within their own circles.

Japanese managers have more freedom to implement employee suggestions than their Western counterparts. Japanese managers are willing to implement a proposal if it contributes to any of the following objectives:

• Simplify your work.
• Elimination of hard tedious work.
• Eliminate inconvenient work.
• Making work safer.
• Making work more productive.
• Improving product quality.
• Saving time and money.

The observation of Japanese managers appears in sharp contrast to the almost exclusive idea of ​​Western managers regarding the cost of implementation and its economic impact.

Chapter. 8. Visual management

There are two possible situations in a gemba: either the process is under control or it is out of control.

Problems must be visible on the gemba. If deviation cannot be detected, no one will be able to control the process. Thus, the first principle of visual management is to put the problem front and center.

A lot of information originating at the gemba passes through many layers of management before reaching senior management, and this information becomes increasingly abstract and unrealistic as it moves up. However, where visual management is practiced, the manager can see problems as soon as he enters the gemba and can therefore give instructions without delay, in real time.

Visual guidance is a practical method of determining whether everything is under control and warning if a deviation occurs. When visual management works, every person on the gemba can manage and improve processes to achieve QCD.

When standards describe how workers should perform their jobs, they often do not specify what to do if deviations occur. Standards must first classify deviations and then suggest responses.

The following information may be placed on gemba walls:

• Quality information: data on daily, weekly and monthly defect rates in the form of maps and graphs, as well as improvement tasks
• Material gembutsu scrap objects must be visible to all operators. (These gembutsu material objects are sometimes called sarashikubi, a medieval word meaning a bandit's head on display in a public square.) These defective goods often serve educational purposes.
• Cost information: Data on performance, trends and goals.
• Delivery Information: Daily Performance Cards.
• Machine downtime data, trends and targets. It’s just that numbers alone cannot motivate people. Without goals, numbers are dead.
• Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE).
• Number of submitted improvement proposals.
• Activities in working groups on quality.

Some types of work can be very monotonous, not if we can give the workers a sense of mission or purpose to be taken towards, thus we can keep interest even in monotonous work. One of the roles of senior management is to set long- and medium-term policies, as well as annual policies, and demonstrate them to other people.

Chapter. 9. The role of masters in gemba

It often happens that managers at the gemba do not know exactly what their responsibilities are. They are busy “putting out fires”, counting those present at work, and fulfilling the plan, but... do not pay attention to quality. This situation occurs when management fails to clearly explain how to manage the activities at the gemba and does not accurately describe the roles and responsibilities of the craftsmen.

What needs to be taught: on-the-job training, training in work methods, training in the field of internal corporate relations.

Craftsmen manage the input - people, materials, equipment - to ensure QCD.

The asaichi morning market is an activity performed in Japan as part of daily efforts to reduce the defect rate at the gemba by supervisors and line operators. The morning market gemba displays the defect on the board as the first thing on the morning of the day following its occurrence, so that countermeasures can be taken immediately and as quickly as appropriate, based on the principles of gemba-gembutsu. Everyone takes part in this event. The morning market is very different from other types of quality-related problem resolution activities involving personnel, in which the manager and operators must play a major role in ensuring that the same problems are never put off until the next day.

Chapter. 10. Roles and responsibilities of gemba managers

Using the example of Toyota Astra Motor Company. It is better to anticipate problems than to eliminate them. Hiyari message - everything still seems to be fine, but there are signs that the situation may worsen.

Chapter. 11. Just on time

What does the concept of “just in time” include:

• Takt time, not cycle time
• Pull rather than push production system (producing only the number of items needed for the downstream process versus producing as many items as possible)
• Organization of continuous production (rearrangement of equipment in the order of the production process)

Takt time is the total production time divided by the number of items ordered by the customer. If line A produces 80 mattresses per day and workers work 8 hours, takt time is calculated as follows:

8 hours X 60 minutes / 80 = 6 minutes

Takt time is a theoretical figure that shows the amount of time required to produce a product in each operation. Cycle time is the actual time required for each operator to complete production. Gemba occurrences are a fact of life, and every time they occur, cycle times increase. The goal of a JIT system is to bring cycle time closer to takt time.

The Appendix provides more than 20 examples of kaizen implementation around the world.