Genchi Genbutsu
Encyclopedia
means "go and see" and it is a key principle of the Toyota Production System
. It suggests that in order to truly understand a situation one needs to go to 'gemba' or, the 'real place' - where work is done.
, creator of the Toyota Production System is credited, perhaps apocryphally, with taking new graduates to the shopfloor and drawing a chalk circle on the floor. The graduate would be told to stand in the circle and to observe and note down what he saw. When Ohno returned he would check and if the Graduate had not seen enough he would be asked to keep observing. Ohno was trying to imprint upon his future engineers that the only way to truly understand what happens on the shopfloor was to go there. It was here that value was added and here that waste could be observed.
Genchi Genbutsu is therefore a key approach in problem solving. If the problem exists on the shopfloor then it needs to be understood and solved at the shopfloor.
This attitude of Genchi Genbutsu is also called Gemba
attitude. Gemba is the Japanese term for "the place" in this case 'the place where it actually happens'. Since real value is created at the shopfloor in manufacturing, this is where management need to spend their time.
Also, sometimes referred to as "Getcha your boots on" (and go out and see what is happening) due to its similar cadence and meaning. It has also been compared to Peters
and Waterman's
idea of "Management By Wandering Around
" . This concept quickly became so universal that new managers instinctively knew that they had to "walk around" in order to achieve high effectiveness levels. Whilst these ideas, with their associated lists of how-tos, are probably good ideas they may miss the essential nature of Genchi Genbutsu which is less to 'visit' and more to 'know' by being there. Toyota has high levels of management presence on the production line whose role is to 'know' and to constantly improve.
Toyota Production System
The Toyota Production System is an integrated socio-technical system, developed by Toyota, that comprises its management philosophy and practices. The TPS organizes manufacturing and logistics for the automobile manufacturer, including interaction with suppliers and customers...
. It suggests that in order to truly understand a situation one needs to go to 'gemba' or, the 'real place' - where work is done.
Application
Taiichi OhnoTaiichi Ohno
was a prominent Japanese businessman. He is considered to be the father of the Toyota Production System, which became Lean Manufacturing in the U.S. He devised the seven wastes as part of this system. He wrote several books about the system, including Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale...
, creator of the Toyota Production System is credited, perhaps apocryphally, with taking new graduates to the shopfloor and drawing a chalk circle on the floor. The graduate would be told to stand in the circle and to observe and note down what he saw. When Ohno returned he would check and if the Graduate had not seen enough he would be asked to keep observing. Ohno was trying to imprint upon his future engineers that the only way to truly understand what happens on the shopfloor was to go there. It was here that value was added and here that waste could be observed.
Genchi Genbutsu is therefore a key approach in problem solving. If the problem exists on the shopfloor then it needs to be understood and solved at the shopfloor.
This attitude of Genchi Genbutsu is also called Gemba
Gemba
is a Japanese term meaning "the real place." Japanese detectives call the crime scene genba, and Japanese TV reporters may refer to themselves as reporting from genba. In business, genba refers to the place where value is created; in manufacturing the genba is the factory floor...
attitude. Gemba is the Japanese term for "the place" in this case 'the place where it actually happens'. Since real value is created at the shopfloor in manufacturing, this is where management need to spend their time.
Also, sometimes referred to as "Getcha your boots on" (and go out and see what is happening) due to its similar cadence and meaning. It has also been compared to Peters
Tom Peters
Thomas J. "Tom" Peters is an American writer on business management practices, best-known for In Search of Excellence .-Life and career:Peters was born in Baltimore, Maryland...
and Waterman's
Robert H. Waterman Jr
Robert H. Waterman Jr is a non-fiction author and expert on business management practices. He is best known as the co-author, with Tom Peters, of In Search of Excellence. He earned his MBA from Stanford University and his degree in geophysics from the Colorado School of Mines...
idea of "Management By Wandering Around
Management By Wandering Around
The term management by wandering around , also "management by walking around" refers to a style of business management which involves managers wandering around, in an unstructured manner, through the workplace, at random, to check with employees, or equipment, about the status of ongoing work...
" . This concept quickly became so universal that new managers instinctively knew that they had to "walk around" in order to achieve high effectiveness levels. Whilst these ideas, with their associated lists of how-tos, are probably good ideas they may miss the essential nature of Genchi Genbutsu which is less to 'visit' and more to 'know' by being there. Toyota has high levels of management presence on the production line whose role is to 'know' and to constantly improve.