Over the years, I have walked through more manufacturing facilities than I can count. I have looked at production lines, equipment, material flow, workforce, leadership, automation, safety, quality, inventory, scheduling, and just about every other part of an operation. Recently, I was reminded that one of the most important tools we have for improving an operation does not require software, technology, automation, or a large capital investment. It requires us to stop and observe.
My Mom was in hospice care recently. While talking in the hallway with my brother and my uncle, we noticed a housekeeper cleaning the carpet in one of the wide hallways. She was using a very small vacuum, but it was immediately apparent the vacuum was not working particularly well. Because of its size, she was making pass after pass across a hallway that was far wider than the tool could efficiently clean. I commented to my brother and uncle: “Not that we should be thinking about this right now, but I cannot believe how inefficient this is. That vacuum is not working very well, and it certainly is not the right tool for hallways this wide.”
That was the operations person in me, and I hope my Mom will give me a pass for thinking about efficiencies during this time. Even though this was one of the most difficult moments in our lives, I was observing a process. When the housekeeper noticed us watching her, we greeted her and started a conversation. Rather than telling her what we thought was wrong, we asked her a simple question: “If you had the opportunity to do this differently, what would make your job easier and more efficient?” That conversation stayed with me not because of the vacuum but because of what it represented.
How many times does something similar happen every day in our manufacturing operations? An employee struggles with a tool that is not appropriate for the job. Someone walks unnecessary steps because materials are stored in the wrong location. A person repeatedly moves something out of the way because nobody has questioned why it is there. An operator waits for material, information, maintenance, or a decision. Someone performs a task 20 times a day that could be performed five times with a simple change. Meanwhile, management walks right past it.
We have become very good at looking at reports. We look at production numbers and labor reports. We look at schedules and dashboards, and we discuss automation. We talk about artificial intelligence, robotics, software, and new equipment. All of those things have tremendous value, but sometimes we forget to look at the work. That is where the Gemba walk becomes so important.
Gemba is about going to the place where the work actually happens. It means observing the process, talking with the people doing the work, asking questions, and taking the time to understand what is really happening before deciding what needs to change.
That distinction is important. We need to observe before we change.
Too often, managers walk into an area already believing they know the answer. They see something they do not like and immediately begin prescribing a solution. Move this, change that, buy a machine, add another person, write another procedure. But before we make those decisions, have we taken enough time to understand why the process operates the way it does? More importantly, have we asked the person performing the task?
The housekeeper using that small vacuum probably understood the shortcomings of that tool better than anyone managing the facility because she used it every day. The same is true in our operations. The person operating the saw often knows things about the process that someone sitting in an office cannot see. The person staging material understands where unnecessary movement occurs, and the person sweeping the floor may be the first to notice where waste consistently accumulates. Even the person loading a cart may know that it is too small, too large, difficult to maneuver, or simply located too far from where it is needed.
These may appear to be small things, but they rarely feel small to the person dealing with them every day. Lean teaches us that small things matter.
When I walk through offsite manufacturing facilities, management naturally wants to show me the major production areas. We talk about the assembly tables, saws, automated equipment, wall lines, truss lines, modular stations, and production output — and all of those areas are important. But, I am just as interested in what is happening around them and what it took to get the work there in the first place.
I want to understand what happens before material reaches the assembly area and what happens after it leaves. I watch where employees are walking, where they are waiting, what they are reaching for, and what they may be moving more than once. I look for the things they have learned to work around every day, because those workarounds often become so familiar that no one notices them anymore. I also want to know what frustrates them, what slows them down, and what small change might make their job easier while improving the overall flow of the operation.
Even housekeeping deserves observation. A clean and organized plant does not happen by accident. If the person responsible for maintaining an area does not have the correct tools, we have created waste before production even begins.
We sometimes make lean management more complicated than it needs to be.
At its heart, lean is about purpose, process, and people. It is about eliminating activities that do not add value while making the work safer, simpler, more consistent, and more productive.
Technology can help us see things we could not see before. Digital models, data collection, production systems, and tools such as Moducore and 4Ward Factory can give us tremendous visibility into an operation, but technology should never replace observation. It should strengthen it.
A dashboard might tell us that productivity has declined, while a Gemba walk may help us understand why. Data can show that a workstation is behind schedule, but the operator may be the one who tells us that materials have been arriving in the wrong sequence for the past three weeks. Software can help identify the symptom, but the person doing the work often helps identify the cause.
That is why leaders need to spend time where the work happens, not to catch people doing something wrong or to demonstrate that management has all the answers, but to learn. Just as important, our employees need to understand that the purpose of those observations is to make their work easier, safer, and more efficient, not to scrutinize how they are doing their jobs.
Walk slowly enough to notice what is happening. Watch the process. Ask questions. Talk with your people about what makes their jobs difficult, what they would change if they could, what wastes their time, and what tools might make their work easier.
Then listen.
By investing your time this way, you may discover that the next major improvement in your operation is not a million-dollar piece of automation. It might simply be a better vacuum.
If you are wondering what your team might be struggling with that you are no longer seeing, 4Ward Solutions Group can help. Sometimes the biggest opportunities are found by walking the floor and asking the right questions. If you want a fresh set of experienced eyes to help identify waste, improve flow, or simply make the work easier for your people, give us a call. We would be glad to walk the floor with you.