Gemba rocks!

Gemba creates such a powerful understanding of a process.

This week I researched a persistent problem with potential for serious customer service issues.  I met an individual who very willing walked me through the process to physically show me the controls in place to prevent the problem from occuring.  We eventually found ourselves in the warehouse opening boxes of kitted parts.

Instead of seeing the control on the only example we had in stock, we found the actual problem in progress completely undetected!  What a great find!  Of course, she wanted to know why her system did not work, especially when her information showed the correct parts.  And since we were already out on the floor in the location where the process might have broken down, we very quickly saw the gaps.

She commented several times during our 2 hours together that we never would have found the problem if I had not come to her asking questions.  In reality, we would not have discovered the problem if we did not go and see for ourselves.

It's not enough to talk about the problem.  There is great value in going to see the problem itself.