Gemba Kaizen

"Most uniquely Japanese management practices, such as total quality control or companywide quality control, quality circles, and our style of labor relations, can be reduced to one word: kaizen."

"The PDCA cycle revolves continuously; no sooner is an improvement made than the resulting status quo becomes the target for further improvement."

"This approach contrasts sharply with perceptions of gemba that regard it as a place where things always go wrong, a source of failure and customer complaints."

"Staying in close contact with and understanding gemba is the first step in managing a production site effectively."

"The opportunities for making such a change immediately abound in gemba, and one of the most popular axioms of gemba kaizen is "Do it now. Do it right away!""

"Companies can achieve dramatic improvement through such basic activities as reviewing the standards, housekeeping, collecting data on rejects, and conducting group activities for problem solving."

"Standards have the following key features."

"Employees must follow established and agreed-upon rules at each step, and by the time they arrive at shitsuke they will have the discipline to follow such rules in their daily work."

"In gemba, management must manage the five M's: manpower, machines, materials, methods, and measurements."

"Kaizen is accomplished by changing the way people do their jobs rather than by spending large amounts of money."

"Toyota Astra Motor Company had the following managerial layers in gemba: group leaders, foremen, supervisors, and section managers."

"In order to achieve successful quality, cost, and delivery and satisfy the customer as well as itself, a manufacturing company must have three major systems in place."

"People-time invested in training and invested in kaizen activities to change the factory around, change the flow, and improve the way that we work."

"Multifunctional project groups, properly sponsored, trained and facilitated, spring forth regularly and deliver remarkable results free of bureaucracy and senior management intervention."

"Accordingly, the company posted various graphs and charts on the current status of kaizen activities on the walls and in every corner of the factory."

""Why is it that when a company introduces something new, such as quality circles, a suggestion system, or total quality management, it experiences some initial successes, but soon such successes disappear like fireworks on a summer night."