Gemba Kaizen explains how organizations can achieve continuous improvement by focusing relentlessly on the gemba—the real place where work happens—and applying disciplined, low-cost, commonsense methods.
At its core, kaizen means continuous, incremental improvement of work practices and efficiency. Unlike innovation, which aims for big leaps through expensive investments, kaizen targets the everyday elimination of waste (muda) and process flaws.
Many companies instinctively look for breakthroughs by buying new equipment or software. But if wasteful practices remain, results will not improve sustainably. Removing waste costs little or nothing and often yields greater impact.
A central idea is process over results: bad results indicate flawed processes. Management must ask whether:
- No standard existed,
- The standard was not followed,
- Or the standard was inadequate.
Standards—the best, easiest, and safest way to do the job—are essential. They preserve expertise, enable measurement, and prevent recurring mistakes. Once standards are established, any deviation signals a problem requiring investigation.
The Five Golden Rules of Gemba Management guide how to respond:
- Go to the gemba.
- Check the gembutsu—the actual object involved (defect, broken machine, rejected product).
- Take immediate countermeasures.
- Find the root cause (often using the “five whys” technique).
- Standardize the solution to prevent recurrence.
The author emphasizes that only two kinds of activities exist in the gemba: value-adding and non-value-adding. The mission is to reduce non-value-adding time—whether that’s excess motion, waiting, overproduction, or rework.
To expose hidden waste and create discipline, the author stresses that 5S workplace organization is foundational:
- Seiri (Sort): Remove unnecessary items.
- Seiton (Set in Order): Arrange tools logically.
- Seiso (Shine): Clean and inspect.
- Seiketsu (Standardize): Make these practices routine.
- Shitsuke (Sustain): Build daily discipline.
A clean, organized gemba makes abnormalities visible and easier to address.
Visual management—using boards, kanban cards, and posted standards—ensures everyone can see problems and progress at a glance. This supports both the SDCA cycle (stabilizing processes) and PDCA (improving them).
Quality must always come first. Sacrificing quality for speed or cost savings will undermine long-term results. This is why the principle “the next process is the customer” is vital—never pass defects downstream.
These principles apply far beyond factories. Service industries, cities, and airports have applied gemba kaizen to improve flow, reduce wait times, and build a culture of ownership. For example, Rome’s airports analyzed the passenger experience step by step to identify and eliminate wasted time and confusion.
Ultimately, kaizen is about culture and leadership. Managers must regularly visit the gemba, set clear targets, and empower teams to improve daily. As Imai warns, executives often lose touch as they rise in hierarchy. Staying close to the gemba ensures decisions are grounded in facts—not filtered reports.
🛠️ 10 Steps to Apply Gemba Kaizen
- Define a Clear Vision
- Articulate what continuous improvement means for your organization, including specific quality, cost, and delivery goals.
- Set expectations that kaizen is a way of working, not a temporary project.
- Articulate what continuous improvement means for your organization, including specific quality, cost, and delivery goals.
- Train Everyone
- Educate employees on muda, standards, 5S, visual management, and systematic problem-solving.
- Educate employees on muda, standards, 5S, visual management, and systematic problem-solving.
- Implement 5S
- Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardize, Sustain.
- Use visual cues to make the standards visible and problems obvious.
- Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardize, Sustain.
- Establish Standards
- Document the best way to do each task.
- Post standards at workstations and train people to follow them.
- Treat deviations as signals to investigate.
- Document the best way to do each task.
- Go to the Gemba
- Managers and supervisors should observe work directly.
- Look for waste, strain, and variation.
- View every observation as the starting point for improvement.
- Managers and supervisors should observe work directly.
- Make Problems Visible
- Use boards, kanban, and morning markets to display defects and performance.
- Encourage teams to surface issues early.
- Use boards, kanban, and morning markets to display defects and performance.
- Apply the Five Golden Rules
- When problems arise:
- Go to the gemba.
- Check the gembutsu.
- Take countermeasures.
- Find root causes.
- Standardize the fix.
- Go to the gemba.
- When problems arise:
- Use SDCA and PDCA Cycles
- Stabilize processes first (SDCA).
- Then improve them (PDCA).
- Update standards with each improvement.
- Stabilize processes first (SDCA).
- Create Visual Management Systems
- Display real-time data about quality, productivity, and delivery.
- Ensure everyone can see whether targets are being met.
- Display real-time data about quality, productivity, and delivery.
- Develop a Daily Kaizen Culture
- Hold brief team meetings to propose and implement small improvements.
- Recognize contributions.
- Reinforce that everyone owns the process of continuous improvement.
- Hold brief team meetings to propose and implement small improvements.
Quotes
"In Japanese, kaizen means “continuous improvement.” [...] Kaizen signifies small improvements as a result of ongoing efforts. Innovation involves a drastic improvement as a result of a large investment of resources in new technology or equipment."
"Every time an abnormality occurs in the current process, the following questions must be asked: Did it happen because we did not have a standard? Did it happen because the standard was not followed? Or did it happen because the standard was not adequate?"
"Quality always should have the highest priority. No matter how attractive the price and delivery terms offered to a customer, the company will not be able to compete if the product or service lacks quality."
"Trying to solve a problem without hard data is akin to resorting to hunches and feelings—not a very scientific or objective approach. [...] Collecting data on the current status helps you to understand where you are now focusing; this serves as a starting point for improvement."
"“The next process is the customer” refers to two types of customers: internal (within the company) and external (out in the market). Most people working in an organization deal with internal customers. This realization should lead to a commitment never to pass on defective parts or inaccurate pieces of information to those in the next process."
"Japanese employees are often encouraged to discuss their suggestions verbally with supervisors and put them into action right away, even before submitting suggestion forms."
"Developing kaizen-minded and self-disciplined employees is the primary goal."
"Quality refers not only to the quality of finished products or services but also to the quality of the processes that go into those products or services."
"gemba /’gemb/ in Japanese is the place where things happen in manufacturing, used to say that people whose job is to manufacture products are in a good place to make improvements in the manufacturing process. [...] In Japanese, gemba means “real place”—the place where real action occurs."
"The gemba is where the action is and where the facts may be found. In business, the value-adding activities that satisfy the customer happen in the gemba."
"Machiels observed much more intense communication between management and operators in Japan, resulting in a much more effective two-way information flow between them. [...] Workers had a much clearer understanding of management expectations and of their own responsibilities in the whole kaizen process."
"Efficient daily management of resources requires standards. Every time problems or irregularities arise, the manager must investigate, identify the root cause, and revise the existing standards or implement new ones to prevent recurrence."
"Muda means “waste” in Japanese, but the implications of the word include anything or any activity that does not add value."
"When a problem (abnormality) arises, go to the gemba first. 2. Check the gembutsu (“relevant objects”). 3. Take temporary countermeasures on the spot. 4. Find the root cause. 5. Standardize to prevent recurrence."
"Even now, every time I see a problem, my mind immediately shouts out loud and clear: Go to the gemba first and have a look!”"
"Check the Gembutsu [...] can refer to a broken-down machine, a reject, a tool that has been destroyed, returned goods, or even a complaining customer. In the event of a problem or abnormality, managers should go to the gemba and check the gembutsu."
"Repeatedly asking “Why?” and using a commonsense, low-cost approach, managers should be able to identify the root cause of a problem without applying sophisticated technology."
"Soichiro Honda [...] did not have a president’s office; he was always found somewhere in the gemba."
"Take Temporary Countermeasures on the Spot: [...] about 90 percent of all problems in the gemba can be solved right away if managers see the problem and insist that it be addressed on the spot."
"Management must clearly designate standards for employees as the only way to ensure customer-satisfying QCD."
"I realized that nobody understood variability. The operators had no standards, and they did their jobs differently with each piece they assembled. Sometimes they didn’t even have a designated place for assembly work."
"Train employees to be committed to never send rejects on to the next process. [...] Quality begins when everybody in the organization commits to never sending rejects or imperfect information to the next process."
"“Don’t accept defects, don’t make defects, and don’t pass on defects.” When everybody subscribes to and lives by this philosophy, a good QA system exists."
"Quality first! Resist the temptation to cut costs at the expense of quality! And do not sacrifice quality for delivery!"
"Once standards are in place and being followed, if you find a deviation, you know there is a problem. Then you review the standards and either correct the deviation from the standard or change the standard."
"Seiso means cleaning the working environment, including machines and tools [...]. Seiso is also “checking”. An operator cleaning a machine can find many malfunctions. When the machine is covered with oil, soot, and dust, it is difficult to identify any problems that may be developing."
"Taiichi Ohno said to the workers, “May I ask you to do at least one hour’s worth of work every day?” [...] What Ohno actually meant, however, was, “Will you do your value-adding work for at least one hour a day?” He knew that most of the time the operators were moving around the gemba without adding any value."
"Seven muda categories: 1) Muda of overproduction, 2) Muda of inventory, 3) Muda of defects, 4) Muda of motion, 5) Muda of processing, 6) Muda of waiting, 7) Muda of transport"
"Making Problems Visible: If an abnormality cannot be detected, nobody can manage the process. [...] This is visual management: making abnormalities visible to all employees—managers, supervisors, and workers—so that corrective action can begin at once."
"It is important to never forget that visual tools have enormous power to drive improvement."
"Displaying work standards in front of the workstation is visual management. These work standards not only remind the worker of the right way to do the job but, more importantly, enable the manager to determine whether the work is being done according to standards."