Genchi Genbutsu and the Circle of Ohno

“Manufacturing data is important, of course, but I give more emphasis to the facts.” TAIICHI OHNO

Genchi Genbutsu is one of the most revolutionary concepts that introduced the Toyota Production System (TPS), and also one of the most difficult to assimilate and adopt by Western entrepreneurs. The idea is very simple: every situation or problem is easier to understand by going to the real place where it happens. This allows us to obtain much more objective conclusions than those that another person can give us, or what we see through indicators or results. The Japanese expression Genchi Genbutsu can literally be translated as ‘the local and the real’, although many assimilate it as ‘go and see’ or the widely spread ‘go and see’, the English name that adopted this philosophy. The real place where things happen is called the genba (現場), a Japanese term whose meaning is “the place of the facts” or “the scene of the crime”. Within the lean philosophy, going to the genba (or gemba) and traversing it to analyze the situation is what is known as gemba walk (by the very action of ‘walking it’), mixing words from the English language and the Japanese language.

The Circle of Ohno
“Observe the production plant without preconceptions and with a blank mind, repeat ‘why?’ five times for each problem. ” TAIICHI OHNO
For many a myth, for others not so much. It is said that Taiichi Ohno, outstanding founder of the TPS together with the Toyoda, instructed the new employees of the plant with a very particular technique. Ohno drew a circle on the floor with chalk and made the brand new employee stand for hours inside him observing the manufacturing process. The funny thing was that he did not give a single guideline, nor did he comment at the end of the day. He only addressed them cordially. But what was he really looking for? The answer lies precisely in the genchi genbutsu philosophy. Ohno wanted the new employee to see for himself the problems in the place of occurrence. This made his observation free of subjectivity, of the weight of other people’s opinions, of unnecessary theorization. For this reason, the ‘teacher’ did not make any comments so as not to influence the result. Real or not, the Circle of Ohno does not stop being extremely interesting as a concept.

Jeffrey Liker, in his work ‘The Totoya Way’ (2003) mentions genchi genbutsu as one of the 14 fundamental principles of TPS. The renowned author had the enriching opportunity to meet in person Teruyuki Minoura, who held the position of president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing in the United States. We transcribe an excerpt from the interview that Liker had with Minoura, in which the use of the circle is mentioned:
T.M .: Mr. Ohno wanted us to draw a circle on the floor of the plant and then he told us to stand inside it, look at the process and think for ourselves.
J.L .: How long was he standing inside the circle?
T.M .: 8 hours !.
J.L .: 8 hours ?!
T.M .: In the morning, Mr. Ohno asked us to stay inside the circle until lunch. Then later Mr. Ohno returned to check, and he asked me what I saw. And of course, I answered (reflecting): “there were many problems with the process”. But Mr. Ohno did not hear me. He was just watching me.
J.L .: And what happened at the end of the day?
T.M .: Dinner time was approaching. He came back to see me. He did not give me any feedback, he simply told me kindly: “go home.”
(Source: ‘The Toyota Way’ – Jeffrey Liker, 2003)

Interesting, right?. Beyond being an irreplaceable piece of the structure of the TPS, genchi genbutsu can be used in an infinity of systems or processes. Looking directly at what is happening allows us to recognize, for example, sources of waste (muda), times badly used, unnecessary movements or workers with poor training.

Something to emphasize is that the technique applies to all hierarchies within the organization. This makes it powerful, since managers and senior managers make direct contact with the process and do not base their decisions on comments from third parties. Thanks to it, important and radical changes are possible. Managers must ‘put on their boots’ and ‘dirty their hands’ to really understand what is happening and act accordingly, in favor of continuous improvement.

Operational Excellence: Genchi Genbutsu and the Circle of Ohno: Go and see for yourself

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