Gemba Walk, SIM , SQCD boards… are concepts widely used in the industry. You still have to know what they refer to! The Gemba Walk, also known as a field tour, refers to the action of going into the field, often to the workshops, to see what is going on. SIM (short interval management) rituals consist of identifying problems encountered and action plans based on quick meetings. These two concepts are complementary: anomalies reported during gemba walk are addressed during SIM rituals and corrective actions result from them.
Until now, many of these processes are still conducted in a traditional paper format. And this format shows its limits, especially with the health context and the increase in remote work. The following question then arises: how to digitize these processes, without losing the human contact necessary for good management?
What is gemba walk on shopfloor ?
The field tour is like what is commonly called the “Gemba Walk”. Traditionally, team leaders take advantage of field trips to greet their employees, hear from them, but also take stock of current assignments, problems encountered and action plans deployed. However, the exercise as it is conducted today does not necessarily meet the expectations of the teams or management. Managers don’t have time to deal with issues, messages don’t always get through well, and it takes too long to dwell on critical issues.
However, it is crucial for the smooth running of production in order to control through various means (visuals, verbal exchanges, sensor readings, etc.) elements related to the activity. Often, the people in charge of the field trips complete the paper control sheets by hand: safety, quality, deadline, motivation, communication … The data resulting from these controls are then re-entered in the business software, which increases the risk of error, wastes managers’ time and impairs responsiveness..
Digital for efficient process
The covid crisis is having an accelerating effect on the digital transformation of industry. Traditional processes must then follow the trend to meet the demands of employees and their customers.
Digital brings many benefits to field trips and animation rituals that paper does not:
- Historization: thanks to digital solutions, it is possible to have access to the history of actions, failures, production hazards, various stakeholders … and thus be able to analyze repetitive causes and deploy substantive corrective actions.
- Data synchronization: digital technology allows information to be quickly updated, without wasting re-entry time and thanks to the connection with other business solutions. Thus, decisions and action plans can be continuously adjusted for ever greater accuracy.
- Responsiveness: alerts and notifications (visual, audio, email, SMS) can be defined to prevent anomalies or incidents in an efficient and targeted manner
- Collaboration: thanks to data synchronization, the various stakeholders in a project have access to the same information and can thus exchange more easily, even remotely, thanks to easier access to the data.
- Communication: digital makes it easier to communicate, to give access to data to all those who need it, even when on the move. A real advantage also for transmitting information from one team to another.
Whether for field trips or for SIM rituals, digital offers the flexibility, visibility and modernization of the workshop expected by employees and essential to promote the company to customers and suppliers.
What solution to digitize Gemba Walk and SIM?
As explained above, digital is a performance and responsiveness lever for field teams. However, which solution should be used for performance facilitation rituals and field trips?
The ideal solution can be described as follows: visual customization of screens (whether for rituals or gemba walk), connectivity with the company’s information system, the possibility of using the solution on mobile terminals, very simple ergonomics to suit different audiences, more or less mature digitally, fine management of rights according to users, monitoring and management of action plans, etc.
At PingFlow, we are ready to assist you! The digital visual management solution adapts to your field needs thanks to the customization and co-construction with your teams of your workshop management in version 4.0. You get an overview of the different indicators and can get more details by clicking on each one. It is also possible to report incidents and define the associated action plans directly on the screen, from a mobile, tablet or computer. You can manage multiple levels of information to identify the source of problems and make the right decisions.
PingView interconnects with your data to avoid re-entering information. Finally, it is possible to share the wallboards remotely for more collaboration by sharing a simple web link.
Enough to easily disseminate information while maintaining control! Digital makes it possible to revitalize team rituals and field trips, while placing employees at the center of the process. Information sharing is made easier and collaboration strengthened. All this with an easy-to-use solution and personalized support.
