What's the PONT

Gemba Mat is an improvement tool which combines the ideas behind Ohno Circles, the Gemba Walk and enhances them through employee engagement.  I think it is incredibly effective, not just as an improvement tool but also in how it engages and develops people. I saw Gemba Mat in use at Ricoh in Telford during an IdeasUK networking event.  Thanks to Chris Nicholls from Ricoh for allowing me to share this.

The method is beautifully simple, low-cost and something I think could be used in just about any setting, not just manufacturing environments. This is how it works:

• The whole process takes 60 minutes;
• The observers find a good spot, and place the Gemba Mat on the ground;
• The  observers then stand on the mat and observe what is happening in the process or activity in front of them;
• To help with the observations there are some prompts on the…