Gemba Walks in the Pharmaceutical Industry - Best Practices and Recommendations from Real-Life Experiences

Sep 11, 2026

Gemba Walks in the pharmaceutical industry examines how “actual place” visits can strengthen leadership engagement, enable open and honest communication, and support behavioral change across all organizational levels. Drawing on real-life experiences, it explains why Gemba Walks matter, clarifies what the practice is and is not, and outlines implementation guidance such as training, dialogue prompts, positive atmosphere, recognition-based feedback, and practical scheduling. It also addresses visit coverage beyond shop-floor areas and notes suitable frequency benchmarks.

LanguageEnglish

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Pages14

Reading Time5 min

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Why Do Gemba Walks?

Purpose and engagement

Replacing conference-style meetings

Understanding Gemba Walks

Definition and distinctions

Training Gemba walkers

Dialogue tools and atmosphere

Best Practices for Implementation

Recognition approach and “4 to 1”

Scheduling and participation metrics

Benchmark frequency goals

Expanding to internal customers and support functions

The following article was published in Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nov/Dec 2016, Volume 36, No. 6, pp 55 – 63 Gemba Walks in the Pharmaceutical Industry: Best Practices and Recommendations from Real-Life Experiences Margit Schwalbe Fehl, PhD Within ISPE’s "Six Dimensions of Cultural Excellence" framework, the third dimension focuses on Gemba and its close links to the leadership dimension as a key engagement and communication tool. In this article Margit Schwalbe Fehl, lead of the Gemba Walks subteam, shares insights and best practice recommendations based on reallife Gemba experiences and lessons learned from ISPE member companies. The Japanese term Gemba means "actual place." Jim Womack, author of Gemba Walks, expands this definition to call Gemba the place in an organization "where humans create value." 1 Gemba is a well defined element of lean concepts and, as such, an accepted operational excellence tool in many industries that have adopted lean principles. The well known Toyota production system has used Gemba walks for decades. Within the pharmaceutical industry, however, the concept of Gemba has not yet been widely implemented. The concept is strikingly simple. Womack, the guru of Gemba walks, describes it as: "I just take walks, comment on what I see and give courage to people to try."1 In the pharmaceutical industry, however, you may hear complaints that supervisors, let alone management, rarely have time to go out on the shop floor or into the laboratories where they could interact with employees and observe what is really going on. Why Do Gemba Walks? Gemba walks demonstrate visible commitment from the leadership to all members of the organization. They allow site leadership to spread clear messages using open and honest dialogue and get a real indication of the progress of behavioral change at all levels. They empower employees because their contributions to site results are recognized and their ideas for continuous improvement are heard. Following an extensive review of practices in this area, it is the view of the Gemba Walks subteam that Gemba walks should replace, or at least substantially reduce, traditional conference style meetings and hence minimize the production of the many charts and reports created just for such meetings, to n front of them. harmaceutical organization quickly recognizes their benefits (Figure 1) . Our starting point in outlining these Gemba best practices commenced by defining what a Gemba walk is and what it is not, within the context of the pharmaceutical industry (Table A) . Understanding these distinctions is a key success factor for your Gemba program. Understanding Gemba Walks Our examination of successful programs showed that before implementing Gemba walks it pays to communicate both the purpose and overall approach to all levels of the organization by explaining the"why," the "who," and the "when." Training Gemba walkers by practicing a few Gemba walks should be considered in the implementation phase to ensure that Gemba walks are effective and provide value to the organization from the beginning. This training can be supported by tools such as a set of prompts or questions that help start the dialogue on the shop floor, in the warehouse, or in the labs. An example of such questions is provided in Table B. It is also useful to provide Gemba walkers with layout plans and to create checklists of what to look for. It cannot be emphasized enough how crucial it is to create a positive atmosphere during a Gemba walk to make people feel at ease as much as possible. You will still most likely experience some initial shyness from employees in bringing up really sticky points, especially if the culture of the site has previously not rewarded this behavior, but do not let this discourage you from continuing. Make the mental shift of asking "Why is this happening?" instead of "Who did it?" to extract valuable existing knowledge from people on the floor.

FAQs

What is the core purpose of Gemba Walks in a pharmaceutical setting?

Gemba Walks demonstrate visible leadership commitment, enable clear messages through open dialogue, and provide a real indication of behavioral change progress while empowering employees by recognizing contributions and capturing continuous improvement ideas.

How should organizations prepare for effective Gemba Walks?

Before implementation, communicate the purpose and approach using the “why,” “who,” and “when.” Train Gemba walkers through practicing a few walks, supported by prompts or questions to start shop-floor, warehouse, or lab dialogue, plus layout plans and checklists.

What is recommended to ensure Gemba Walks focus on recognition rather than auditing?

Create a positive atmosphere so employees feel at ease, shift from “Who did it?” to “Why is this happening?” to extract existing knowledge, and follow the “4 to 1” rule by expressing four recognitions for every identified action.

Sep 11, 2026

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