Gemba Walks (Monday)

Visit a local job site or office space that is currently implementing Lean practices!

Participants should meet up at the conference center and set aside 9am-12pm for the visit.

9am-9:30am Start at the conference center and walk, bus, or public transport to the Gemba site

9:30am-11:30am Gemba Walk – job site or office space tour (light breakfast will be served at the host site)

11:30am-12pm Walk, bus, or public transport back to the conference center

What are your Gemba Walk job site or office space tour options?

Construction job site – Visit a local project to observe lean practices on the job site or in a Big Room. Depending on the project you visit, you will see a unique combination of practices including but not limited to: prefabrication, modularity, just-in-time deliveries, continuous work flow, everything on wheels, nothing hits the ground, BIM, and Last Planner implementation. Depending on attendee preferences, the following companies will be hosting Gemba Walks on construction job sites or Big Room collaborative workspaces:

Architectural office – Visit the office of Steffian Bradley Architects (SBA) in Boston’s Seaport District to learn about their efforts in bringing Lean practices to their office environment as well as projects. Hear about how SBA employees implemented continuous improvement initiatives to make their workplace the best that it can become. In addition to improving SBA’s efficiency and productivity, these initiatives also created convenient Lean learning opportunities for SBA staff.

Lean Enterprise Institute HQ – Visit the headquarters of the Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI) in Cambridge, MA to observe Lean practices in action within an office environment. LEI practices what they preach! See first-hand LEI’s efforts to make transparent to all how they plan their activities (e.g., LEI conferences and speaking engagements) as well as how they coordinate action between LEI employees.