Publication Date

Fall 2021

Advisor(s) - Committee Chair

Mark Doggett (Director), Brent Askins, and Brian Reaka

Degree Program

School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Degree Type

Master of Science

Abstract

Gemba Walks are a tool to get management involvement in areas where the work is taking place. Gemba Walks allow individuals involved first-hand to voice and reduce waste within the process and general operations. This research measured the benefits and improvements Gemba Walks had on the availability of equipment. For example, reducing the number of events that equipment is down for maintenance and its duration to repair these events, therefore improved availability. Maintenance is a critical aspect of keeping a company running, and making improvements found during this research significantly impacted the company by creating lean improvements. The improvements focused on the most frequent preventative maintenance procedures that utilized management observations and maintenance feedback.

With their corresponding lean implementations, Gemba Walks resulted in significant improvements in maintenance time to repair (MTTR) breakdowns but did not prevent the number of breakdowns in the line.

Disciplines

Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Manufacturing | Performance Management

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