What is San Gen Shugi?

San Gen Shugi is a Japanese approach to solving problems that arise in processes. The philosophy originated in the Toyota company. This approach is used especially when analyzing quality problems.

What does San Gen Shugi mean?

San Gen Shugi stands for the ideology of three realities.

San – three
Gen – reality
Shugi – philosophy

What is San Gen Shugi about?

San Gen Shugi’s approach is based on three basic assumptions:

• Genba (Gemba)

“Genba” / “Gemba” is a term which means, in a nutshell, a place of incident. Often this place is equated with a production hall. However, “place of incident” should be understood more broadly. Why? Because in case of IT, accounting or cosmetics companies, the mentioned “place of event” will mean the place where the inconsistency arose – it will be an office or a hairdresser’s stand. Genba is where the added value will be created. From an organizational management perspective, it should be the most important area in the company. In many organizations, adequate attention is not given to Genba. This is a mistake because reducing waste in this area can improve a company’s financial performance and improve competitiveness in the marketplace.

• Genbutsu

“Genbutsu” means actual objects, devices and tools. It is part of the San Gen Shugi philosophy of understanding what the purpose of the whole process is. How to understand it? Analyze the process at each stage of production to see at what point value is added and at what point muda is created. This analysis will help the company eliminate waste.

The main elements of the three realities philosophy are Genbutsu and Genba, which together form “Genchi Genbutsu” which means “go and see”. In other words, they refer to going to the site and see the products being made, which will give a better understanding of the whole process.

In practice, it comes down to encouraging management to go outside their office and take an active role in improving processes and solving problems that arise at key locations in the organization.

• Genjitsu

“Genjitsu” is a concept understood as actual data, facts. According to the ideology of San Gen Shugi, we should separate subjective opinions from objective facts. We should make decisions based on reliable data from measurements, analysis, and research.

Unfortunately, such data will not always be available. In situations where the amount of data is insufficient, other methods should be used. Such methods may include interviews with employees who have witnessed or participated in the problem, or video surveillance footage.

In summary, the this philosophy helps solve problems based on real place, real parts and real data. With this approach, we increase the chance of successfully solving problems at their source.