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Natwar Lal has provided four different service sector scenarios of Genchi Gembutsu and he is the deserving winner for this question. Do have a look at the response by Benchmark Expert - Venugopal.

Benchmark Six Sigma Expert View by Venugopal R Genchi Gembutsu translates into “Go and See”. It is a term that has emerged from the Toyota Production System. Japanese leaders like Taiichi Ohno insisted that engineers need to visit Gemba and observe to see how value is created and how waste gets generated. The context in these situations was a manufacturing shop floor, or an actual usage of and expectations from a product by the end customer. In many of the emerged businesses like software development, IT services and e-commerce, we may not have a comparable ‘shop-floor’ atmosphere. However, we have customers, customer expectations, customer usage related experiences, competitive offerings etc. Similarly, we have design teams, operations teams, customer relations teams etc. Any software being developed is meant to interface with a process of human to serve some purpose. Many times, we see that there is a ‘requirement’ document that is created by the user (could be a internal or external) based on which the development commences. The developed software product seldom comes right the first time and will require more iterations of rework until it meets the user’s requirements. Applying the principle underlying ‘Genchi Gembustsu’ is very important to reduce such wastage of effort and resources. For example, imagine a software development exercise for creating a web interface for potential customers who want to approach a bank for any product. The developer would have to feel the requirements by Becoming a potential customer himself / herself Obtain first hand inputs from a representative sample of potential customers Study the similar facilities provided by competitors in the market Visit the recipients of these inputs (could be the sales team or contact center) and understand the how best the inputs should be received by them for further actions. Possible areas for ambiguous interpretations and to improve the user-friendliness Adaptability of the portal with multiple applications and mobile devices. Ability to reach through popular social medias. Areas where flexibility of coding is important, considering possibilities of ongoing modifications and up gradations. The above are just examples to illustrate the possibilities. With adequate involvement of right teams and brainstorming, one could arrive at the points as most appropriate for the situation. Taking example of an e-commerce platform, the most obvious Gembas will be the ‘end-user’ and all the locations where the customer requests and inputs are made use of.. viz. the teams involved in processing of order, logistics, payment and delivery. As discussed in above examples, customized list of check points has to be evolved. Direct knowledge and feel of the inbound and outbound users will also help in developing appropriate ‘test cases’ for effective and efficient UATs.

Genchi Genbutsu - "Go and See" to investigate the issue and truly understand the customer situation. It basically refers to go and observe the process where the actual value is being added. As the question suggests, it makes perfect sense to use in in manufacturing however it is a myth that it is only used in manufacturing. As a concept Genchi Genbutsu is domain and industry agnostic. While preparing process maps, we usually tell the participants to create a map of "What the process is" and not "What it should be" or "what you think it is". One of the best means of understanding "What the process is" is to pick up a transaction and do a walkthrough of the process with it. This is Genchi Genbutsu for you as when you do a walkthrough of the process with the transaction you actually go to the process and see how it works. I am providing some examples below where the idea is same "Go and See". 1. Issue Resolution: when you raise an issue, the first thing that the agent / engineer will do is try to replicate the issue. They might do a screen share or take control of your computer and replicate the issue to understand where to attack and what to do 2. Software Testing: The first one happens when the code is compiled. The compiler does a walkthrough of the entire code and highlights the section of the codes that could not be compiled due to incorrect coding. Second happens during the multiple stages of testing - unit testing, integration testing and UAT. If a particular test case fails and the code is sent back to developer, the developer will first recreate the situation to see the failure (this is Genchi Genbutsu) 3. Medical conditions: Various invasive and non-invasive screening methods are used to first go to the specific location in the body and see the extent of the problem. E.g. X-ray, MRI, CT-scans, angiography etc. 4. Servicing of car: when you take your car for its regular service, the mechanic will first take a test drive of the car. What he is trying to do is to get a feel of how the car is driving so that he could pinpoint the issue which he will not be able to do unless he drives it himself.

As Uday and I were in the final year of our graduation, everyone around us was sure of Uday's future. They said Uday could sell anything. Others spoke highly of his emotional intelligence. Sounds like an instant marketing hit, doesn’t he? Well, so he was! Filled with the indomitable energy of a sales newbie and exuding charm he sped his way to step into the shoes of a Area Sales Manager after 5 years of introductory sales engineer experience. Although he surmounted every problem that came his way, human errors made by subordinates served as regular bottle-necks. He’d ensure the avoidance of billing errors on his own but communication gaps would result in one. He would often suffer the embarrassment of differential pricing quotes for the same offering. And his team's efficiency was blotched with documentation errors, material dispatch errors, poor after-sales service etcetera all along the way. These debacles soon earned him the ire of his clients and he began to invest substantial time in resolving issues with them. What came to his rescue during such delicate times were his soft-skills. His juniors hero-worshiped him. They all said that Uday had his way with the clients and had to be seen tackling them to be believed. His success prevailed. The changing times soon saw him as GM Sales and in his stewardship saw the automation of many processes. Just when he was expecting technology to result in perfection, errors persisted due to a high rate of attrition amongst sales professionals. Uday sought help in sales counselling sessions but the organization was still infested by errors, reactive measures and rework. One hadn’t an option but to become complacent in the current situation of mediocrity. Majority of Uday’s energy was directed towards client conflicts and retaining business. Still exuded charm, our man, but perfection still eluded him. 15 years into the job and following a linear trend, Uday was now the Vice President of the sales department. Towering now over a fleet of GMs and reporting only to the CEO, he collaborated with the New Product Development Team and the Hiring/Training Team. Banking still on his insight into the customer psyche and high emotional intelligence and his reputation as the best Sales Workshop Facilitator, Uday now became the direct contact for strategic high value clients. But what sounds like a success story had a bitter glitch. With all he had accomplished in his 18 years long stint, Uday still couldn’t bask in the glory of his success without disturbance. He convinced himself that he had stuck to the same organization too long. It was now time for him to shift his allegiance. He flowed with the trend of his time and joined a multinational organization. This is where Uday had the greatest revelation of his life! The skill set he had acquired over the past prolific 18 years of his life seemed redundant now. The processes here were highly streamlined; devoid of quotation disputes, erroneous and delayed invoices, shipment delays and other organizational inefficiencies. It was there and then that the great truth had dawned on him; his coveted moment of corporate enlightenment; the great organizational consciousness that he had come in terms with: his new organization swore by and soared with Six Sigma- the ultimate organizational truth and saviour. Six Sigma had his creative juices flowing. He no longer felt contained or restricted. His approach was futuristic; prevention was the thumb-rule not mitigation. He soon collaborated with the Leadership Team and formulated a new sales model which heralded in astronomical revenues. Uday realized that he could never enjoy such potency of thought in his previous organization where he wasted much of his energy tackling trivialities. Much like Buddha, he attained the great consciousness the hard way. But it needn’t be so tough, does it? One can only imagine the greatness he and his organization could’ve scaled had he stumbled upon Six Sigma earlier.