For us at DB Schenker Technology Center Warsaw it is extremely important that our specialists always understand the exact purpose of their work and get to know the challenges and requirements of the partners, we work for. That’s why an important element of the implementation of new employees or new project team members is a visit to the so-called Gemba. This method comes from the scope of lean management. It is based on the observation of a given process in the place of its actual occurrence. The last example could be a workshop in Gothenburg, during which members of one of the project teams had the opportunity to check how the system they are about to develop works in reality.

The project involves the insourcing of one of DB Schenker's TMS class applications for domestic land transport in Sweden. The system processes more than 100,000 fully registered and monitored shipments daily.

The main objective is to take over the development of the solution from an external supplier. The assumed effects, apart from financial savings, also include the elimination of administrative barriers and streamlining of the service provision process.

During the workshops in Gothenburg, the so-called kick-off of the project took place. Participants had the opportunity to learn about the requirements and conditions of the other side and the specificity of the processes. The team from Warsaw was also acquainted with the basics of land logistics. The second day ended with a visit to the logistics terminal, where the participants had the opportunity to see how the discussed processes look like in practice and talk personally with the users of the application.

This approach is very effective. The team emphasizes that the visit to Sweden has definitely deepened their understanding of the land logistics business itself as well as the processes handled within the application. A good platform for cooperation and effective communication was created. Visits to Gemba, in addition to the ability to make a break from everyday work at the desk, allow understanding the logic and business processes, which is extremely important in the design and development of IT solutions. They also enable better recognition of partner's needs and, as a result, they help us to build services tailored to the expectations of our customers.