It Just Takes Commitment

There might be a change underfoot in education.  Educational institutions are beginning to explore improvement strategies such as Lean and are experiencing impressive results.  In just two years' time, the Des Moines Public Schools (DMPS) has created a Department of Continuous Improvement, initiated 150 improvement projects, reduced textbook inventory labor costs by $80,000, reduced paper timesheet submissions by 97 percent, and overhauled their batch process for paying utility bills which is saving five hours per month (1).

Speaking of utility bills, officials in a Dublin City, OH school district saved more than $1 million in energy cost by applying the principles of Lean, reducing waste and increasing efficiency through conservation efforts and a well-organized business management model (2).

At Singapore Management University (SMU), "The school's collective efforts have saved more than $275,000, generated $38,000 in revenue, reduced processing errors by 68 percent, and earned back more than 2,700 staff hours across the institution," says Lim Wee Pin, head of the school's Office of Business Improvement (3).

Some say that in order to introduce Lean and Six Sigma into an organization and make it a part of everyday activities and culture, it must be mandated from the top.  Others say that to accomplish this it must be a groundswell and bottom-up approach in order to get buy-in.  I say that those two approaches are at the polar ends because management must have skin in the game (funding) and a commitment to implementing Lean as well as gaining buy-in from individual contributors.  Management controls funding and it is not possible to move this ball forward unless training occurs.  Training requires money, either outright or through lost productivity and staff need to be able to see how continuous improvement efforts will help them in their roles.

Once leadership has bought in and is willing to fund continuous improvement, small pilot projects should be used to teach staff the power of Lean and continuous improvement.  Going back to DMPS, one such pilot project worked to streamline how high-volume, low-dollar items, such as paper and pencils, were ordered.  With the use of Lean tools like Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA) and Sort, Straighten, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain (5S), unnecessary steps were removed and the process was automated saving hours of effort and reducing the inventory investment.  Once the ball gets rolling on simple, low-hanging projects, more and more staff become engaged and the initial investment in continuous improvement becomes a small fraction of the savings achieved.

Whether it is automating the ordering of pencils and paper, reducing utility costs, or eliminating processing errors in a business system, the framework of Lean makes it all possible.  It all starts with a commitment to embrace continuous improvement.  Add in the identification and execution of simple, easy to complete, projects to show the power of Lean.  Buy-in will happen organically then rewards beyond your dreams will be realized as projects increase in number, size, and scope.  There just needs to be a commitment to change - the benefits are there.

(1) http://www.sixsigmadaily.com/iowa-school-district-improves-processes-lean/
(2) http://www.sixsigmadaily.com/lean-six-sigma-helping-dublin-schools-become-efficient/
(3) http://www.sixsigmadaily.com/universities-six-sigma-continuous-process-improvement/