Students from the Office of Continuous Improvement held a Lean information session in the East Reading Room of the Van Pelt and Opie Library. The presentation was held on Thursday, March 8, and provided those who attended tools to better organize their everyday lives using Lean (as well as free food and refreshments).
According to the Michigan Tech website for Continuous Improvement, an organization that practices Lean is one that focuses on “increasing customer value,” eliminating waste, and optimizing efficiency. Michigan Tech president Glenn Mroz brought Lean to the university in 2008 by bringing in a Lean consultant to train and coach Lean Implementation staff, and by holding Continuous Improvement events on campus. Since 2011, when Michigan Tech received a grant from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service to further implement Lean, more than 210 Continuous Improvement events have been held. The Office of Continuous Improvement has also expanded both campus and community outreach through a Lean blog, lending library, Twitter, and campus workshops.
A little over a year ago, students from the Office of Continuous Improvement decided to introduce the Lean tools that had improved their lives to the rest of the campus community through student-led Lean information sessions. “After I started working in the office two years ago, I started seeing a lot of the value [of Lean],” said Rylie Store, a third year medical lab science student, “I was able to raise my GPA one whole point just by implementing different Lean tools into my own studying…Lean teaches you really good problem solving skills…I started talking to the other students that were in the office at the time and we all felt that Lean had lots of tools and resources that students would find applicable to their own academics. We really wanted to share that because it’s not something that a lot of people know about.”
The Lean information session held on March 8 was the third of its kind. The first session, held last spring, addressed personal kanbans, which are organizational tools for completing tasks. The second Lean information session was held last fall and taught attendees how to make and use affinity diagrams as a collaboration tool and a way to feel more comfortable voicing thoughts in a group setting. The most recent session introduced 5S, a Lean organizational method based on five Japanese words starting with the letter “s” (Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardize, and Sustain). Each Lean information session includes a brief presentation on each respective topic, then a hands-on activity that teaches attendees how to apply that particular Lean tool.
“We wanted to bring this to students as a presentation where they could come as they wanted, and do it in a relaxed setting to let them know we’re here to give you information that might help you’,” said Store regarding the format of the information sessions, “we taught it in the way that we were taught, but we tried to transform it into something that students would find valuable rather than presenting it in a formal setting.”
Michigan Tech students who would like to learn more about Lean and practice its application can join Leaders in Continuous Improvement, as well as attend future Lean information sessions.
