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Implementing Lean Practices in an Academic Department: A Case Study

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Conference

2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Salt Lake City, Utah

Publication Date

June 23, 2018

Start Date

June 23, 2018

End Date

July 27, 2018

Conference Session

Course Tools and Practices

Tagged Division

Engineering Management

Page Count

12

DOI

10.18260/1-2--30623

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/30623

Download Count

3476

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Paper Authors

biography

Ekaterina Koromyslova South Dakota State University

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Ekaterina Koromyslova is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Construction & Operations Management in the Jerome J. Lohr College of Engineering at South Dakota State University.

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Carrie Steinlicht South Dakota State University

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Dr. Carrie Steinlicht is an Senior Lecturer of Operations Management. She teaches several courses including courses on Lean Practice in Operations Management. She has several years of industry experience as an advanced development engineer and has served as a consultant to industry for over 10 years.

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biography

Teresa J.K. Hall South Dakota State University

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Hall is currently professor and head of the Construction and Operations Management department at South Dakota State University. She also serves the JJ Lohr College of Engineering as program coordinator for the professional masters degree in Engineering.

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Albena Yuliyanova Yordanova South Dakota State Univeristy

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Education: University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, Iowa; Doctor of Technology with emphasis in Sustainable Design & Construction (2016); University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri ; Master of Arts in Architectural Studies (2005); Institute of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Sofia, Bulgaria; Professional Diploma in Architecture (1991). Currently teaching at South Dakota State University, Construction Management Program (2010-present). Area of interests: Sustainable Building Design and Construction Materials. Professional experience: Architecture in the U.S.A., and Bulgaria, the E.U.

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Byron G. Garry South Dakota State University

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BYRON GARRY is Associate Professor and Undergraduate Program Coordinator in the Department of
Construction & Operations Management in the Jerome J. Lohr College of Engineering at South Dakota State University. He has been a member of ASEE since 1998. As SDSU ASEE Campus Rep., his goal is to help fellow College of Engineering faculty to be reflective teachers.

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Abstract

Lean approaches to continuous improvement, originally practiced and perfected by Toyota Motor Company, have been widely used in the industry sector for many decades. There is a growing trend at universities to adopt lean practices to improve higher education processes. Reduced financial support and growing competition amongst universities and academic programs motivate the implementation of lean practices both at university and department levels.1 Colleges and universities that have adopted lean practices are driven by the need to strategically leverage resources to meet stakeholder expectations, reduce waste or costs, and improve satisfaction with under-performing processes.2 This paper presents an overview of the continuous improvement journey at a university and demonstrates proof of concept via a case study which describes a Kaizen event performed in a multi-disciplinary academic department, in a college of engineering. Higher education is a labor-intensive process, and the department seeks to eliminate non-value added activities of faculty and staff, reduce time and effort required in daily processes, and to improve student learning experiences in the department. These all illustrate important concepts that engineering management education delivers to students. The approach, challenges, and outcomes are presented in the paper to inform best practices in lean higher education.

Koromyslova, E., & Steinlicht, C., & Hall, T. J., & Yordanova, A. Y., & Garry, B. G. (2018, June), Implementing Lean Practices in an Academic Department: A Case Study Paper presented at 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--30623

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