What lean could mean for you
Do you develop a cold sweat whenever you hear the term “lean”? Our series of blogposts about lean methodology aims to change all, that starting with an introduction to the philosophy of lean by Edinburgh Napier’s Steve Yorkstone.
A Lean research and business support service?
Developed to cut out waste in car production, the Lean method is helping to transform processes in many universities. Already widely-used in professional services, Lean is now being applied to research management, as Northumbria University’s David Young explains.
Fin Miller: making St Andrews leaner and fitter
Developed to cut out waste in car production in post-war Japan, the Lean method has been used at the University of St Andrews for more than a decade. We caught up with St Andrew’s change manager Fin Miller to find out how it works in practice.
Overcoming barriers to LEAN change in higher education
Cutting through the jargon and putting people at the centre of process improvement were two key themes of this month’s LEAN HE Hub Seminar at the University of Manchester. Paul Oates reflects on some of the lessons from the day.
The eight wastes in higher education
Every workplace has ways in which they could improve their practices and higher education is no different. This infographic captures how problems like overprocessing, reworking and waiting affect staff, students and academic alike.
Lean education is here to stay – and going global
Inspired by a system identified at Toyota, the Lean approach to improving the processes of production is now influencing higher education, with professionals seeking to implement Lean in their institutions meeting in Canada last month to share experiences. Dr Vincent Wiegel reports on the event.
How lean is making a counselling service work better for students
The Process Improvement Unit at the University of Sheffield was established in June 2012 to help the university improve its business processes. Rachel McAssey describes one of the unit’s big success, which is having a real impact on the student experience - and winning awards.
