Article
A Study on the Students’ Perceptions of the Applicability of Lean Principles at Universities
American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Annual Conference Proceedings
(2015)
Abstract
Lean principles are well-established business management strategies, which are applied
extensively in manufacturing and production industries to continuously improve value by
reducing wastes. This paper investigated the applicability of lean principles at universities using
the perceptions of undergraduate students at a higher education institution. The perceptions of
the students were collected over a period of two years as a part of class assignments and
discussions for a Lean Manufacturing class. The students’ opinions and comments concerned
broad areas of stability, standardization, jidoka, just-in-time, employee involvement and
customer focus. The majority of the students focused on the various categories of waste (muda)
and unevenness (mura) in a university system. Some of the identified waste involved poor
campus layouts, uneven scheduling of classes, poor understanding of curriculum, inadequate
communication between faculty and students, and improper management of facilities resources
and inventory. The students also focused on the waste associated with instructional modes at the
university system, asserting the need for more online and competency-based education. The
students opined that universities can implement lean principles to a certain degree by being
customer focused, applying continuous improvement, reducing muda in mura, continuously
involving students, faculty and staffs, and above all emphasizing a lean culture.
Keywords
- Lean,
- Industrial Engineering
Disciplines
Publication Date
June 14, 2015
Citation Information
Muhammad P. Jahan and Mark Doggett. "A Study on the Students’ Perceptions of the Applicability of Lean Principles at Universities" American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Annual Conference Proceedings (2015) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/mark_doggett/26/