International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences

Lean Six Sigma in Higher Education Institutions

Vijaya Sunder M
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Vijaya Sunder M , (2016),"Lean Six Sigma in Higher Education Institutions", International Journal of Quality and Service
Sciences, Vol. 8 Iss 2 pp. -
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/IJQSS-04-2015-0043
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 Lean Six Sigma in Higher Education Institutions

1. Introduction

The paper focuses on the application of Lean Six Sigma (LSS) in Higher Education Institutions
(HEIs). Even though the application of LSS has proved its success in manufacturing and
services, higher education system has not been explored for opportunities for improvement.
Quality Excellence in traditional classroom-style business school education and other parts of
Higher Education institutions is of increasing importance given the recent calls to improve
processes in Universities (Handy, 2002; Doria et al., 2003; Ghoshal, 2003; Emiliani, 2004; Grey,
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2004). Much literature is available describing the application of Quality philosophies like TQM,
Lean, Six Sigma etc., for imbibing Quality Excellence in HEIs, but not many concrete
publications are available on usage of Lean Six Sigma. All through the history, higher education
has contributed to advancements in LSS development towards a structured management science
(Vijaya Sunder, 2014). But application of LSS was restricted to other services like healthcare,
call centers, banks, financial services, airlines, information technology services, hospitality firms
etc. There is very nascent literature available on the success of LSS application in HEIs. This
valuable opportunity is leveraged by the author as the objective of this paper. The paper starts
with an overview and the success of Lean Six Sigma methodology across manufacturing and
services, highlighting its application across different areas from the literature. The author has
then discussed on the key components of LSS for application in higher education system,
comparing it with manufacturing industry. The possible opportunities of applying LSS in higher
education system and the emerging application of LSS in various HEIs are then discussed. The
last section of the paper elaborates a real time case study, explaining how LSS was successfully
applied to improve a University Library.

2. From Lean to Lean Six Sigma

Quality Excellence is not new to higher education system. Many institutions have adapted Lean
for continuous improvement. Literature shows evidence of existence of the term ‘Lean
University’ and examples of HEIs adapting Lean for continuous improvement. Few authors (Alp,
 2001; Comm and Mathesiel, 2005) have discussed the implementation of Lean in universities.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison through their quality improvement program improved
their admission cost by 38% and eliminated the backlog of admissions work (Hines and
Lethbridge, 2008). Moore et al. (2007) discussed a strategy to create a Lean university at the
University of Central Oklahoma. Balzer (2010) highlighted Lean in Higher education practice
and identified the types of waste and value improving methods in university processes. Many
HEIs like University of St. Andrews, Cardiff University, Nottingham Business School, and
Warwick Business School etc., claim as Lean Universities and have published their success for
Quality excellence (Radnor and Bucci, 2011). Wang et al., (2008) argues that higher education
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should consider the inclusion of lean fundamentals into their academic curriculum for motivating
total workforce participation.

Though Lean University literature highlighted the improved quality in HEIs, Lean lacked the
completeness of quality excellence. Management tend to concentrate on tools and practices,
rather than viewing lean as a philosophy and hence practical side of quality excellence becomes
incomplete with stand-alone Lean approach (Spear, 2004; Pepper & Spedding, 2010). Dennis
(2006) categorized Lean improvements as bottom up approaches and argued that they possess
the power of the quick win, but they suffer from variable sustainability performance. Being a
bottom-up approach also makes Lean difficult to attract management commitment and
participation in the quality excellence program. According to American Society for Quality,
starting a lean initiative at a university can be a daunting task because one cannot turn back to the
traditional methods that have been explained in books (Alisa Salewski et al, 2013). Since Lean
follows more non-mathematical approach, students generally feel that Lean is more about
common-sense that something which they already know. This non-empirical nature of Lean
makes students not to show greater interest in participating in Lean programs at Universities and
hence total participation of work-force becomes incomplete. Liker and Hoseus (2010) discussed
such attempts leading to failure of Lean. Though Lean has proved successful in higher education
system, it has drawbacks which could lead to diminishing returns. Arnheiter and Maleyeff (2005)
argue that Lean institutions should make use of data in decision-making and use methodologies
like Six Sigma that promote a more scientific approach to quality. Raifsnider & Kurt (2004)
complements this claim, stating Six Sigma methodology is applicable and essential for quality
excellence in higher education set-up. Antony et al., (2012) claim that Lean with Six Sigma
 becomes the powerful process improvement methodology for improving the efficiency and
effectiveness of higher education institutions.

3. Lean Six Sigma

Lean Six Sigma is the term used to describe the integration of two reputed process improvement
methodologies - Lean and Six Sigma (Sheridan, 2000). Many organizations in past one decade
deployed this amalgamated approach for quality excellence and reaped benefits. The
amalgamated approach of Lean and Six Sigma works better than the stand-alone approaches
because it integrates the human and process aspects of the process improvement (Antony, 2011).
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According to Pepper and Spedding (2010), if Lean is implemented without Six Sigma, then there
is a lack of tools to leverage improvement to its full potential. Conversely, if Six Sigma is
adopted without lean thinking, then there would be a cache of tools for the improvement team to
use, but no strategy or structure to drive forward their application to a system. In fact research
shows that the combination of Lean and Six Sigma has become one of the best known hybrid
methodologies, called LSS (Corbett, 2011). The objective of LSS is to transform the
organizations from separate reactive operations, which are generally functionally-oriented into
cross-functional process focused organizations. According to Swartling (2011), coordinated
quality approaches reap significant improvements than the stand-alone project approaches.
Though Six Sigma focuses on reducing variation and defects to as low as 3.4 per million
opportunities, this definition does not directly apply to LSS. This is because LSS is not a
statistic, but a management strategy for quality excellence by reducing waste, variation, and
improving value to the customers. This not only promotes ‘systems thinking’ amongst the
workforce, but also most importantly results in better customer focus, and in creating an
employee empowered and flexible organization (Martin, 2007). Many such benefited
organizations have published the application and success of LSS under various corporate names.
According to Snee (2010), large companies that considered being performing an effective job of
deploying LSS get the 1-2 percent of sales/year and small to medium size companies return 3-4
percent of sales/year. This is the fundamental difference between LSS and other Quality
improvement methodologies, where LSS hits the bottom line of the organisation to create hard
savings. Success stories on one side, there are many organizations which did not reap the entire
benefits of LSS. According to Smith (2003), the majority of efforts to comprehensively
 implement a Lean Six Sigma initiative to its full potential have not been realised by many
organizations. This is because they have missed on few critical factors of success. Kiemele
(2005) has recommended critical success factors for the deployment and implementation of LSS,
such as leadership alignment, proper selection of people and projects, training, motivation,
accountability, information technology, marketing and supply chain management.

LSS, that was originally applied across manufacturing companies started to be adopted by the
service sector (Lara & Simon, 2014). Service organizations, from an improvement perspective,
have many attributes in common with manufacturing firms. They have processes that are not
performing properly and can be improved by collecting data, using scientific thinking and the
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concepts, methods and tools of Lean Six Sigma (Snee, 2010). Though the origin of Lean and Six
Sigma was from manufacturing sector, the amalgamated LSS methodology has been proved to
be greater success in services. According to Vijaya Sunder (2013), Lean Six Sigma
methodology is preferred over Lean or Six Sigma or any other continuous improvement
methodology for process improvements across all the sectors in service industry. He claims that
a survey based research proved LSS model with a high acceptance rate of 98.8% across the
service industry (banking & financial services, healthcare, hospitality and information
technology). The reasons of accomplishment of LSS in services could be due to the improvement
it delivered irrespective of process complexity or it may be the reported savings of billions of
rupees within a few years of implementation (Ashok Sarkar et al, 2013). There is much evidence
in the literature revealing the achievements of LSS in services.

• Frings and Grant (2005) have shown that the implementation of Lean Six Sigma practice
in service sectors results in reducing cycle time and improving customer satisfaction in
determining optimal levels and costs of service quality.
• Antony et al. (2007) described the implementation of LSS in financial services.
• Laureani et al., in their research identified the application of LSS in HR administrative
services (2010).
• Shreeranga Bhat et al. (2014) explained the application of Lean Six Sigma in improving
hospital services.
• Vijaya Sunder et al. (2015) explained the application of LSS in call centre services
through a case study.
 There is evidence in literature about the application of other quality constructs for improving
University processes (Lozier & Teeter, 1996; Emiliani, 2005; Burtner, 2004). However literature
shows a clear gap of Lean Six Sigma deployment in education services, especially in higher
education system. Though there are few webpages on internet on Universities which claim about
the application of LSS in their respective colleges, the implementation of LSS in higher
education services is still at a nascent stage. This paper aims to explore the missed prospect of
Lean Six Sigma in the area of higher education services.
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4. LSS: Manufacturing vs Higher Education

Higher education is complex and diverse. It unites a dominant public sector of state universities
and independent colleges that educate a bulk proportion of the students. It comprises of a varied
private sector of non-profit schools that encompass some of the world’s most influential research
universities, such as Harvard, Princeton, Stanford etc., and other hundreds of schools, many of
which are competitively oriented. The nature of the higher education system is very unique
compared to manufacturing or other services. HEIs have a higher responsibility to prepare
students for life and not merely for an income SathyaSaiBaba (2008). Hence it becomes
important to understand these differences between HEIs and the manufacturing industry before
exploring the LSS opportunities in this vicinity.

Market perspectives: The marketing science clearly establishes the need to define and
understand the needs of the customer as a pre requisite for any management philosophy (Kotler,
2012) and LSS is not an exception. For manufacturing sector, defining the target market has been
a clear journey throughout the history. For example for a pencil manufacturing firm, it is very
obvious to define its market as school students, artists etc who use the pencil often in their day to
day activities. But this is not that easy for the HEIs to define ‘market’ in such a way. The
increasing competition among the newly founded HEIs and the growing need for market
orientation, further makes this task more challenging (Mizikaci, 2003; Erkan et al, 2008). In fact
the fundamental question to ponder upon is ‘does a market definition exist for HEIs?’ This is
because knowledge being the end product of higher education, it cannot be quantified who is
interested to ‘buy’ it. As a matter of fact, knowledge cannot be bought, rather experienced
 through formal or informal education. Though many Universities do not offer education free of
cost to all students, it is still not correct to view the HEIs as a business market, unlike
manufacturing.

Customer definition: When it comes to the question of defining the customer for the HEIs, there
have been several studies which proclaim that students are the primary customers (Erhan et al,
2000; Wallace, 1999). There are studies which say that teachers, non-teaching staff,
administrative workers and other employees of the university still fall under the category of
customers for HEI (Gopal et al. 1999). According to Goh (2014), the concept of ‘customer
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satisfaction’ must be viewed in a different context through the new realities of globalization of
services. Sharabi (2013), categories these stakeholders of HEIs into three tiers – students
(customer tier), employees (boundary tier), top-management (coordination tier). Few disregard
students as customers of education (Owlia & Aspinwal, 1996). However there is no research
based concrete definition for customer for HEIs available in the literature, though many authors
have expressed different opinions on this subject. The challenge is that the different customer
groups have different needs and expectations, but the end product of the HEIs is same, which is
an educated student or the knowledge level.

Defect detection: It is a known fact that a process with Six Sigma quality level is said to have 3.4
defects per million opportunities and hence it become essential to understand what exactly
‘defect’ means from customer perspective. The output of the manufacturing process is tangible
product, which a customer can use at the instance of buying it or later whenever needed. The
characteristics of the product could be well felt by the customer by using it. One can easily
categorise a product to be the one which met the customer expectations or not. But this is not
such easy in case of services (George, 2003) and also with higher education industry. What could
be defect and how to detect it in the education sector is still an indefinable area.

Unevenness: Every student is a unique opportunity for HEI to handle, and the success depends
on so many dynamic variables, which cannot be reproduced exactly. In fact this claim holds
good for all services (Parasur & Berry, 1985). Few of these variables include the curriculum
offered, student’s interest, teacher’s personality and style of teaching, infrastructure of the
 University, course content, aids used in teaching etc. As a result, the unevenness or variability in
the student services processes is much higher than in manufacturing processes. The challenge is
HEIs cannot customize any service at student learning level. This is where HEIs has an
additional opportunity to find innovative ways to produce right talent.

Measurement system: The intangible nature of the educational process makes measurement
vastly different from measuring the output of a manufacturing process where physical properties
and well-established and pre defined measurement procedures exist (Does et al., 2002). Roffe
(1998) suggests that while there are a small number of performance indicators in industry, these
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are more numerous and complex in higher education and are therefore more difficult to assess.
According to Sangeetha et al., (2003), education sector being part of services, needs to adopt the
techniques of other industries in measuring the quality of its services and the satisfaction of its
customers.

Inseparability: Deliverance and utilisation of service is simultaneous for HEIs. Unlike

manufacturing’s production and consumption of products, teaching and learning are different,
and cannot be torn apart into two halves: teaching on the one hand and learning on the other
(Edler, 2003). This adds complexity to education service processes, unknown to the
manufacturing.

People Perspectives: Education sector is full of people. Unlike manufacturing there do not exist
any machines or set-ups in HEIs, which could not be controlled by bolt-nut mechanisms. In a
relative sense it is much easier to reduce the setup time on a piece of equipment than to improve
a student’s interest upon a subject. Whether it is students, teachers or administrative staff, people
are the major asset and hence there could not be a predefined algorithm to improve them. It has
also to be noted that people are major cause of variation, and they can be resistant to changes
imposed on them (George, 2003).

5. LSS implementation in HEIs– A beginning

 Studies reveal three main reasons why services could apply LSS, and these are very valid for
higher education to greater extent (George, 2003; Laureni et al, 2010):

1. Service process can be slow and therefore costly, leading to frequent error and hence
impacting the customer satisfaction.
2. Many service processes are complex and have too much work-in-progress which leads to
increased waiting time which is a non-value added cost.
3. The Pareto principle applies well at slow processes – 80 per cent of the delay is caused by
20 per cent of the activities. Therefore improving the speed of that critical 20 per cent
will lead to a reduction of 80 per cent in cycle time
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When it comes to LSS deployment in HEIs, the application need not be rationed to the academic
processes. University administration and infrastructure are few other areas which could be
looked upon for improvement opportunities. In fact Quality Excellence should be looked from
entirety of all the processes for any specific University under study. This holistic approach
qualifies a HEI to embark the LSS journey. Many HEIs have embarked on the Quality
Excellence journey through different initiatives. According to Antony (2014), few of them
include St Andrews University (Scotland), Cardiff University (Wales), Coventry University,
University of Portsmouth (England), Central Connecticut State University, Bowling Green State
University, MIT, Oklahoma State University (USA). However there is no literature found in
books, journal papers or research thesis about established LSS implementation in HEIs,
contributing to consistent improvement of the effectiveness at Universities. The author was
successful in identifying the nascent stages of such improvements in few of the University web
pages on the internet. This section highlights such an evidence of LSS in University colleges, as
a beginning.

Kings College, London

(http://business-reporter.co.uk/2014/06/15/partnership-approach-reaps-rewards)
In 2012, a review team from the college in collaboration with Bouygues Energies and Services
considered implementing process improvements ideas from facilities staff, academics, students
and other support staff. They identified more than 150 opportunities, which were evaluated
against potential commercial benefit, cost of and impact of change, and produced a league table
of opportunities. Over the following year, Bouygues Energies & Services delivered more than
 £1.1million in savings to be reinvested in student services. This was achieved by a mixture of
simple changes and fundamental strategy alterations across four areas: mechanical and electrical
maintenance; soft services such as cleaning, catering, waste management and security; energy
savings; and the innovative use of the lifecycle fund for the college. They followed LSS tools in
upbringing the college processes around its infrastructure. For example, in maintenance
department, the team introduced a new approach to asset management. Tools such as Failure
Mode and Effects Analysis were used to analyse assets holistically, including performance,
reliability and criticality, which lead to the redesign of maintenance schemes to be more data-
driven and flexible, rather than a traditional cyclical model.
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Miami University, USA

(http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/news/local/miami-ranked-most-efficient-
university/njtXW)
According to U.S. News and World Report, Miami University is the nation’s most efficient
university, as it scores high on academic achievement while spending less than other universities.
The University is involved in regular Lean fairs and Six Sigma programs which the management
imbibed for continuous improvement that encourages ideas to save cost and energy. One
example of this was the Miami University Police Department changing its fingerprint program
from a paper-based process to an electronic process, which saved resources and money for the
University.

University of North Carolina, USA

(http://www.pharmacytimes.com/publications/health-system-edition/2014/September2014/Lean-
Six-Sigma-in-the-Pharmacy-
Department?utm_source=GoogleNews&utm_medium=GoogleNews&utm_campaign=Pharmacy
TimesNews)
The pharmacy department at the University of North Carolina has benefited significantly from
applying Lean Six Sigma techniques to its inpatient pharmacy, since 2014. The University
believes that LSS is a quality approach for continuous improvement formed by both Lean and
Six Sigma practices. The University has conducted 3 Kaizen events under the Lean Six Sigma
program to improve the work flow and customer service to patients and nurses. Overall, these
 improvements have refined work flow and improved employee and customer satisfaction. Jami
Mann, pharmacy administration resident at UNC claims that LSS principles have allowed the
University to drastically improve processes to improve quality for customers. According to Jami,
“a department does not need a great deal of resources to implement LSS principles and reap the
rewards. Creative use of willing volunteers can produce results quickly”. UNC’s experience with
LSS has increased employee satisfaction, breeding excitement for future improvements. UNC
proudly declares that they are constantly striving to promote the culture of continuous quality
improvement through Lean Six Sigma.
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National University of Singapore

(http://www.nus.edu.sg/oqm/nus-lean-six-sigma-black.php)
The NUS, Singapore introduced various Lean Six Sigma programs as part of the University
offerings. The objective of this these training programs is to provide the students with the expert
level skills in analysing and improving processes using the integrated Lean Six Sigma approach.
According to the University, upon completion of the training, the participants can be expected to
lead a project team to execute improvement project and assist the management to disseminate
Lean- Six Sigma mindset, techniques and tools in the organisation.

Valdosta State University, Georgia

(http://www.valdosta.edu/administration/six-sigma)
One of initiatives of the chancellor of the Valdosta State University, Georgia was starting the
2008 fiscal year with the implementation of Lean Six Sigma for Higher Education. This process
has involved migrating proven techniques for Lean Six Sigma from a business setting to an
educational setting. Valdosta State University has championed the chancellor's cause by
conducting a number of campus Lean Six Sigma projects

Heriott Watt University, UK

(http://www.sml.hw.ac.uk/departments/business-management/third-international-conference-
lean-six-sigma.htm)
Heriott Watt University, UK conducted the third international conference on Lean Six Sigma
focusing on HE industry in 2015. The proceedings claim that the conference aimed to highlight
 that LSS has a critical role to play in developing HEI processes by improving efficiency and
creating a student-centric approach for greater student retention. The overview of the event
confirms that the application of LSS in the context of HEIs is still in the embryonic stages. The
University believes that through LSS deployment, effectiveness and efficiency of HEIs could be
improved.

Gordon State College, USA

(http://6sigma.gordonstate.edu)
Gordon State College has recently introduced LSS program to its planning process,
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implementing a language for change to be understood not only across the campus, but across the
different institutions of the University System. Gordon State College aims to adopt Lean Six
Sigma on a scale appropriate to the size and sector, emphasizing quality, transparency, and real
usefulness. It aims to serve as a model for LSS implementation among colleges of such size and
mission.

Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, India

(http://sssihl.edu.in/sssuniversity/IntegralEducation.aspx)
The department of management studies at Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning conducted
a two day workshop in 2015 on Lean Six Sigma. The University believes that LSS can bring
Quality Excellence to the integral education system, and hence promotes students engagement in
improving various departments of the college with the help of self reliance departments, setup as
part of their various campuses. The leadership team at the University had expressed the vision
through the Quality Excellence constructs, and developed the education system which promotes
practical learning amongst students. According to the founder chancellor of the University,
Quality Excellence is integration of the raw material quality, production quality and final output
quality of any service. He emphasizes the need for the students of the University to understand
the importance of integrating these three aspects of Quality like head, stomach and legs of the
human body (Sathya Saibaba, 2009 pp: 446).

University of Central Florida, USA

 A classic example of the application of LSS in the education institution is the University of
Central Florida and its effort to expedite the admission process of qualified students (Coowar, et
al., 2006). The focus is on process improvement in two areas: (1) The distinction between
qualified and unqualified student; and (2) Recruiting from selected institutions could be
expedited by flagging the student and contacting them in a more timely fashion

6. Lean Six Sigma opportunities in HEIs

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One of the vital reasons of failure of LSS is incorrect project selection. Not every project
qualifies to be a Lean Six Sigma project. Generally, projects for which solutions are known do
not require a structured problem-solving approach, and can be successful with proper
governance. Business cases which have high impact and no clue about the root cause of the
problem or solution alone are best fits to take up as Lean Six Sigma projects (Vijaya Sunder,
2013). Another important factor to be considered while selecting LSS projects is to look for
appropriate evidence of data to understand how big the problem is. This is where the HEIs’
metrics or key performance indicators (KPIs) become important to be managed at right levels.
Periodic measurement of KPIs help in identifying the gaps in the current process performance
from the expected performance. According to Gibson (2010), HEIs normally use a survey to
obtain student feedback on a particular academic program. This could be a starting point in order
to look for LSS project opportunities. Some universities, such as the University of Manchester,
utilise external bodies to measure their KPIs (Student Survey, 2011). A recent study indicates a
KPI assessment template through benchmarking for performing a systematic comparison of
appropriate measures of performance among the Universities (Kong Fah, 2015). Few of the KPIs
which could be considered to be looked at as LSS project opportunities in HEI are:
• University ranking
• No. of research papers published per department
• Quality of research
• Pass percentage of students in a class
• Turnaround time for issuing books in college library
• Turnaround time for admission process
 • Overall students satisfaction score
• Laboratory equipment availability
• College maintenance and infrastructure metrics
• Food wastage in University cafeteria
• Computer systems downtime at colleges
• No. of students placed at corporate jobs
• Salary range of passed students from the University
• Faculty members’ standard of teaching
• Student’s absenteeism
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• Accuracy of medical prescriptions at University clinics

• Paper consumption in photocopying department
• Facilities at College gymnasium and sports centre
• Residential facilities at hostel rooms
• Effectiveness of accreditation process

7. Case Study
In order to cater the understanding of academicians, researchers and HEI professionals, a case
study is used to express the views and application of LSS in a University library. The case study
helps the readers to understand the Define-Measure-Analyse-Improve-Control (DMAIC)
methodology and its usage in higher education institutions. The LSS DMAIC method is
preferred over Plan-Do-Check-Act method as DMAIC provides consistent emphasis on problem
solving by integrating specific tools into each step of the phases (Schroeder et al., 2008).
DMAIC process may be regarded as a short version of the Quality Story which was developed in
Japan in the 1960s (Dahlgaard and Dahlgaard-Park, 2006). The managerial implications and the
impact, LSS can bring into a University environment are further discussed as part of the study. A
case study entails the detailed and intensive analysis of a single case – a single organisation, a
single location or a single event (Bryman & Bell 2006). According to Lee (1999), the unit of
analysis in a case study is the phenomenon under study and deciding this unit appropriately is
central to a research study. In this article, a case study is designed to study the underlying
problem of higher book search time in a University library, so that solutions can be implemented
 through process improvements, thus imbibing Quality Excellence into the system. The extent to
which generality can be claimed from a single case study is limited, but by documenting case
experiences in the light of existing literature, each case adds to the sum of knowledge available
for future practitioners and researchers (Antony et al, 2012).

Background: The case study focuses on a reputed international University located in India, which
offers high class integral education to the students. The University has three huge campuses with
complete residential system, offering a wide variety of courses including Business
Administration, Arts, Science, Technology and Economics at a post graduate and PhD level.
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More than 5000 students across India and abroad enroll into the courses offered by the
University every year. Each campus of this higher education institution has more than 20
departments with more than 250 employees including faculty members, administrative staff and
other workers. The institution puts a lot of emphasis on its level of customer service towards
students and other stakeholders, as an integral part of its mission, vision and values.

As any other University, the institution under study also has a huge library with more than
80,000 books in order to provide students and research scholars with the eminent study material
to meet their academic and research needs. It has been noticed by the management that on any
normal day, 20% of any student’s time is spent in the library for various reasons including home
work, reading books, writing assignments, sensing the journal articles, preparing for the seminar
presentations etc. The data from the library register shows that on any normal day approximately
500 students visit the library. Management was concerned about the time spent by the students in
searching a required book, as it was found to be at an average of 10mins. This leads to student
dissatisfaction alongside underutilization of the library. This claim was validated across the
students through a perception based survey. The results show that 85% of the student sample
rated the ease of finding a book to be 3 or less, on a scale of 1-5 (where 1 is lowest and 5 is
highest).

Problem Statement and Goal: 85% of the University students perceive that the time taken to
search a book in the library is very high i.e. 10 minutes on average. This leads to dissatisfaction
and loss of time resulting in underutilization of library. The objective of the project is to improve
the search-time, which is found to be critical to quality for the customers (students) from the
 current 15mins to 5mins. The potential benefit of the project not only improves the library
utilization but could be a save of 83 man-hours per day (500 students x 10mins save), which
could be utilized by the students for other helpful activities.

Define Phase: A cross functional team of post graduate students was formed with the objective
of improving the library utilization using the Lean Six Sigma DMAIC methodology. The team
was lead by the faculty member of the University, who is a certified Master Black Belt in Six
Sigma and a Lean Master. The team decided on a phase-wise approach where the initial project
was scoped for the library located at one particular campus of the University. The project charter
was framed and was presented to the head of the library department, and upon obtaining his
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consensus; a process mapping exercise was completed to understand the end-end process of the
library. According to the Project Management institute, a project charter is a document that is
created at a high-level for the purpose of getting the project approved by the sponsor (PMBOK
Guide, 2013).

Figure 1: Library Process flow diagram by the students

Measure Phase: The team performed two important activities as part of the measure phase – data
collection and process capability calculation. As the critical to quality metric was understood to
be Search time to find a book in the library, a data collection plan is rolled out to the
administrative staff of the library in order to collect baseline data. This plan includes details like
type of data (discrete or continuous) to be collected, source of data, frequency etc. A formal data
collection process is necessary as it ensures that data gathered are both defined and accurate and
that subsequent decisions based on arguments embodied in the findings are valid (Roger &
Victor, 2006). The primary reason of this exercise is to quantify the problem area with more
precision. The data collection activity was performed for two weeks using a stop watch. A
random sample of 2000 data points was used to calculate the process capability using DPMO
(Defects per million opportunities) method. Any sample data with more than 5minutes of search
time is considered as defect.

Analyse Phase: Waste analysis was performed as part of this phase. The team investigated the
seven kinds of waste accordingly to lean principles (Imai, 1986). Of these seven, three wastes
were identified as part of the library process:
 • Motion Waste: Unnecessary movement of students in search of required books
• Waiting Time Waste: Post searching the required book, students wait for their turn in the
queue to get the book assigned to them while issuing at the library counter
• Over-processing: Students do not keep the browed books at the correct shelves. Library
officials do the right placements of books, once the students leave the library

Root cause analysis is also performed as part of the Analyse phase. Root cause analysis is a
method of problem solving that tries to identify the root causes of problems existing in the
processes (Wilson et al., 1993) Brainstorming exercise was conducted with the cross functional
stakeholders including library officials and students in order to identify the root causes of the
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problem. A fishbone diagram was used to categorically arrange the root causes leading to the
high search time of books in library. Fishbone diagram helps to identify, sort, and display causes
of a specific problem or quality characteristic. It graphically illustrates the relationship between a
given outcome and all the factors that influence the outcome and hence to identify the possible
root causes (Mohiuddin & Nafis, 2011). Detailed outlook of the root causes revealed the
following:

a) Improper categorization of books

b) Improper labeling of shelves
c) Lack of training to use the technology
d) Lack of awareness of shelf information for book location
e) Unsystematic arrangement of books
f) Non-functioning of computers
g) Slow processing speed of computers
h) Systems inadequacy

Hypothesis tests were performed to statistically validate the impact of the root causes on the
search time metric. A statistical hypothesis test is a scientific hypothesis that is testable on the
basis of observing a process via a set of random variables (root causes) affecting it (Stuart et al.,
1999).

Improve Phase: A benchmarking exercise was performed to identify the best in class technique
to categorise books in the library. A bar code is assigned to every book which is a unique
 identifier of the book in the library. The Dewey Decimal Classification (DCC), conceived by
Melvil Dewey in 1873 was identified to be an effective solution for classification of books (Lois
& Mitchell, 2003). Accordingly, the new software was installed and to be process was proposed
to the management. Improvements include:

• Software: New software on Library management system was installed in the library
computers. The software was developed by the second year Master of Technology (in
computer science) students based on Dewey decimal classification.
• Bar-coding: Bar coding devices were installed and every book in the library was
assigned with a barcode sticker with a unique number. The barcoding devices work
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on laser beam signals which could communicate with the computers in the library for
book issuing.
• Orientation Program: An exhaustive library orientation program was held for new
students. The program included a video on the library and its facilities, a visit to the
library, wherein the students should be exposed to the DDC coding system and search
process, and the basic functionalities of the library such as the new book issuing
process. This exercise was proposed to be performed at the start of every academic
year
• Floor Layout: The categories of the books were clearly demarcated and the floor plan
and the layout were prominently displayed using visual management technique.
• Counters: Issuing counters at every floor were implemented, in order to load level the
students for quick turnaround of book issuing process. Earlier, there was only one
issue counter at the ground floor.
• Intercom facility: Once students go to the higher floors for searching books, it
becomes difficult for them to communicate with the library staff, in case of any
difficulties. Hence, an intercom facility was made available on each floor

Upon consensus from the leadership, the improvements are implemented. At the end of the
Improve phase the post improvement process capability was calculated, and found to be with
significantly lower DPMO. It was found from the post improvement data that the book search
time has significantly reduced from 10mins to ~5mins, confirming the achievement of the project
goal. A box-plot is used to present such data.
 Figure 2: Bar-codes implemented as part of the improved system

Figure 3: Box plot – Before vs After

Control Phase: As part of the control phase, the project team documented the improvements
implemented in a control plan, which was then handed over to the process owner to ensure
sustainability of the process going forward. In order to ensure the smooth search process as per
the improved DPMO level, the team developed Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for
searching and issuing of books in the library. The SOP was communicated and displayed at
several student touch points such as entrance of each floor in order to create awareness for
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sustaining the results. The results were monitored for three weeks and the data collected was
plotted using control charts, and found to be free from special cause variation.

Figure 4: Standard Operating Procedure created by the students

After completing the three weeks of monitoring the improved process in Control Phase, a survey
is conducted amongst the students who were using the library facilities. The survey again
measured the satisfaction level of the students on the likert scale, as performed at the initiation of
the project. The overall satisfaction level of the students was found to be 4.7 out of 5

7. Discussion and takeaways

The key managerial implications from the case study include the project management approach
and the experience based learning which LSS provided to the students. From the project
management perspective the project has provided an opportunity for the students to engage with
wide group of stakeholders, understanding the LSS toolkit, application of statistical tools like
Hypothesis testing, understand the importance of measuring data etc. The LSS toolkit was
looked from an application perspective rather than the technical features. For example process
mapping was performed in order to understand the process, rather than focusing on the symbols
to be used while mapping the process. Though formal stakeholder analysis was not performed as
part of the project, students were able to sense the importance of handling different stakeholders
with formal and informal communications. It could be understood from the case study that LSS
encourages practical learning in Universities, alongside the theory and concepts taught in class
 room sessions. Alongside the mentoring support provided by the professor, who was leading the
initiative, there were other teachers who participated in the project. This had triggered a cultural
change in the University towards the process improvement. It was also evident from the
significant reduction in the DPMO through the project that LSS could lead to lower defects and
higher customer satisfaction in HEIs.

It is evident from the above case study that the entire DMAIC project right from initiation to
closure is managed by students of the University. The highlight is that in the improve phase the
technology based solutions like the software development was also performed by the students.
This shows how LSS can improve total employee engagement in the organizations. Alongside
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this, the structured problem solving approach was practically felt by the students during the
progress of the LSS project. With the author’s interaction with the students team who lead the
project it was evident that the project gave them the exposure to handle the real time challenges
in project management. The key challenges which students faced during the project execution
were stakeholder management and project governance. The project was well recognized by the
University leadership team, due to the benefits it brought into the Library system. This created a
motivation to improve many such University process through LSS.

The key lessons to be learned from the case study are:

1. Understanding the value Lean Six Sigma can bring into the HEIs, by imbibing the culture
of Quality Excellence
2. Lean Six Sigma promotes process thinking and practical learning amongst the students
3. LSS helps in promoting total employee engagement in HEIs
4. Realising that LSS is not a mere toolkit but a strategic technique for Quality Excellence
in HEIs
5. Reinforcing the fact that LSS methodology could lead to lower defects and higher
customer satisfaction.

8. Conclusion
 HEIs plays a vital role in the development of the society by developing the students. They have
an extra responsibility to prepare students for a life, rather for a living. Hence imbibing the
Quality Excellence mindset becomes important. In this context, the author analysed the
uniqueness of the HEIs comparing to the manufacturing industry. The key performance
indicators and the importance of measuring data were highlighted by discussing the opportunities
of LSS in HEIs. Realizing the current importance of LSS in HEIs, and the upcoming research on
this subject the author has tried to present the upcoming usage of LSS at several Universities and
colleges from their respective web-pages on internet, which could serve as an excellent resource
for the future research to ponder upon. The case study presented as part of the paper reinforced
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the findings from the literature that LSS would definitely help higher education institutions
achieve Quality Excellence like manufacturing and other services. In spite the fact that LSS
methodology helped in improving the University library process by reducing book search time
from 15mins to ~5mins, it also confirmed the multifold benefits which LSS can bring to the
HEIs. The managerial implications discussed helps leaders to realize the importance of LSS.
Overall, this paper confirms that LSS could be a game changes and recommends Lean Six Sigma
for imbibing Quality Excellence in HEIs.

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About the Author

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Vijaya Sunder M is currently Head-Business Process Excellence at the World Bank, Chennai.
Vijaya is a management consultant and recognised Lean Six Sigma leader with experience in
leading cross-functional process improvements programs for operational effectiveness. He is a
certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt from Indian Statistical Institute, and Lean facilitator. He
has led and mentored various re-engineering and process improvement programs for various
organisations that helped improve the customer experience, employee satisfaction, eliminate
process defects, increase productivity, and reduce costs. Vijaya is a Lean Six Sigma trainer –
trained more than 1000 people in Lean Six Sigma Yellow, Green and Black Belts till date. He
also is certified in Business Process Modelling and ‘Six Thinking Hats'. He is a distinction
holder in Master of Business Administration from Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning
and Gold medalist in Bachelor of Engineering from Anna University, India. He is currently
pursuing his PhD doctoral research from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. Vijaya is a
keynote speaker and has research publications in various international journals on topics relating
to quality excellence and process improvements.
 Figure 1: Library Process flow diagram by the students
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Figure 2: Bar-codes implemented as part of the improved system

 Figure 3: Box plot – Before vs After

Boxplot

40
Book Search time (min)

30

20

10
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0
Before LSS Project After LSS project

Figure 4: Standard Operating Procedure created by the students