Edcuation may not be a industry in the old way of looking at things, but it seems that some in the education area are beginning to look at how to change processes, or at least make them better.
I was recently conversing with a fellow who was involved in administration at a school system. He was aware of lean, TPS and other quality systems, but was trying to figure out how they could work in education.. in particular K-12.
We started at first principles --- who are your customers and what do they want. Have you done a Voice of the Customer? He was unsure who his customers were. After a bit, we determined his customers were colleges who recruited at his schools, local employers, parents, and fed and state governments -- but not teachers or the teachers unions ( they were the practitioners who delivered the desired "product" at the end of the students time in the "education factory")
We then talked about work cells and how each classroom was a cell and that its output was the input to the next cell (grade level), and that the work activity, work load, and output was highly dependent on the input. Thus, the K-12 process was an integrated process of value added streams that created a high valued and desired product by the time the tutelage was complete and "product" left the loading dock (graduation stage).
There was a lot of hmmmms and gees... and of course the concern, that "we are not a factory". Well, we agreed to continue to talk.
So can TPS, lean management, and other quality controls be introduced to education... sure, why not!
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