Implementing Lean Principles: An Adventure in Work Flow Design

Abstract

A lean approach to service delivery seeks to maximize customer value while minimizing waste of resources. It begins with identifying what services the customer values, mapping the processes that deliver those services, improving and tightening the steps in those processes, and continuing this cycle of improvement., , In early 2013, North Carolina State University will open the James B. Hunt , Jr. Library. To prepare for the challenges this new library will bring, NCSU Libraries' Access & Delivery Services Department is applying lean principles to work flows and services as varied as how staff are scheduled, how project work is tracked, and how electronic devices are loaned, among others., , The presentation will introduce and discuss the implementation of lean principles in several areas of the department, including its effect on delivery of services to customers.