How Kalamazoo College's Athletics Department can Use Lean Thinking to Become a More Organized and Efficient Organization

Abstract

For my SIP, I would like to take that which I learned this summer about lean manufacturing, with a slight focus on value stream process mapping (VSM), and apply that to administrative processes within the Kalamazoo College Athletics department. I will first go into extensive detail as to where "lean" originated, what it is, and why organizations benefit from the use of lean. I will also explain how my internship this summer at Performance Systematix, Inc. (PSI) gave me the base knowledge and interest I needed to write this SIP about lean. Lean is a very large world, with many "guidelines." All of these guidelines are important, and to ensure the best use of lean, all of these guidelines need to be well explained. Before I explain my my value stream mappings within the athletic department, there is much I feel I need to explain in order to have a good understanding of how to comprehend, analyze, and instill the lean ways into a process and/or organization. Finally, I will explain the process maps I have created for the Athletic department, and give my opinion on how to improve flows of administrative practices and information. Every aspect of every company or organization can be improved, and the administrative processes in Kalamazoo College's Athletic department are no different.