Lean Six Sigma Helps Dublin Ohio Schools Save Big

According to a school official, Lean Six Sigma helps Dublin Ohio schools save big. How big? According to a recent op-ed from Annette Morud, the district’s director of continuous improvement, two years ago, the district saved $1 million in energy costs alone.

The savings continue each and every day, Morud wrote, as Lean Six Sigma helps the district to recognize opportunities and implement data driven approaches. One of the projects currently underway includes analysis of the district’s printer and copier contracts, comparing the costs of the items with the district’s actual needs, with the goal of saving money.

Over the summer, Morud noted, teams of office administrators attended a Lean bootcamp — an intense, week-long training in which they learned Lean methods and tools. The program was tailored to public-sector workplaces and processes, aimed at generating results that make government run simpler, faster, and with more efficiency.

The district employees from the Dublin Schools who attended the bootcamp are planning to implement Kaizen, a Lean concept that revolves around a five-day event in which a team works for five straight days to overhaul a core process. During those five days, the team maps the current state of the process, analyzing every step to uncover all forms of waste, Morud wrote. They then use their findings to develop a faster and simpler process.

Whether your business is in the public sector or the private one, the Lean Six Sigma methodology can help you reduce waste, make your processes more efficient, and ultimately save you time and improve the service you provide.