Application of Lean Thinking in Higher Education

This study examines the current environment of the higher education and aims to understand and test the applicability of lean thinking in higher education. The basic assumption underlying this study is that higher education institutions are considerably different from manufacturing and service companies, where the origins of the lean thinking lie. The main aim of this study is that to find out wastes and how to eliminate it by applying lean principles to improve the service quality in higher education. VALUE STREAM MAPPING is the important tool of lean thinking, it has vital role in this study and finding the several wastes in institution. NIT Kurukshetra, was taken for the present study. After collecting the requisite data from students, we realized the several gaps with the help of SERVQUAL model and these gaps were prioritized for immediate attention. Finally, with the help of VSM tool we could be drawn the current and future map of the processes and given suggestions for improving the quality of services within the institution