I hope you all are excited for K Day as much as I am! It is such an amazing event and over 250 student organizations will be there to show you what they are all about. From fishing to accounting clubs, you will be bound to find something that works for you. I am personally excited to visit the cooking club and try out some pasties with them. It is going to be such an exciting day and so many new students will get to find places they feel happy to join.
One amazing thing about K day is the amount of planning and organization that goes into it on all levels. Without the Lean principles, K day would be impossible! Some principles they employ are spaghetti flow charts, a 5S, and the collection of metrics every year. According to Business Analyst Learnings, “A spaghetti diagram is a visual representation of the actual path taken by people as they move through a process within a department to complete their jobs.”. As seen in the picture above there is a ton of people around but there is also some obvious flow of the crowds. Through the use of a spaghetti diagram, the organizers of K day have the skills to direct the flow of people so that there is less chaos. Much like the spaghetti diagram, 5S and metrics helps them keep themselves organized. They can help expand upon previous years successes with the metrics and improve upon their set up and break down systems with the 5S. Lean tools are a necessary part of the success of K day.
If you would like more information on some of the lean tools listed above or what we do here in the Office of Continuous Improvement, then please feel free to drop by in wads 136W or or email us at improvement@mtu.edu. I hope you have an amazing K day and weekend!
Sarah, it’s a sign of the approaching fall….end of summer….when K-Day arrives. It’s clear that Lean thinking is employed to results in a safe and organized event of this magnitude. Were you involved in K-Day planning? I was an advisor of cooking club years ago. Glad to hear its been resurrected and going strong!