Purpose
The purpose of this study was to improve the quoting, scheduling, invoicing and paying for campus office moves at a university. The Lean Six Sigma project goal was to improve the campus office move process by making it less complicated, free-up program managers’ time and pay the vendor on time.
Design/methodology/approach
The team used the Lean Six Sigma Define-Measure-Analyze-Improve-Control methodology to improve the process.
Findings
The average time from the campus move to when the invoice was paid improved by 27%, with an improved median of 16%. The standard deviation was greatly reduced by 51%. The average invoiced date to paid date remained statistically the same, and the median increased from 20 to 30 days, due to a policy change to move the target from 20 to 30 days. The standard deviation of the invoice to paid date was greatly reduced by 38%. This was a successful project because the sponsors were on-board from the beginning and included the process owners in the improvement effort.
Originality/value
Other higher education institutions or other industry areas with a similar process can implement this methodology and processes outlined in this case study to improve efficiency and cost effectiveness and as a guide for improving other processes within institutions.
