Clemson students learn by building a better clock
The article I've linked to above describes a hands-on simulation being run for Lean students at Clemson University. This is great, since it's hard to understand Lean principles from just reading books. When I learned about Lean as an undergrad (in Professor Mark Spearman's outsanding “Factory Physics” class), it was a pretty mathematical, theoretical exercise (that pull and WIP controls were far better than “push”).
It's nice to see the hands-on exercises entering the curriculum. I'm sure what Clemson is doing is being repeated in universities around the world.
Tuesday, I'm speaking to a class at Wharton (half MBA, half engineers) and I was happy to see that one of their early exposures to Lean was a day-long simulation at a local manufacturing training center. I'll be talking about Lean in healthcare… kind of hard to do a hands-on simulation there, but I'll be bringing pictures and examples from that “gemba” to help them see the potential for Lean in improving healthcare.
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