Thinking LEAN: The relevance of Gemba-Kaizen and visual assessment in collection management

• Main Author: RAM NATH, Nazimah
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2018
• Subjects: Collection Development and Management; Information Literacy
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/library_research/134; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1138&context=library_research
• Institution: Singapore Management University

The Singapore Management University (SMU) Libraries’ have used the LEAN and Six Sigma methodologies in recent years to plan and push for continuous process improvement in their operations. In one assessment project, the Gemba-Kaizen principle from LEAN was adapted and applied to an initiative centered on assessing the library’s Lifestyle print collection. This strategy became a prime agent for change, which resulted in some marked improvements in collection management activities within the SMU Libraries. This case study at SMU Libraries will describe key principles of Gemba- Kaizen and how it was found to be a sustainable tool to drive continuous assessment of the print collection, where visual management is mostly used to observe and determine problems at the source of the value stream. As an assessment tool, Gemba is one of the “low-hanging fruit,” which is within reach, quick to plan for and to implement. It is a course of action that can be undertaken quickly and easily, as part of a wider range of changes or solutions to a problem. This study will also show that a simple, basic assessment tool like the Gemba can have impact and add value to services, while remaining painless to plan, execute, and implement.