About:
The biannual inventory process that collects equipment information for the UCSF database was cumbersome and time-consuming for both the Controller’s Office and the departmental administrators who carried it out, resulting in poor participation by the department. The goal was to streamline the equipment inventory process so that it is easy to carry out and captures accurate, updated, and timely information.
Lean approach:
The PMO conducted two full-day workshops that included various aspects of Lean learning. Participants collaborated to identify customers and values of the equipment inventory process, and took part in a Value Stream Mapping session to identify waste in the system. As a team they generated ideas for improvement and built a future state map, developing an action plan for closing the gap between current state and desired state. The end goal was to establish accountability and clear expectations for updating equipment data for more frequent and ongoing updates.
Results from Flow Kaizen:
- Updated the EIMR form to simplify the inventory count process and reduce the manual inputs
- Redesigned equipment tag and rollout
- Created a sliding scale start and due date
- Researched & determined best way to complete inventory submission
- Determined whether to use a field for last inventory date