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Lean Bench Brings Visibility to Processes

Prachi Raheja and Shawn Munro, Managers, Lean Bench


Imagine your department or workflow was slowed down by functional silos, multiple hand-offs, unacceptable delays and backlogs. Or that you are working on a process that is mission critical to the success of your department but needs continuous tinkering.



Now imagine you could tap into a group of experts from the campus community who could help make your current process visible and work with you to propose a more streamlined solution.



That’s what the Lean Bench will do for ESR.



What is a Lean Bench? The “lean” comes from Lean Six Sigma (LSS), a process improvement methodology built on reducing waste and improving efficiency. The “bench” refers to a roster of UC San Diego staff members who have earned high-level LSS certifications.



Put it all together and you’ve got a team of 12 process improvement experts who will be deployed to support ESR projects. Rather than hiring outside consultants, we’re looking to leverage the skills and expertise of current staff. The Lean Bench will do just that.

Building a bench

Like with any team, you want the best and the brightest. Minimum qualifications to be included on this bench are Green Belt (advanced) or Black Belt (expert) LSS certification as well as experience in process improvement. Each level of LSS certification requires classroom study and completion of a project that demonstrates tens of thousands of dollars in return on investment.



We started the process of assembling the bench in the fall of 2017, with candidates going through a competitive selection process. Selected Bench members remain in their current departmental positions but dedicate a percentage of their time to supporting ESR projects.



Lean Bench recognizes that the secret to making process improvement successful is full participation and involvement of those who are going to use these processes. Lean Bench members work closely with subject matter experts to map out current state processes, analyze problems by measuring key data points, then identify opportunities for improvements.

Contact us at leanbench@ucsd.edu or reach out to Lean Bench managers Prachi Raheja at praheja@ucsd.edu or Shawn Munro srmunro@ucsd.edu.

Learn more on the Lean Bench website.