THIS IS A DUPLICATE

MAN 4580

Background

For effective student online learning grade improvement, it is necessary to evaluate the current process with the aim of identifying any weaknesses. Waste audit has been widely embraced in the act of evaluating processes in various corporate fields. Evaluating waste creation in any process has become the norm across all sectors for those managers or leaders who want to reduce their waste. Waste audit is a diagnostic approach created to ascertain production heads that firms and institutions are running in a fiscally feasible and sustainable way. Through waste audit the select team can appropriately highlight and document all forms of waste at the given categories. The waste audit evaluates a given process to detect any inefficiencies, prices and wastes (Bølviken & Koskela, 2016).

Mostly, waste audit is undertaken with the aim of maximizing productivity. It is important to highlight that waste is simply to ingest, utilize or recruit carelessly without exhibiting the maximal worth or underutilization. Waste can also be utilized to imply failure to utilize partially or in totality. Waste has also been utilized to highlight a situation where a process displays an underutilization or using resources without the certainty of getting any returns. A certain stakeholder in any process, performing a role that is not necessarily important can also be regarded as wastage. Some common forms of waste include improperly spent time, obvious ignorance of utilization with resultant opportunity loss, inefficient use or failure to use a given entity in a process (Dinis-Carvalho, Moreira, Bragança, Costa, Alves & Sousa, 2015).

Waste audits are majorly conducted to ensure that a given process, firm or organization can be run without any unnecessary spending. The audit highlights obvious and hidden occasions to minimize operational expenses, better functional effectiveness and to ascertain good use of the already scarce capital. Processes that are properly audited keep stakeholders properly inclined to their ascribed roles a fact that greatly improves the process. a good audit always aims at minimizing wastage of resources while establishing a great form of knowledge that can be used as a reference. An audit is always a professionally structured procedure that not only identifies but also measures a process. The seven wastes were initially brought forward by Toyota and they can be utilized in different settings successfully (Dennis, 2016). The following is a discussion of the student learning audit process evaluation based on the seven wastes.

Process analysis

The current student’s online process as stated on an earlier paper starts with the student deciding to enroll for an online course, searching options and settling for a given class. Additionally, instructors guide the students through the course content including subjecting them to an exam. Failure to obtain the minimum requirement in the final exam forces the student undertakes the whole course. The process has numerous wastes that will be discussed under the specific categories as highlighted in the template.

Overproduction

Overproduction has been named as one of the foulest seven wastes in a process. Overproduction is a state where a process offers commodities high in quantity or when they are unwanted. Overproduction can mask the fact that a given process has other challenges making it even more complex. In a lean process a student only needs a simple approach that can help them succeed in their course. The current process has the student taking many courses online and ignoring the fact that every class requires a certain amount of hours dedicated. The student has misused automation since the site has made enrollment and availability of a certain class very easy for the student. The availability of a multitude of classes and relative simple enrolment process lead the student to the wrong decision (Dennis, 2016). College on the other hand, does not limit the student on the number of subjects they have to undertake another explanation of students’ failure.

Excess inventory

Excess inventory simply means stocking or incorporating unwanted steps in a given process. The current process is characterized by the institution embracing the push method to force students to enroll in courses they might not have wanted. To add on this, the student stakeholders lack clear roles and often go unutilized. The student is required to complete several activities. Sometimes activities require meeting or to work in group with other students and this is no accounted for during the estimation of time that a class require to be successful. (Dennis, 2016).

Waiting or idle time

Once a student is studying for a class, sometimes request of clarification are not answered immediately and some faculties required a long period of time to researches certain topic. Also sometimes instructors also take unusually long period before issuing the student’s results back.

Excess Transport or Movement

The learning process has many steps that can be merged in order to increase efficiency. The system lacks a refined interaction student - tutors. The class online displays the contents in a very sophisticated platform a fact that greatly wastes time for the student. Sometimes the course organization is complex to navigate. The student according to the process receives results later and the information too (Ebrahim, Muhamad & Truong, 2015, March).

Non-Value Added Processing

Describes a situation where a given role in a process does not positively contribute towards the optimal success. The student in the online learning process exhibits several non-value added issues including subjecting the students to unusually many online hours without organization. The process fails to utilize external supporter of the student as parents or other peer who are earlier recorded as stakeholders. The online student interaction sessions serve other personal interests for the students instead of promoting the learning agenda (Dennis, 2016).

Defects, Mistakes, Rework, Corrections, Queries, Inspect Others

This mostly focuses on any substandard process that the student has to encounter. There is lack of clarity regarding the understanding of the subject by the student. The process displays a clear lack of knowledge and organization of the course materials by the student, a fact that contributes towards student’s failure (Michael, 2015). The complex topic, the poor attitude and underestimation of necessary time by the student are also another sources of mistakes and defects in the process.

Excess Motions

The current process layout is lengthy occasionally subjecting the student to long and unwarranted procedures. Forcing a student to change the behavior or repeat the whole course. Additionally, the process is widely duplicated; a fact that is against lean processes (Hirano, 2016). 

Underutilized People and Resistance to Change

Parents are not engaged in anyway during the current process a fact that leaves anyone confused since they are stakeholders. Representative of local business should also be involved to ensure that students understand what the potential employer expects of them. The student also need an opportunity to share the reasons behind his/her failure. Resistance to change is noted where the student failing an exam. The student failed even after receiving good feedback (Ebrahim, Muhamad & Truong, 2015, March).

Customer/Other Risks

In the current process, the student risks the chance of not properly learned the subject. The student needs to be properly committed to enhance the her/his chances of success. The student as a consumer faces the risks of time wastage and poor grades (Ebrahim, Muhamad & Truong, 2015, March).

Lessons learnt

Through the analysis and the waste audit many loopholes with regard to the student’ poor performance has been identified as discussed above. Through the seven wastes it is a fact that failures are nearly always a result of a failed process. Every process has weaknesses which can be corrected to better the overall student’s performance. This assignment offers me a very good opportunity to comprehend on process analysis a process that will be very useful for my grade improvement.

References

Dennis, P. (2016). Lean Production simplified: A plain-language guide to the world's most powerful production system. CRC Press.

Dinis-Carvalho, J., Moreira, F., Bragança, S., Costa, E., Alves, A., & Sousa, R. (2015). Waste identification diagrams. Production Planning & Control,26(3), 235-247.

Ebrahim, Z., Muhamad, M. R., & Truong, P. D. (2015, March). Fit manufacturing: Production Waste Index and its effect on Production Profitability. In Industrial Engineering and Operations Management (IEOM), 2015 International Conference on (pp. 1-8). IEEE.

Hirano, H. (2016). JIT Implementation Manual--The Complete Guide to Just-In-Time Manufacturing: Volume 2--Waste and the 5S's. CRC Press.

Mann, A. S. (2015). WHAT “LEAN” CAN DO FOR HIGHER EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS (HEI). In XVI Turiba University Conference Towards Smart, Sustainable and Inclusive Europe: Challenges for Future Development (p. 186).

Michael, A. (2015). Waste Market Efficiency.

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