Transforming KRIS academic services through operational excellence

KRIS (research, innovation, and technology transfer unit of King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology, Ladkrabang, Thailand) faced a growing challenge: critical academic service processes were slow, information was fragmented, and teams spent excessive time correcting work instead of advancing projects. As the volume and complexity of research activities grew, these issues became harder to ignore — delays increased, rework became routine, and the overall workflow lost consistency.

To change this, KRIS partnered with Kaizen Institute Thailand to rethink how work moved across the entire academic service cycle. The goal was simple: make processes clearer, faster, and easier for everyone involved.

The transformation unfolded in two phases, each addressing different parts of the system. Together, they created a more stable, transparent, and efficient way of working and delivered measurable improvements in speed, accuracy, and financial performance.

Transforming academic research services at KMITL

King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang (KMITL), through its KRIS division, embarked on a full‑scale operational transformation to address chronic delays, fragmented processes, data inaccuracy, and financial losses across its academic research services. Partnering with Kaizen Institute Thailand, KRIS implemented a multi‑phase Lean Transformation Program that delivered over 25 million THB in annualized financial impact, eliminated rework, standardized workflows, and established a sustainable performance management culture.

The program covered: Approval Process, Lean Project Management, Data Storage Management, IP Protection, Past Performance Score Improvement, Internal Productivity, and Ethics Approval Lead Time Reduction — creating an end‑to‑end operational excellence system for academic research services.

The challenge: fragmented processes slowing academic services

KRIS is responsible for managing academic service projects, research contracts, disbursements, IP submissions, and compliance processes for KMITL. Before the transformation, KRIS faced:

These issues resulted in opportunity losses of 21M THB, penalty fees, and significant operational waste.

The transformation approach

To address the operational challenges, KRIS and Kaizen Institute Thailand designed a transformation program structured in two phases. The first phase focused on stabilizing core operations and creating standardized workflows, while the second phase aimed to strengthen strategic capabilities and institutional performance.

Phase 1 – Stabilizing operations and creating process flow

The first phase focused on eliminating operational bottlenecks, standardizing key processes, and establishing a reliable data foundation for academic service management.

Three critical areas were addressed: approval processes, project management, and data management.

1. Approval process transformation — From fragmentation to flow

The approval workflow was one of the most critical pain points for KRIS. Before the transformation, approvals were slow, inconsistent, and heavily dependent on manual processes, leading to frequent rework and missed project deadlines.

Approval lead times regularly exceeded 15 days, and officers followed different working methods, creating significant variation and inefficiencies.

This initiative established the operational foundation for the future ONE-KRIS system.

2. Lean Project Management – improving visibility and disbursement control

KRIS previously lacked a unified project management system, which made it difficult to track project progress, manage disbursements, and ensure timely follow-up.

As a result, project status was often unclear, disbursement processes were slow, and documentation errors frequently led to rework and penalty fees for researchers.

For the first time, KRIS gained real-time visibility across all active academic service projects.

3. Data management transformation — improving accuracy and automation

KRIS’s data environment was previously fragmented, with information stored across multiple locations and lacking a standardized structure. This made reporting time-consuming and increased the risk of errors and rework.

This phase created the data backbone for KRIS’s future operations.

Phase 2 – Strategic Capability Building & Institutional Performance

Phase 2 focused on strengthening KRIS’s strategic capabilities: IP management, performance scoring, internal productivity, and ethics approval. These initiatives enabled KRIS to progress from operational stability to institutional excellence.

IP Protection – improving Lead Times and quality improvement

KRIS faced several challenges in managing intellectual property (IP) submissions, particularly related to long lead times, rework cycles, and limited visibility over pending requests.

Root causes identified

• Long lead times across different research submission categories.

• High rework rates.

• Lack of visibility over pending submissions.

• No standard documentation guidelines.

• No tracking of rework causes.

This strengthened KRIS’s ability to support innovation and protect intellectual property.

Past Performance (PP) Score Improvement – maximizing research budget allocation

KRIS’s Past Performance (PP) score directly influences the allocation of research funding. Before the transformation, inaccurate data and fragmented information limited KRIS’s ability to fully utilize its funding opportunities.

This positioned KRIS as a high‑performing academic service unit.

Internal productivity – standardizing work and reducing workload

KRIS officers previously faced significant operational inefficiencies caused by fragmented reporting processes and a lack of standardized workflows.

KRIS officers faced:

KRIS achieved a leaner, more predictable workflow across its internal operations.

Ethics Approval Lead Time Reduction – Compliance Excellence

The ethics approval process was previously slow and difficult to track, creating delays for researchers and an additional administrative burden for KRIS. Ethics approval was slow and inconsistent, due to:

These improvements strengthened KRIS’s compliance processes and enabled faster approvals for research projects.

Together, these phases delivered over 25 MTHB in annualized financial impact and transformed KRIS into a benchmark for academic service excellence in Thailand.

Financial impact (Apr 2025 – Dec 2025)

The transformation generated more than 25 million THB in annualized financial impact, driven primarily by improvements in approval processes, project management, and data management. Key contributors included:

These results demonstrate how operational improvements across multiple processes can translate into significant financial value for academic service organizations.

Cultural & organizational impact

Beyond financial results, KRIS achieved:

The transformation also laid the foundation for ONE-KRIS, a future integrated digital system.

A benchmark for academic service operational excellence

The KRIS transformation program demonstrates how Lean principles, when applied with discipline and collaboration, can radically improve academic service operations. Through structured problem‑solving, standardization, and data‑driven management, KRIS achieved:

KRIS is now positioned as a benchmark for operational excellence in academic research services in Thailand.