Purpose This case study shows how methods of lean philosophy can be successfully taught to undergraduate students and applied to improving a real-world loan process. Students were instructed to use newly acquired classroom skills to analyse and improve a bank loan process in Kuwait. Design/methodology/approach This study involved an initial gemba walk through the bank. A case study format with direct observation and semi-structured interviews was adopted by 27 undergraduate students to identify waste, analyse the loan process and develop an efficiency plan. Findings The results revealed that undergraduate students could quickly learn basic lean principles and techniques and utilize them in a real-world situation to significantly improve a bank loan process. Areas of waste included over-production, over-processing, defects in procedure, under-utilized skills, wasted motions and poor time management. Suggested corrective measures were expected to reduce loan processing time by 30%. Practical implications Increasing costs and competition in the business environment make efficiency improvements imperative, and it was shown that students can play a major role in applying lean principles to a bank loan process while gaining knowledge and skills highly valued in industry. Universities have the opportunity to create a valuable learning experience for undergraduate students in applying classroom skills to solving a real-life problem. Originality/value This is the first study of a novel classroom technique for teaching undergraduate students to apply lean techniques in a Kuwaiti bank.