Kaizen philosophy will take a driver seat in Dar es Salaam’s Rapid Transport Agency (DART) buses as the agency seeks to increase efficiency and productivity for the largest city dwellers in the country.
The Kaizen, Japanese business philosophy, is focused on gradually improving productivity by involving all employees and by making the work environment more efficient–translates to “change for the better”.
DART employees and those from related services providers have received training for the philosophy aiming at achieving the government’s goal of improving public transport in Dar.
DART Director of Finance and Business Development, Deus Casmir said the idea to introduce the Kaizen philosophy centred on refining the city public transport for the better.
“DART believes that with mutual understanding then we will be able to participate fully in achieving the government’s goal of improving public transport in Dar es Salaam,” he said yesterday at the opening of the Kaizen training programme.
Mr Casmir who was representing Dart Chief Executive Officer, Dr Edwin Mhede said everyone should recognise the power of working together in achieving a set goal.
The training which took place in Dar es Salaam involved other participants from UDA Rapid Transit Public Limited Company (UDART) which runs buses operations.
Kaizen philosophy goes with ‘five S’ namely Sort, Set-in-order, Shine, Standardize and Sustain. It insists on using minimised economic resources for increased production by saving time and other resources most especially in labour intensive sectors of the economy.
The training, also involved employees from different sections such as drivers, passenger assistants, sanitation services providers, and bus service quality controllers, guards and ticket sellers.
At the end of the training participants would enable be able to design well their operations and everyone would improve ways they work for mutual benefits of the services providers and that of the beneficiaries.
A Kaizen expert and one of the trainers, Dr Mariam Tambwe, said that the Japanese-based philosophy, if well grasped, means changing quality by emphasizing cost reduction and translating to huge profits for bus operators and commuters.
For instance, the philosophy, if well followed will cut down employees laziness and work time waste for gossiping around while increase efficiency to meet set goals.
The UDART operates 210 buses, which are currently ferrying some 180,000 passengers a day and plans to increase the number of buses to 3,000 in the next eight years.