The Kenya Medical Supplies Authority has been commended by Ethiopia for its use of the Kaizen philosophy to run its operations.
The Kaizen is a Japanese business philosophy of continuous improvement of working practices and personal efficiency.
A high-powered Ethiopian delegation led by State Minister for Health, Dereje Duguma was last week in the country for benchmarking tour aimed at replicating the system which Kemsa CEO Terry Ramadhani praised as a world-class standards.
"The Kaizen Philosophy is our preferred benchmark for continuous operating improvement goals in all our work streams. We strive to guarantee quality standards through Kaizen, positioning KEMSA as a world-class health commodities supply-chain solutions provider,”Ramadhani stated.
She said they have enhanced the use of the application in their administrative, human capital management and supply chain operations.
During the tour, the CEO revealed that the Kaizen way of doing things at Kemsa has been key in enhancing customer experience and repositioning the organization for growth.
Duguma described Kemsa operations as inspiring and pledged to maintain contact to ensure Ethiopian counterparts replicate the local success.
"We will strive to maintain mutual support relations as we tap into the learning experiences we have borrowed here to ensure the successful rollout of Kaizen philosophies at our Ethiopian Pharmaceuticals Supply Service," Duguma affirmed.
Kemsa has been highly ranked as one of the model Kaizen and LEAN Management operating facilities in sub-Saharan Africa.
This has been as a result of adopting the Japanese philosophy as the authority’s benchmark for organisational transformation and continuous improvement.
The medical supplies agency has also received delegations from across Africa seeking to understand the finer details of the Kaizen philosophy and its application in a complex supply chain environment.