OH: SARTA Utilizes Lean Ohio Process to Streamline and Improve Transportation Services

A team of SARTA professionals recently engaged in a Lean Ohio Process known as a “Value Stream Mapping Kaizen Event” with the goal of brainstorming and problem solving transportation for SARTA’s new contract services. 

Lead by Kent State’s Center for Corporate and Professional Development, the team used Lean and Six Sigma techniques to identify goals and solutions that will help make SARTA’s transportation services run more efficiently and affordably while increasing their ability to improve customer satisfaction.

As part of Governor Kaisich’s Local Government Innovation Program, the State of Ohio started a statewide quality improvement process based on Lean and Six Sigma principals.  This lead to a training effort for local government units.  In June, SARTA’s leadership team attended LeanOhio Boot Camp – Transforming the Public Sector, provided by the Center for Corporate and Professional Development at Kent State University. This training program and the Lean initiative that the organization is implementing is aimed at helping local public entities be simpler, faster better and less costly.  The experience was featured in Government Executive Magazine.

When asked about this process, Kirt Conrad, executive director, SARTA, stated, “I think this is the best program the State of Ohio has ever put forward in my 20 years of local government service. As a result of our experience, we will be integrating these principles into all areas of our agency so that we can streamline the way we do business and still deliver reliable transportation to Stark County.  I highly encourage any public agency to take advantage of this program.