Kanban

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Kanban()(literallysignboardorbillboardin
Japanese)isaschedulingsystemforlean
KanbanPrinciples
manufacturingandjustintimemanufacturing
(JIT).[2]Kanbanisaninventorycontrolsystemto
controlthesupplychain.TaiichiOhno,an
industrialengineeratToyota,developedkanbanto
improvemanufacturingefficiency.Kanbanisone
methodtoachieveJIT.[3]

Kanbanbecameaneffectivetooltosupport
runningaproductionsystemasawhole,andan
excellentwaytopromoteimprovement.Problem Kanbanmaintainsinventorylevelsasignalissenttoproduce
areasarehighlightedbyreducingthenumberof
anddeliveranewshipmentasmaterialisconsumed.These
kanbanincirculation.[4]Oneofthemainbenefits signalsaretrackedthroughthereplenishmentcycleandbring
ofkanbanistoestablishanupperlimittothework
inprocessinventory,avoidingoverloadingofthe extraordinaryvisibilitytosuppliersandbuyers. [1]
manufacturingsystem.Othersystemswithsimilar Purpose Logisticcontrolsystem
effectareforexampleCONWIP.[5]Asystematic Developer TaiichiOhno
studyofvariousconfigurationsofkanbansystems,
Implementedat Toyota
ofwhichCONWIPisanimportantspecialcase,
canbefoundinTayur(1993),amongother
papers.[6][7][8][9]

AnEnglishlanguagetermthatcapturesthemeaningoftheJapaneseword,kanban,isqueuelimiterandthe
beneficialresultisqueuelimitation.[10]Operationally,then,asprocessproblemsaredealtwith,thequeuelimit
(ormaximum)shouldbereducedforexample,aformerupperlimitoffivepiecesisreducedtofour,with
queuetimeintheprocessreducedby20percent.

Contents
1 Origins
2 Operation
2.1 Toyota'sSix
Rules
2.2 Kanbancards
2.3 Threebinsystem
3 Electronickanban
4 Typesofkanbansystems
5 Seealso
6 References
7 Furtherreading
8 Externallinks

Origins
Inthelate1940s,Toyotastartedstudyingsupermarketswiththeideaofapplyingshelfstockingtechniquesto
thefactoryfloor.Inasupermarket,customersgenerallyretrievewhattheyneedattherequiredtimenomore,
noless.Furthermore,thesupermarketstocksonlywhatitexpectstosellinagiventime,andcustomerstake
onlywhattheyneed,becausefuturesupplyisassured.ThisobservationledToyotatoviewaprocessasbeinga
customerofoneormoreprecedingprocesses,andtoviewtheprecedingprocessesasakindofstore.The
"customer"processgoestothestoretogetrequiredcomponents,whichinturncausesthestoretorestock.
Originally,asinsupermarkets,signboardsguided"shopping"processestospecificshoppinglocationswithin
thestore.

Kanbanalignsinventorylevelswithactualconsumption.Asignaltellsasuppliertoproduceanddeliveranew
shipmentwhenmaterialisconsumed.Thesesignalsaretrackedthroughthereplenishmentcycle,bringing
visibilitytothesupplier,consumer,andbuyer.

Kanbanusestherateofdemandtocontroltherateofproduction,passingdemandfromtheendcustomerup
throughthechainofcustomerstoreprocesses.In1953,Toyotaappliedthislogicintheirmainplantmachine
shop.[11]

Operation
Onekeyindicatorofthesuccessofproductionschedulingbasedondemand,pushing,istheabilityofthe
demandforecasttocreatesuchapush.Kanban,bycontrast,ispartofanapproachwherethe"pull"comesfrom
demand.Resupplyorproductionisdeterminedaccordingtotheactualdemandofthecustomer.Incontexts
wheresupplytimeislengthyanddemandisdifficulttoforecast,often,thebestonecandoistorespondquickly
toobserveddemand.Thissituationisexactlywhatakanbansystemaccomplishes,inthatitisusedasademand
signalthatimmediatelytravelsthroughthesupplychain.Thisensuresthatintermediatestockheldinthesupply
chainarebettermanaged,andareusuallysmaller.Wherethesupplyresponseisnotquickenoughtomeet
actualdemandfluctuations,therebycausingpotentiallostsales,stockbuildingmaybedeemedmore
appropriate,andisachievedbyplacingmorekanbaninthesystem.

TaiichiOhnostatedthat,tobeeffective,kanbanmustfollowstrictrulesofuse.[12]Toyota,forexample,hassix
simplerules,andclosemonitoringoftheserulesisaneverendingtask,therebyensuringthatthekanbandoes
whatisrequired.

Toyota'sSixRules

Toyotahasformulatedsixrulesfortheapplicationofkanban:[13]

Laterprocesspicksupthenumberofitemsindicatedbythekanbanattheearlierprocess.
Earlierprocessproducesitemsinthequantityandsequenceindicatedbythekanban.
Noitemsaremadeortransportedwithoutakanban.
Alwaysattachakanbantothegoods.
Defectiveproductsarenotsentontothesubsequentprocess.Theresultis100%defectfreegoods.
Reducingthenumberofkanbanincreasesthesensitivity.

Kanbancards

Kanbancardsareakeycomponentofkanbanandtheysignaltheneedtomovematerialswithinaproduction
facilityortomovematerialsfromanoutsidesupplierintotheproductionfacility.Thekanbancardis,ineffect,
amessagethatsignalsdepletionofproduct,parts,orinventory.Whenreceived,thekanbantriggers
replenishmentofthatproduct,part,orinventory.Consumption,therefore,drivesdemandformoreproduction,
andthekanbancardsignalsdemandformoreproductsokanbancardshelpcreateademanddrivensystem.
Itiswidelyheldbyproponentsofleanproductionandmanufacturingthatdemanddrivensystemsleadtofaster
turnaroundsinproductionandlowerinventorylevels,helpingcompaniesimplementingsuchsystemsbemore
competitive.

Inthelastfewyears,systemssendingkanbansignalselectronicallyhavebecomemorewidespread.Whilethis
trendisleadingtoareductionintheuseofkanbancardsinaggregate,itisstillcommoninmodernlean
productionfacilitiestofinduseofkanbancards.Invarioussoftwaresystems,kanbanisusedforsignalling
demandtosuppliersthroughemailnotifications.Whenstockofaparticularcomponentisdepletedbythe
quantityassignedonkanbancard,a"kanbantrigger"iscreated(whichmaybemanualorautomatic),a
purchaseorderisreleasedwithpredefinedquantityforthesupplierdefinedonthecard,andthesupplieris
expectedtodispatchmaterialwithinaspecifiedleadtime.[14]

Kanbancards,inkeepingwiththeprinciplesofkanban,simplyconveytheneedformorematerials.Aredcard
lyinginanemptypartscartconveysthatmorepartsareneeded.

Threebinsystem

Anexampleofasimplekanbansystemimplementationisa"threebinsystem"forthesuppliedparts,where
thereisnoinhousemanufacturing.Onebinisonthefactoryfloor(theinitialdemandpoint),onebinisinthe
factorystore(theinventorycontrolpoint),andonebinisatthesupplier.Thebinsusuallyhavearemovable
cardcontainingtheproductdetailsandotherrelevantinformationtheclassickanbancard.

Whenthebinonthefactoryfloorisempty(becausethepartsinitwereusedupinamanufacturingprocess),
theemptybinanditskanbancardarereturnedtothefactorystore(theinventorycontrolpoint).Thefactory
storereplacestheemptybinonthefactoryfloorwiththefullbinfromthefactorystore,whichalsocontainsa
kanbancard.Thefactorystoresendstheemptybinwithitskanbancardtothesupplier.Thesupplier'sfull
productbin,withitskanbancard,isdeliveredtothefactorystorethesupplierkeepstheemptybin.Thisisthe
finalstepintheprocess.Thus,theprocessneverrunsoutofproductandcouldbedescribedasaclosedloop,
inthatitprovidestheexactamountrequired,withonlyonesparebinsothereisneveroversupply.This'spare'
binallowsforuncertaintiesinsupply,use,andtransportintheinventorysystem.Agoodkanbansystem
calculatesjustenoughkanbancardsforeachproduct.Mostfactoriesthatusekanbanusethecolouredboard
system(heijunkabox).

Electronickanban
Manymanufacturershaveimplementedelectronickanban(sometimesreferredtoasEkanban[15])systems.[16]
Thesehelptoeliminatecommonproblemssuchasmanualentryerrorsandlostcards.[17]Ekanbansystemscan
beintegratedintoenterpriseresourceplanning(ERP)systems,enablingrealtimedemandsignalingacrossthe
supplychainandimprovedvisibility.DatapulledfromEkanbansystemscanbeusedtooptimizeinventory
levelsbybettertrackingsupplierleadandreplenishmenttimes.[18]

Ekanbanisasignalingsystemthatusesamixoftechnologytotriggerthemovementofmaterialswithina
manufacturingorproductionfacility.Electronickanbandiffersfromtraditionalkanbaninthatituses
technologytoreplacetraditionalelementssuchaskanbancardswithbarcodesandelectronicmessagessuchas
emailorElectronicdatainterchange.

Atypicalelectronickanbansystemmarksinventorywithbarcodes,whichworkersscanatvariousstagesofthe
manufacturingprocesstosignalusage.Thescansrelaymessagestointernal/externalstorestoensurerestocking
ofproducts.Electronickanbanoftenusestheinternetasamethodofroutingmessagestoexternalsuppliers[19]
andasameanstoallowarealtimeviewofinventory,viaaportal,throughoutthesupplychain.

OrganizationssuchastheFordMotorCompany[20]andBombardierAerospacehaveusedelectronickanban
systemstoimproveprocesses.SystemsarenowwidespreadfromsinglesolutionsorboltonmodulestoERP
systems.
Typesofkanbansystems
Inakanbansystem,adjacentupstreamanddownstreamworkstationscommunicatewitheachotherthrough
theircards,whereeachcontainerhasakanbanassociatedwithit.EconomicOrderQuantityisimportant.The
twomostimportanttypesofkanbansare:[21]

Production(P)Kanban:APkanban,whenreceived,authorizestheworkstationtoproduceafixed
amountofproducts.ThePkanbaniscarriedonthecontainersthatareassociatedwithit.
Transportation(T)Kanban:ATkanbanauthorizesthetransportationofthefullcontainertothe
downstreamworkstation.TheTkanbanisalsocarriedonthecontainersthatareassociatedwiththe
transportationtomovethroughtheloopagain.

Seealso
Backflushaccounting
CONWIP
Materialrequirementsplanning
Manufacturingresourceplanning
Scheduling(productionprocesses)
Supplychainmanagement
Drumbufferrope
Listofsoftwaredevelopmentphilosophies
Leansoftwaredevelopment
Visualcontrol
Continuousflowmanufacturing
Kanban(development)
Justintimemanufacturing
Leanmanufacturing
ComparisonofKanbansoftware

References
1.Waldner,JeanBaptiste(September1992).PrinciplesofComputerIntegratedManufacturing.London:JohnWiley.
pp.128132.ISBN047193450X.
2."Kanban".RandomHouseDictionary.Dictionary.com.2011.RetrievedApril12,2011.
3.Ohno,Taiichi(June1988).ToyotaProductionSystembeyondlargescaleproduction.ProductivityPress.p.29.
ISBN0915299143.
4.Shing,Shigeo(1989).AStudyoftheToyotaProductionSystemfromanIndustrialEngineeringViewpoint.
ProductivityPress.p.228.ISBN0915299178.
5.Hopp,WallaceJ.(Spring2004)."ToPullorNottoPull:WhatIstheQuestion?".Manufacturing&Service
OperationsManagement:133.
6.Tayur,Sridhar(1993)."StructuralPropertiesandaHeuristicforKanbanControlledSerialLines".Management
Science.39(11):13471368.doi:10.1287/mnsc.39.11.1347.
7.Muckstadt,JohnTayur,Sridhar(1995)."Acomparisonofalternativekanbancontrolmechanisms.I.Backgroundand
structuralresults".IIETransactions.27(2):140150.doi:10.1080/07408179508936726.
8.Muckstadt,JohnTayur,Sridhar(1995)."Acomparisonofalternativekanbancontrolmechanisms.II.Experimental
results".IIETransactions.27(2):151161.doi:10.1080/07408179508936727.
9.Tayur,Sridhar(1992)."Propertiesofserialkanbansystems".QueueingSystems.12(34):297318.
doi:10.1007/BF01158805.
10.Schonberger,R.J.(2001).Let'sFixIt!OvercomingtheCrisisinManufacturing.NewYork:FreePress.pp.7071.
11.Ohno,Taiichi(June1988).ToyotaProductionSystembeyondlargescaleproduction.ProductivityPress.pp.2528.
ISBN0915299143.
12.Shing,Shigeo(1989).AStudyoftheToyotaProductionSystemfromanIndustrialEngineeringViewpoint.
ProductivityPress.p.30.ISBN0915299178.
13.Ohno,Taiichi(1988).ToyotaProductionSystem:BeyondLargeScaleProduction.ProductivityPress.p.176.
ISBN9780915299140.
 14."SettingUpKanbanManagement".JDEdwardsEnterpriseOneKanbanManagement9.0ImplementationGuide.JD
Edwards.Retrieved26February2015.
15."Takingcontrolofcosts".Momentum,themidsizebusinesscenternewsletter.Microsoft.
16.Vernyi,BruceVinas,Tonya(December1,2005)."EasingintoEKanban".IndustryWeek.RetrievedApril12,2008.
17.Drickhamer,David(March2005)."TheKanbanEvolution".MaterialHandlingManagement:2426.
18.Cutler,ThomasR.(September2006)."ExaminingLeanManufacturingPromise".SoftwareMag.com.Retrieved
January29,2013.
19.Lindberg,PerVoss,ChristopherA.Blackmon,KathrynL.(eds.).InternationalManufacturingStrategies:Context,
ContentandChange.ISBN0792380614.
20.VisualTools:CollectedPracticesandCases.ProductivityPress.ISBN1563273314.
21.Malakooti,Behnam(2013).OperationsandProductionSystemswithMultipleObjectives.JohnWiley&Sons.
ISBN9781118585375.

Furtherreading
Waldner,JeanBaptiste(1992).PrinciplesofComputerIntegratedManufacturing.JohnWiley.ISBN0
47193450X.
Louis,Raymond(2006).CustomKanban:DesigningtheSystemtoMeettheNeedsofYourEnvironment.
UniversityPark,IL:ProductivityPress.ISBN9781563273452.

Externallinks
Toyota:KanbanSystem(http://www.toyotaglobal.com/company/
Lookupkanbanin
vision_philosophy/toyota_production_system/justintime.html)
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