KANBAN (かんばん?看板)- System For managing inventory

Kanban(かんばん?看板) is an inventory control system used in Just in Time manufacturing.

?This term is also borrowed from the Toyota Motor Company where an industrial engineer named Taiichi Ohno created it.

Kanban(かんばん?看板) literally meant coloured cards which signal the ongoing process of the production and then to order parts which are required. Basically, it sets a maximum limit for the Work In Process (WIP) inventory and helps avoid over capacity or over stocks. (Work in Process means the partially finished products which await completion and thereafter sales. It may also mean the value of the item which are not fully made.) ?The requirement of the parts is written on the kanban which are conveyed to the suppliers. This way the production in any company is managed.

You may read my article about JIT which I wrote three weeks back.

The whole purpose of the Kanban(かんばん?看板) to control the excess inventory at any point of time in a production line. The excess inventory points to plain inefficiency which requires to be attended to. ?

Role of the Kanban(かんばん?看板)

There are three roles of the Kanban

1.?????? Role in transportation or production

2.?????? Role in visualisation of the inventory

3.?????? Role as a Kaizen tool.

?Kanban(かんばん?看板) is just to facilitate JUST In Time and Autonomation (Autonomation is automation with human touch. Its not fully automated but only the tasks which tire, bore people due to their repetitive nature are automated but leaves the process to be done by human worker.) Care is required to ensure that to use the Kanban(かんばん?看板), one does not end　up increasing the time.

?Types of Kanban(かんばん?看板)

??Broadly there are two types of Kanban(かんばん?看板) as per Toyota Production System.

1.?????? Production Instruction Kanban(かんばん?看板) called Shikake Kanban(仕掛けかんばん) in Japanese used in the production lines.

2.?????? Receiving Kanban(かんばん?看板) otherwise called Torihiki Kanban（取引かんばん） is used in the next process line or the supplier line.

?As per the Toyota Production System, by the disbursement of the Kanban(かんばん?看板) with the determined fixed number of parts to the each process, its ensured that the next process gets the exact number of parts in time to start the production.

If parts are used in the next process, the Receival Kanban取引かんばん） is taken to the previous process. When receiving the parts the Production Instruction Kanban is replaced with the Receival Kanban. The Production Instruction Kanban(仕掛けかんばん) which was removed from the previous process is returned previous process where it’s considered as an order for parts.? Based on the volume specified in the Production Instruction Kanban(仕掛けかんばん), the production starts. This Kanban(かんばん?看板) moves within the production floor and controls the production process.

?The Kanban(かんばん?看板) are money within the factory. Its plays the role of statement of delivery and more than that is a key to production control. It emphasises careful usage to avoid the damages or losses.

?Core Principles of Kanban(かんばん?看板)

?The core principles of the Kanban(かんばん?看板) are as follows

?Visualise Work processes

?Visual depiction of work helps in visualising the work and doing it with full understanding. The depiction is done by physical or tangible cards or by use of software technology. The visualisation of the process enables clear identification of the processes involved like what each step is, what are its expectations and who will do what.

Limit Work In Progress

?The whole purpose of the Kanban(かんばん?看板) is to keep the work in Progress inventory minimal. People in the team are asked to finish their tasks completely before going ahead to the next. This requires the number of people working in a process. Any changes to number of the people impacts the volume that can be produced.? This keeps other teams reminded that they must be wary of the numbers they request keeping in mind the working limitation imposed.

?Manage Wok

?Kanban(かんばん?看板) is used to prevent bottlenecks before they occur for eg, goals not achieved or issues not resolved. This is done by the forecasting of production and usage of resources efficiently.

When processes become predictable and stable, the company finds ease of making commitments.

Clearly Defined Policies

?? Visual depiction of workflows helps determined clear policies. Each worker knows what is expected of them and the checklist items which they will have to meet to complete the work and the process during movement between steps.

?Using Feedback Loops

?Kanban(かんばん?看板) is used to gather information, analyse the process flows, improve the process, and make incremental changes which are easier to adapt to. This helps in continuous improvement of the process.

?Improve Collaboration.

?Kanban(かんばん?看板) method requires teamwork and collaboration. Collaboration is required to change from one process to another and to identify and resolve issues.

Use of kanban necessitate that changes are widely communicated as changes in one area will impact work in other areas.

?Kanban Boards

Kanban boards have 3 elements Boards, Lists and Cards

?Kanban Board outlines the Broad picture of the process.

Kanban lists are to-do lists with the Kanban Boards.

Kanban Cards are used within the Kanban lists and minute detailed lists to complete the list.

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Advantages and Disadvantage of the Kanban(かんばん?看板)

?Advantages

?·???????? Due to being a visual work flow it enhances transparency and greater visibility.

·???????? Being efficient, Kanban(かんばん?看板) enables companies to have faster turnarounds.

·???????? Offer greater predictability of what’s to be expected. Like risks, roadblocks can be gleaned before they occur.

·???????? Enable the company to offer better services to the customer.

???????????? Disadvantages

???????????? Kanban(かんばん?看板) cannot be used in companies having no predictable workflows. ????Kanban(かんばん?看板) also cannot be used in companies whose environments are dynamic and unstable.

·???????? Kanban(かんばん?看板) cannot be used if the company does not use the related methodologies like Just in Time.

·???????? Kanban(かんばん?看板) require to be consistently updated.

·???????? Kanban(かんばん?看板) offer no timing assessments to different processes and therefore its left to team to know how much time is allotted to do the task and what deadlines depend on the process.

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