{"id":13773,"date":"2025-06-18T12:45:14","date_gmt":"2025-06-18T11:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theleansixsigmacompany.com\/us\/?p=13773"},"modified":"2025-06-19T09:11:16","modified_gmt":"2025-06-19T08:11:16","slug":"kanban","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theleansixsigmacompany.com\/us\/library\/kanban\/","title":{"rendered":"Kanban"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kanban was developed at Toyota by Taiichi Ohno. He was looking for an efficient system for achieving a high level of productivity. Kanban is a visual Lean Tool and is often applied in combination with JIT (Just-In-Time). Components are only produced when they are needed.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kanban comes from the Japanese words \u2018kan\u2019, which means \u2018visual\u2019 and \u2018ban\u2019, which means \u2018card\u2019 or \u2018board\u2019. Using a card (or digitally these days), a signal is given when something is needed, for example, when more of certain products or raw materials have to be ordered.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kanban as production system<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Kanban supports the management of a production system as a whole. It is an outstanding way of initiating improvements. Problem areas and bottlenecks are identified as soon as the number of kanban cards in circulation goes down. This implies that the amount of work being carried out is less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kanban provides insight into the production process<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Kanban can be cast in various forms, one of which is the \u2018kanban board\u2019. This is a variation on the kanban cards. On a board Post-It notes, magnets and cards are used to provide an overview of the amount of work and the number of tasks which have to be carried out. Every card represents a product or service in a process and the movement on the board shows the movement in that process. The board is often divided into three columns: \u2018waiting for production\u2019, \u2018in production\u2019 and \u2018produced\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Another form of Kanban is \u2018the Two-Bin system\u2019. The inventory used in production is stored in the first bin. The reserve stock is kept in the second bin. As soon as the first bin is empty, the kanban is taken out of the bin as a sign that it needs refilling. The second bin is moved forward. Once the bin has been refilled, the system is in balance again. As soon as the second bin is empty, refilling begins again with the help of the kanban card which is always in the bin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Several other types of Kanban are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n