Insert Boards & Kanban Systems

Track processes and operations with a complete range of Kanban systems and insert boards from Orgatex.

Why Are Insert Boards Essential For Lean Management?

Visual insert boards, such as the Heijunka or Kanban board, allow you to visually track a project, including the progress of each individual stage or task included. The boards encourage each member of staff to take ownership of each relevant section with colour-coded cards – which they can move across the board once their task is complete. Boards can also be used to track supplies coming in and out of the warehouse, stock levels, and order processing.

Not only do project overview and insert boards help engage staff and identify project progress ‘at-a-glance’, but they’ll also help your management team to identify where there are bottlenecks in production – i.e. which areas of manufacturing are slowing down output. From here, you’ll be able to review that particular stage of production and implement processes to help speed that process up. This could look like swapping around members of staff, or additional training for people in that department. 

If you want more information on lean management or kanban card systems, please explore our methodology pages. Alternatively, feel free to reach out to our team. 

Kanban Board Systems

Kanban is an insert system method for managing inventories and production. It is based on the pull principle and forms a closed-loop system. The pull principle essentially means that the consumer takes the materials required for production from the supplier. Once the consumer has used up a predetermined Kanban quantity, they signal this to the supplier in the form of a Kanban card (Kanban is Japanese for the card), which tells the supplier to produce the indicated quantity again.

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Kanban Insert Cards

Prefabrication in a lean factory depends on setup times and is controlled via a traffic light system known as a Kanban system board. Kanban insert system cards from empty containers are inserted into the Kanban board according to sort and part number. Production begins once the yellow stage is reached. If the red stage is reached, it means that retooling and production are required immediately. By using a traffic light card Kanban system, you’ll be able to easily identify where holdups occur most, and therefore implement systems to ensure that production is streamlined. If you’d like to find out more about Kanban and how it could benefit your workplace, why not explore our methodology page?

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Kanban Board Systems For Suppliers

The supplier Kanban board is a visual aid that helps monitor and control deliveries from suppliers, known as Kanban call-offs, in a self-regulating control loop. Once a container unit is used up, the Kanban information is conveyed to the external supplier. The delivery is then monitored using the Kanban insert cards. This helps immediately detect outstanding deliveries and backlogs, and actions can be taken to rectify where needed.

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The Heijunka Board

Fluctuations in demand can lead to growing order peaks in upstream work processes, which a kanban board might not be able to track effectively. A great alternative to this is the Heijinka board. The Heijunka board is a lean management tool that helps to reduce the chance of overburden or process fluctuations. It ensures that customer or internal production orders are processed in a set sequence. This optimised sequence helps smooth out fluctuations to ensure targets are met within a set timeframe.

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Explore Key Practical Knowledge Pages

Orgatex has 50 years of experience designing and developing high-quality container labels to improve work processes for a range of sectors across industrial, manufacturing and logistics groups. We’ve created several practical knowledge pages to help you get to grips with the products available to help you achieve a lean organisation status.