Kanban System

A lean manufacturing ‘pull’ system designed to control production procedures and increase team efficiency

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Why Should You Implement a Kanban System in Manufacturing?

There is a reason why the Kanban project management system is so popular within manufacturing. Whilst being relatively easy and inexpensive to implement, the visual management system also comes with a myriad of other benefits, which include:

  • Easily highlight areas of inefficiency and overburden
  • Elimination of excess inventory & work that doesn’t add value
  • Focus on finishing work helps increase motivation and productivity
  • Allows for easy workflow visualisation for the whole team
  • Builds trust between staff as collaboration is encouraged
  • Improves responsiveness when demand changes

How Do You Implement a Kanban System in Manufacturing?

To implement the Kanban visual management system successfully, you first must ensure that your warehouse or factory provides the ideal environment. This will include having an established flow for manufacturing, only having a few product variations (or separate Kanban systems may need to be used), and having a predictable demand for your products.

Flow Mapping

First, you’ll need to identify your current workflow and create a strict outline of your processes. This will come in handy when identifying where your projects sit within the key stages on your Kanban board. Map these out on your board, keeping them as simple as possible.

Visualising Production

Next, to build your Kanban board, you’ll want to map out all of the current projects you have in the pipeline. You should create a card for each one, which will then be used on the flow board. Keep these cards brief for now, as you can fill in less-important details at a later date.

Implementation

Once your board has been mapped out and project cards created, you can now roll out the process to the wider team. Encourage all production teams to take ownership of the board, moving each of the cards further down the flow as production stages finish and new ones start. Providing everyone is on the same page about processes and procedures, this should be relatively straightforward to do.

Analysing & Improving

This is the stage where you will start to identify opportunities to streamline and improve processes. As your team works through the projects and stages on the board, you will be able to visually identify which teams aren’t being utilised well, where tasks are taking the longest, or perhaps where tasks are causing a bottleneck. From what you’ve identified, implement automations, different task flows, and other processes to streamline your systems and increase your team’s efficiency.

Buy Kanban System Starter Sets & Products

At ORGATEX we have many years of experience in Kanban. Our Kanban starter set comes with a greyboard, system boxes, insert label holders, card inserts, and attachment material so that you’ll have everything you need to implement your new kanban production system from the get-go.

If you’re a project manager on the lookout for more ways to improve your team’s efficiency, why not explore other methodologies? We stock a range of high quality products to help you improve processes when following any of the project management techniques, found below.

Explore Kanban Products From Orgatex UK

If you have any questions about lean management and how it works, read our frequently asked questions below. If the question you have isn’t answered, please feel free to contact a member of our team, who will be happy to advise.

Kanban System FAQs

How is Average Lead Time Measured in a Kanban System?

You can measure lead time when using the Kanban system by measuring the total production time from start to finish, and then dividing that value by the number of stages in the process. Time could be tracked using the board itself, on a spreadsheet, or by using another project management software.

Who is Responsible For Managing Kanban?

There is no role assignment in the Kanban process, which is why it is a great tool for promoting collaboration and communication between teams and team members. Each of your staff should take ownership of the project and system to decide the tasks to be completed next. You may want to use department managers to oversee the board itself, just so everything is kept within the outlined process.

What is a Kanban Card?

These are a visual representation of a work item or project. These are vital for ensuring everyone working on the task is aware of the core details, deadlines, the people responsible, etc. The Kanban cards are used on the Kanban board.

Are Daily Standups Used in Kanban?

Daily standups aren’t essential in Kanban, nor is it part of the official process. However, some teams may find daily standups useful as they open the lines of communication, and give people the space to ask questions and collaborate. All of these benefits can help to further improve the effectiveness of Kanban.

What Companies Use the Kanban System?

Although Kanban was first popular within the manufacturing industry, the project management system has been adapted for use elsewhere. The Kanban system is now used at many large corporations, which include the likes of Jaguar, Nike, Pixar Studios, and Spotify.

Is Kanban a Push or Pull System?

As Kanban is based on lean and just-in-time manufacturing, Kanban is a pull system, which means suppliers are ‘pulled’ into the work only when the demand for the product is there via something like a customer order.

What Are the Six Rules Of Kanban?

There are six main rules to implement effective Kanban within your organisation: 

  1.  Visualise your current work processes.
  2. Limit the work in progress, and instead encourage your employees to complete a task before moving on to a new one.
  3. Think of ways to improve your workflow and processes through working through the different stages of production and their statuses.
  4. Create clear policies through products such as visual cues to prompt the right action, and demonstrate proper processes. 
  5. Create feedback loops to encourage feedback and improvements from your employees on these policies. 
  6. Repeat this process to ensure that you are constantly evolving and improving your business.

What Does Kanban Stand For?

Kanban stands for the Japanese word ‘visual card’ meaning using visual prompts and cues to promote actions that improve efficiency in the workplace through displaying information such as what to produce, how to produce it and when to do it.

Which Industries Use Kanban?

The Kanban method is used by a multitude of different industries, from fashion, to food, retail, and technology. Kanban is a very versatile system to implement within your workplace as you can adapt the visual systems you put in place to suit the needs and aims of your industry. For example, a warehouse may use more health and safety visuals whereas a fashion business may use more metric-based visuals.

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