UBT Kanban System Whitepaper V1.02

Transcription

1 UBT Kanban System Whitepaper V1.02 This whitepaper has been written to give you an overview of the Kanban system. Page 1 of 6

2 INTRODUCTION KANBAN SYSTEM WHITEPAPER In the late 1940s, Toyota discovered a better engineering process after noticing how the supermarket restocked grocery items by their store s inventory, not their vendor s supply. It was only when an item was near sell out did the grocer s clerk order more. This just-in-time delivery process spurred Toyota engineers to invent the Kanban system of matching inventory with demand; therefore achieving higher levels of quality and throughput Kanban is a Lean tool designed to reduce the idle time in a production process. The key idea behind the Kanban system is to deliver what the process needs exactly when it needs it. In Japanese, the word Kan means "visual" and "ban" means "card," and Lean uses these visual cards as a signalling system that trigger action to supply the process with its needs: either from an external supplier or from a warehouse. Kanban s core elements are based in the four following principles: 1. Visualise work 2. Limit Work in Process 3. Focus on Flow 4. Continuous Improvement STEP 1: MAP YOUR CURRENT WORKFLOW By creating a visual model of your work and workflow you can observe the flow of work moving through your Kanban system. Making the work visible along with blockers, bottlenecks and queues instantly leads to increased communication and collaboration. Page 2 of 6

3 STEP 2: PUT WORK ON THE BOARD Limiting how much unfinished work is in process you can reduce the time it takes an item to travel through the Kanban system. You can avoid problems caused by task switching and reduce the need to constantly reprioritise items. STEP 3: GATHER ROUND THE BOARD By using work-in-process limits and developing team-driven policies you can optimise your Kanban system to improve the smooth flow of work, collect metrics to analyse flow and use this analysis to produce leading indicators of any future problems. STEP 4: LIMIT YOUR WORK IN PROCESS Once your Kanban system is in place it becomes the cornerstone for a culture of continuous improvement. Teams measure their effectiveness by tracking flow, quality, throughput, lead times and more. Experiments and analysis can change the system to improve the team s effectiveness STEP 5: MEASURE AND LEARN Managing your work via a Kanban system reveals how the work is flowing through your process. It also gives you the tools to measure flow and the levers to pull to improve it. SIX RULES FOR AN EFFECTIVE KANBAN SYSTEM To ensure you effectively setup the Kanban system in your workplace Toyota has provided the following six rules. 1. Customer (downstream) processes withdraw items in the precise amounts specified by the Kanban. 2. Supplier (upstream) produces items in the precise amounts and sequences specified by the Kanban. 3. No items are made or moved without a Kanban. 4. A Kanban should accompany each item, every time. Page 3 of 6

4 5. Defects and incorrect amounts are never sent to the next downstream process. 6. The number of Kanbans is reduced carefully to lower inventories and to reveal problems. RESOURCES Hefley, C. (n.d.) Kanban Roadmap A guide from your friends at LeanKit, 3-28, retrieved from SAMPLE KANBAN BOARDS Page 4 of 6

5 SAMPLE KANBAN CARDS Page 5 of 6

6 TERMS OF USE Your receipt and use of this document is subject to the Terms and Conditions as listed below. The User acknowledges and agrees that this document is and remains the intellectual property of UBT Accountants Pty Ltd (UBT). This document may not be copied for, distributed to or used by any business other than the User s business without the written consent of UBT. UBT owns and retains ownership of all intellectual property rights (including but not limited to patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade names, trade secrets, and domain names) in and relating to this document and all customisations, enhancements, improvements, translations, derivative works or other modifications of or to this document. This document and all other proprietary information provided by UBT contain and constitute trade secrets, information and data proprietary to and copyrighted by UBT. UBT supplying this document to the Purchaser does not operate to transfer any intellectual property of UBT. The User acknowledges and agrees that the unauthorised disclosure, use, dissemination, distribution or copying of this document may cause UBT serious financial loss. Accordingly, in the event of any unauthorised disclosure, Copyright use or copying UBT of Accountants this document Pty Ltd UBT shall This have Kanban the right System to seek Whitepaper injunctive or is subject other equitable relief. Page 6 of 6 Subject to any terms implied by law and which cannot be excluded, all warranties, representations and other terms are excluded and UBT shall not be liable for any loss or damage (including any indirect,