How to Maintain Kanban Systems

Kanban means visual card’, or simply, sign’ in Japanese. In manufacturing, there are two types of Kanban: the move’ Kanban, which tells the receiving department when to move parts to the assembly line, and the make’ Kanban, which instructs suppliers to manufacture parts or products. As part of the Lean Six Sigma methodology, Kanban cards can be used in all business industries (not just manufacturing) to streamline tasks, improve operational processes, and encourage better communication within the workforce.

Kanban cards and systems are designed to cut waste, reduce time wasting, and improve collaboration on projects. But, Kanban cards are not magic; they won’t transform your business efficiency levels on their own. You must properly maintain them and utilize their full potential.

So, how can one effectively maintain a Kanban system? Here are five key ways.

1.      Remove Completed Tasks Immediately

When business operations are in progress, Kanban systems come in extremely handy for tracking the status of work tasks, delegating jobs, and collaborating as a team to produce the finest results. But only when Kanban boards are used regularly, as it’s imperative to keep them up to date. Failing to switch completed tasks over from your board to the done’ list will make it harder to find ongoing operations quickly. This will slow your colleagues down, instead of making their job more convenient.

Don’t put off removing tasks until tomorrow, your Kanban board should always be up to date.

2.       Color Coding

The purpose of a Kanban system is to allow you easy access to information about tasks in progress. Make use of a color coding system that allows you to effortlessly navigate the Kanban board. Whether you use a digital or physical system, contrasting colors ensure urgent jobs stand out, enable you to keep track of team members’ progress, and ensure projects are completed punctually.

A coding system where different colors have different representations, (for example, Red = to do, yellow = doing, and green = done) is a simple, straightforward way to utilize colors for your Kanban board.

3.      Move Cards Between Columns

Moving Kanban cards between columns is imperative if you want to make the most of your Kanban board and system. In general, this is the feature that is used the most. There’s a high likelihood that you’ll be moving cards around more frequently than you create new ones.

If you’re using a Kanban board app, you will be able to easily move cards within seconds. Apps and similar digital Kanban systems allow you to change the placement of a card at any time, for example to move it from the to do’ column to doing’.

Physical Kanban board users should also get into the habit of moving the card as soon as the status of a project changes. Moving cards around on a physical board is not quite as effortless as when using an app. Use magnets and sticky notes, as they are popular solutions for improving the efficiency of this process.

Which one should you use, physical or digital?

4.      Add Notes

When you’re using your Kanban system to track the progress of multiple projects, not including details about the task could land your team in a sea of confusion. Vague information can cost you dearly. If your employees become muddled when completing tasks, they will make mistakes. 

Adding notes to cards in a digital Kanban system should be a quick and easy process. If you are using a Kanban app, there will be an add note’ function handy. If you’re using a physical board, use cards that are large enough to add detailed information to.

5.      Attach Checklists

Both digital and physical Kanban boards support the use of checklists to track operations progress. A checklist is a simple, efficient way of making sure that everything gets done, so they are widely utilized in Kanban systems.

If you’re using a Kanban app, you will likely have access to a feature allowing you to create a quick checklist for any given task. This will allow you to break one large project down into a series of smaller tasks, while only using up the space of one card on the board. Ensure that each project is checked off immediately on completion, to avoid the risk of wasting time working on something that’s already been done.

To Conclude

Working with a digital or physical Kanban system can help you to transform your business operations from sluggish and slow to fast and efficient. However, many people get wrapped up in the structure and look of a Kanban system, and overlook the discipline and consistency that is more critical for success. Make a habit of using these Kanban system maintenance strategies. so that you don’t miss out on any of its useful features. 

Learn more about Kanban >>>

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Different Types of Kanban Boards and Card Holders

Since it was introduced in the 1950’s by Toyota Production System founder Taiichi Ohno, Kanban has been adopted by thousands of companies in pursuit of success.

Kanban cards exist to track progress. Doing so helps each member of a business team stay up-to-date, allowing them to easily determine which strategies are useful and which aren’t. But, if you’re using Kanban cards to track progress, then you will need a way to display them. This enables your team to see the progress status on various projects or on the overall business. There are many methods to choose from when it comes to displaying Kanban cards in the workplace.

Here are some of the different types of Kanban boards and card holders explained.

Online Kanban Boards

In today’s digital world, online Kanban boards are a must in any office practicing the Lean Six Sigma method. With an online Kanban board, you can use your laptop, tablet or smartphone to visualize, manage your workflow, and engage in real-time collaboration on various projects with your team members. Online Kanban boards emulate their offline counterparts using apps, but they offer so much more: faster work completion, better efficiency, improved flexibility, and more transparency.

One of the biggest advantages of opting for an online Kanban board is that they offer easy customization. Using your device, you can effortlessly change the ways in which you deal with the designation of lanes or columns. You can also easily adjust the Kanban card to fit in with the details of your project.

Read about the pros and cons between digital and physical kanban boards >>>

Agile Kanban Boards

The term Agile’ was first coined in relation to Kanban almost twenty years ago, in a manifesto written by a 17-strong authorship team of independent software developers. Agile offers a flexible, interactive approach to using Kanban cards for business. The methods allow teams to divide the development process into smaller, manageable segments, enabling easier changes as work progresses, and minimizing the risk of a stand-still.

Although Agile teams are likely to need a more complex set of options than the to do, doing, done’ of basic Kanban, the adaptability of the system is what makes it so popular. Using Agile Kanban boards, teams can accept incremental changes, visually present complex tasks, workflows and progress, and improve the transparency of their workplace projects and collaborations. Using Kanban in Agile development allows you to visually track where work is becoming backlogged in any lane. You can then take more informed action steps when setting limits, ensuring that the workflow runs smoothly.

Excel Kanban Boards

One of the simplest ways to present your Kanban cards is to create a board using Excel, a software program that all Microsoft Office users have access to. If you do not use Microsoft Office, you can create Kanban boards for free online using Google Sheets.

To create a Kanban board in Excel (or Google Sheets), name the columns of your sheet to reflect each work progress stage: To-Do, Doing, Done, along with any further stages relevant to the project. This Kanban board method is popular, as it not only allows you to retain all the functionality of tracking a project using Excel, but it also allows for enhanced flexibility and visibility, which takes advantage of Kanban principles.

An alternative to using Excel is to use PowerPoint. This popular slide show software makes it easy to showcase or present your Kanban cards to staff, clients or stakeholders.

Kanban Bin Systems

In certain workplace settings, 2-bin and 3-bin Kanban systems can be used to track inventory. Used for replenishing items in a supply setting, such as a production line or other kind of factory, a worker will pull tasks from bin number one until the last task is complete.

Once the bin is emptied, the worker will flip the Kanban card (or the bin, in some cases) and begin on the tasks in the second bin, while the first one is replenished. When using a 3-bin Kanban system, one bin should be kept at the supplier’s location for inventory.

Wall Mounted Card-Holders and Racks

Wall-mounted racks or card-holders provide a traditional, yet effective, method of using Kanban cards to improve efficiency and productivity. Ideal for material handling environments, these racks or card-holders can help with the smooth flow of both projects and communication.

Rather than the usual signal cards, which represent capacity or demand on a task, Kanban cards in wall-mounted holder utilizes items such as magnets, sticky notes, or push-pins for representing each work item. As it travels around the board, each object correlates to a business process such as an item in production.

Kanban cards are one of the most versatile aids for business process improvement. The large assortment of methods available for displaying Kanban cards in the workplace allows any company to successfully adapt them to their needs.

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What Makes Kanban Effective?

Kanban, which was originally modeled after a Toyota Production System, means “billboard” or “signboard” in Japanese. Scheduling systems like Kanban help to eliminate wasted resources, help people make more efficient use of their time, build stronger and more robust businesses, and improve current designs. This way, future businesses are able to reap the reward of previous experiences, solutions, and expertise. 

The answer to why Kanban is so effective in helping people and businesses DO THINGS BETTER actually has more than one part. We’ll be listing a few of these parts below.

Kanban Prevents Work Overload And Confusion

Establishing an upper limit to work in process, so that people can’t become overloaded, is a concept that has worked wonders. It functions on the same principle as the words of advice : “Don’t bite off more than you can chew”. Before the implementation of Kanban boards, businesses were much more prone to disorganization, wasted time, wasted money, and confusion from too many projects at once. But with their help, people and businesses have been able to completely streamline their operations, and finally have a way to cut down on losses.

Learning to work with these special “boards” can help prepare you for jobs that require the use of Kanban systems. Skill with Kanban also gives you the ability to apply these fundamentals into any area of your life you choose, and get amazing results/turn-outs that wouldn’t be possible otherwise.

Learn about ways to apply Kanban to your personal life >>>

Kanban Visual Process Solutions Provide “Up-To-The-Second” Management Ability

Kanban boards and systems provide nearly instant business management ability. For example, while current work is being completed and new work becomes available, electronic Kanban boards “feed” the constantly changing event information to management personnel. These management personnel then have the ability to pause/halt work orders, cancel orders, assign new orders to individuals or teams, switch orders between members, and more. In other words, the work is instantly updated in a dynamic environment.

Kanban systems and boards can be very complex. When used in computer software, they can include 3rd Party plug-ins, that “link up” to internet communication between many teams of members, and can access huge databases of information, and automatically update themselves, etc. 

Kanban Isn’t Just For Business – It’s Also The Perfect Tool For Raising Kids, Planning Events, And More!

How you choose to use Kanban to manage activities is totally open-ended. You can choose to use it as part of a team-based collaboration, or use it for yourself. You can always choose to add custom additions to your personal/private Kanban system, or remove the parts of your system you don’t like.

Here’s a great example of Kanban cards in action.

Julie, a stay-at-home mother of 3, is always dealing with the challenge of her children wanting to try new things and keep themselves entertained. Julie uses Kanban cards to “stay on top” of the situation.

As soon as one of the children mentions a new activity, Julie adds it to her Kanban board with a blue card that denotes a need to review. From there, she can setup a time to supervise the activity, research safety issues, find ways to prevent possible injuries in advance, etc. If the activity is deemed to be dangerous, she adds it to a bright red Kanban card (meaning stop, not acceptable). If it’s an OK activity that isn’t dangerous and works out well, she adds it to a green Kanban card (meaning go ahead, this is a safe activity). She also adds helpful notes to the card when the activity is over, so the same activities can become more fun and safe.

Her collection of activity cards help Julie identify and “weed out” dangerous behavior, steer her children in the correct direction, plan future outings and adventures, and more. The collection of cards gives Julie additional insight into her kids lives. The recorded events on the cards are helping to “mold” them into who they are, and what they’re going to accomplish.

Kanban Can Be Used Solo Or As Part Of A Team!

A big part of Kanban’s effectiveness lies in it’s versatility and adaptability. Because it’s open-ended and open-source, you can feel free to mold Kanban into a “different animal” of your own creation, to accomplish goals as part of a team or on your own!

Especially when used for your own benefit, such as with household planning, you’ll find you will end up using less resources (food, utilities, money, time, energy), and end up with much more free time for yourself. Time you can also use to discover additional ways to better yourself, your surroundings, and expand your horizons.

Results People Are Getting From Kanban Are “Out Of This World” Amazing!

Think about it. If the mega car giant Toyota makes use of Kanban on a daily basis, then there must be SOMETHING pretty special about it.  And the beauty is in the simplicity. Kanban requires that YOU learn to be the master in control, rather than rely on problem and solution methods someone else has developed.

 Where are you considering adding Kanban boards to your work or personal life? Add your comments below…

Learn more about Kanban >>>

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Simple Kanban Systems to Setup at Home

Kanban and Kanban boards have proven themselves to be both efficient and effective in the business sphere, but you don’t have to be a business to take advantage of Kanban and its principles. There is a wide variety of applications for personal Kanban, and you can use this list of ideas at home as inspiration, to make your home more organized, efficient and fun.

The Personal Kanban Board

The personal kanban board is probably the simplest and most popular application of Kanban on a personal level. It’s a simple Kanban board with just 3 columns To Do’, Doing’ and Done’. It is really up to you if you want to use a digital solution to work with your personal Kanban board online, or if you’d rather have a physical board on the wall of your study or bedroom at home.

Some free electronic kanban tools are Kanban Tool, Trello and Cardsmith

Either way, this simple yet powerful visualization tool will allow you to handle your personal tasks in a more organized way, allowing you to increase your personal productivity. Just don’t forget to implement a limit on the Work in Progress allowed in the Doing’ column, so you can stay focused and remain efficient.

Learn more about Kanban boards >>>

A Kanban-Based Chore Board

No matter if you are living with your family, some friends, roommates, or even by yourself, creating a dedicated Kanban board for the household chores might save a lot of time (and often prevent a lot arguments). When you are living with people, it’s often harder to divide the tasks, and people might feel like they are doing more than the rest, even when that is not the case. Making the list of chores, and who is doing what, visible to everybody allows everyone to understand their own part, and to see that others are putting in an effort as well.

Additionally, explicit Kanban rules might be used to keep each person from having to do too much, while everything gets done on time. You can also create individual swim lanes for each person in the household, or use additional stickers to signify who is taking care of which task.

Kanban Inventory Management for Your Fridge and Pantry

The first Kanban implementation in Toyota didn’t really include a central visual Kanban board, but an integrated system that utilized signal cards that allowed demand to pull production. An extremely simplified version of that can actually make the creation of a grocery list an effortless and virtually automatic process. The idea is actually very simple, and the only thing you need to do is create a Kanban card for each product that you use on regular basis.

When you buy groceries, you stock them in your fridge or pantry, together with their respective Kanban cards. While you keep consuming the items, you take the cards of the items that have run out, and stick them outside your fridge with magnets. This will provide you with a very clear visual indication of when you are running out, and what you are running out of. In this way, the system will be able to alert you when you need to go shopping in a straight-forward visual way. Before you leave, just take out your smartphone, and take a picture of your fridge, and you have a ready-made grocery list in less than 2 seconds. Or you can use paper cards, and when you run out of the item, remove the card for that item (usually taped to the product), and put them into a basket, then take the cards to the store with you. Each card should contain the name of the product, brand, size, and any other pertinent information (flavor, ingredients, etc). This worked really well for me personally, when trying to manage dog food. I setup a min-max level, so when I was down to 3 cans of dog food, I had a card on the 3rd can that told me to buy 6 more cans (min of 3, max of 9).

Manage Your Children as a Team

Being a parent means that you have to teach your children to be independent, organized and responsible, while still being in control, and providing them stewardship and guidance. Striking the right balance between a hands-on and a hands-off approach can be a very difficult task, and Kanban can be a tool to help you achieve that.

You can create a dedicated Kanban board for your children and the tasks they have. It might include house chores, schoolwork, their hobbies, playtime and important appointments and tasks. You can have explicit rules and WIP limitations to make sure they cannot get to playtime before they have completed their schoolwork. Having a visual board will allow you to exercise control and supervision, without robbing your children of a sense of independence. This also teaches them to prioritize and organize on their own.

Event Management

You can also use personal Kanban to manage larger events you might have coming up. As Kanban is an effective and efficient way to manage large workloads, it can be extremely helpful when planning weddings, anniversaries or other large events that are more than a simple party.

If we look at a wedding as an example, we’ll see that there is a myriad of different tasks to be handled by a variety of people. While most of the work usually weights on the bride’s shoulders, there are always a lot of other people involved, and all of their efforts need to be coordinated. As the huge workload of organizing a wedding can be quite stressful, having a nice Kanban board to make everything organized can alleviate some of that pain. It will also make communication between everybody involved much easier, so more will get done, and fewer tasks will fall through the cracks.

Be Creative

As you can clearly see by all the ideas above, personal Kanban has more than one way to help you live a better life, and there are so much more examples that we haven’t mentioned. Everybody can find their own unique way to implement it at home. You can be as creative as you’d like, as the Kanban approach is quite flexible, and can be applied to everything we do.

How have you applied Kanban in your personal life? Add your comments below…

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What Are Different Types of Kanban

As Kanban is not a fixed methodology that has an ownership like Six Sigma, it can actually mean a few different things, and can be implemented in a number of different ways. On top of this, the term can be used in a number of different contexts, so it could mean different things to different people.

Where Does It Come from?

The idea behind Kanban was first developed in the 1940’s by Toyota. As they were looking for an efficient way to exercise logistical control, and to maintain efficient inventory levels, they turned their attention to American supermarkets. Their observations showed that in a supermarket, customers retrieve what they need from the shelves. As stock levels go down, this triggers the supermarket personnel to restock them. Toyota saw this as efficient for restocking parts, and decided to implement it on the factory floor.

In their implementation, each process was viewed as a customer to the prior process, so required components would be stocked or built only as they are needed and used. This meant that production could actually be regulated by demand as signals would pass through their production chain. The goal is to supply “what is needed, when it is needed, and in the amount needed“

The main innovation in their approach was to make all of this visual. The Japanese word kanban’ actually means signal or card, and this is what the original idea was based on. In order for this pull system to work, it required a way for signals to be passed. Toyota landed on was visual cards that had all the needed information on them.

Types of Kanban Based on the Usage

Toyota’s Kanban approach continued to develop, and as it was implemented in different environments. Its evolution branched into a few different types of Kanban, despite the fact that the differences are often a bit fluid. Still, exploring them can help us understand what Kanban has to offer as a whole.

Kanban Systems

This type of Kanban is what Toyota actually developed first. This is a system utilizing visual Kanban signals to trigger action. In this type of Kanban there are two types of Kanbans or Kanban Cards:

• Production Kanban which authorizes the workstation to produce a fixed amount of unit
• Transportation Kanban authorizes the transportation of a particular container to a downstream workstation.

The implementation of these cards creates a Kanban system that regulates itself, where items are not centralized. Each workstation or worker interacts with the cards they receive, which triggers them into action. There are variations on it with Kanban Bins, Card Holders or Racks, but they all iterate on the same basic mechanics that were inspired by the way supermarket restocks were triggered by customer demand.

Learn more about Kanban cards >>>

Kanban Boards

While Kanban Systems have Kanban Cards physically flow through the organization, there is another type of Kanban that has them posted in a central location. While it’s inspired by the Kanban logistic control systems used on factory floors, Kanban Boards put the Kanban Cards at a central location. This is an implementation of the Kanban principles that has distinctly different application and benefits.

A Kanban Board is actually a workflow visualization and management tool. It makes the tasks that a team or organization need to handle stand out in a visual way, that is accessible to everybody. This makes this approach much more flexible, and allows it to be useful in a much wider variety of applications and environments. The Kanban Board is separated in columns, which represent the discrete steps in a process a particular tasks needs to go through, in order to transform its status from impending to complete. Sticky notes are added to represent each task, and the team reviews the status of each action to determine how to move it to the next phase. That may require the task to be reassigned to someone else, or for leadership to get involved to help it move forward. The function of the Kanban implementation is to allow a team to prioritize, organize, and optimize their own workflow, while facilitating communication by providing clear visual information for all tasks.

Because of their flexibility, Kanban Boards have been implemented across many different industries, and can even be used by individuals to keep organized.

Learn more about Kanban boards >>>

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