Kanban cards (Toyota Production System)
Why organizations should use it? To maintain an orderly and efficient material flow along the whole manufacturing process, part of just-in-time system.
How organizations should use it? By having the subsequent process (defining rate of demand) go to the preceding supply chain processes (defining rate of production) to retrieve the necessary parts when and in the amount needed.
What is it for? Product control cards upon which product-related information (product’s name, code, storage location) are entered: production kanban & withdrawal kanban.
Kanban card types are:
- A Production kanban specifies the kind and quantity of product which the preceding supply chain process must produce
- A withdrawal kanban specifies the kind and quantity of product which a manufacturing process should withdraw from a preceding supply chain process
Kanban cards steps are composed of:
- Visualization of the workflow
- Limitation of Work-In-Progress along the workflow
- Management of the flow and cycle time
- Clarification of policies
- Feedback loop & continuous improvement
