At Sixphere, we strongly believe in agile management models and how they make daily business life easier. That’s why we always keep them in mind in all our innovation processes. Among the many agile models available, today we bring you the well-known Kanban. Let’s explore it!

We all like to be more efficient in our work, as it brings benefits to everyone in the company, regardless of their position.

Well, the theory sounds perfect and paints a bright future for us, but… now it’s time to work to ensure it doesn’t just stay on paper! How do we do it? Where do we start? These are likely some of the first questions that will come up for those responsible for putting these changes into practice.

To help you answer these questions, various philosophies have been developed over the years to streamline and improve industrial processes as much as possible. Among them is the one known as Lean Manufacturing.

The foundations of Lean Manufacturing, which originated in the Japanese automotive multinational Toyota in the 1970s, are based on a series of principles aimed at eliminating all processes that do not add value to the product.

Kanban is a methodology that follows the spirit of the Lean philosophy by defining a specific work system that enables the optimization of industrial plants. Let’s dive deeper into it.

What is Kanban

Kanban aims to manage the supply of components received by each link in the manufacturing chain. To achieve this, it uses a series of cards, which we will discuss in more detail later. In fact, the Japanese word Kanban can be translated as “visual card,” since kan means “visual” and ban means “card.”

Kanban also aligns with the description of just in time, which aims to minimize inventory and its associated economic costs. How does it achieve this?

With the implementation of Kanban, products are manufactured based on demand rather than predictive methods. This is known as a pull production system, where one stage of the manufacturing process “pulls” from the immediately preceding stage to request what it needs to continue working. On the flip side, we have the push system, where stored raw materials “push” the rest of the production phases forward.

For the system to work correctly, the following rules are outlined:

1. A process will only withdraw the necessary quantities from the previous process, which will be specified on the card.

2. A process will only produce items in the quantities that will also be specified on the card.

3. Nothing is produced without its respective card.

4. Each product must be attached to a card.

5. Defective products or those with incorrect quantities are never sent to the next process.

6. The number of cards should be as low as possible, indicating that the processes are optimized.

How Kanban is applied in industry

To implement a Kanban system, you need, on one hand, the cards we mentioned earlier, and on the other hand, a board that allows you to know the phase each product is in.

The cards act as a “signal” to request what the workers need in order to proceed with their tasks. The Kanban cards contain useful information for manufacturing, such as the description of the part, the supplier, the next stage to which the item will be directed, delivery dates, the deadline for completing the work, and any other practical information for production. Additionally, on the back of the cards, measurements and data that may be relevant to the production chain can be noted.

Kanban is a methodology that requires a high level of synchronization, so it is essential to have a global view of the processes being executed on the plant floor at all times. To achieve this, a dynamic board is used, where each part or product is grouped into different columns representing each stage of production.

Depending on the type of industry, the number and descriptions of the columns on the board will vary. The simplest Kanban board has three columns (“To Do,” “In Progress,” and “Done”), and from this basic structure, variations can be developed to meet the specific needs of each factory.

As we can deduce, strictly adhering to the requirements of a Kanban system demands continuous measurement of key parameters, among which we can highlight:

• Delivery time: the period between the request and the delivery of an order within a specific stage.
• Cycle time: the time that elapses from the start of a process until its completion.
• Performance: the number of parts or products manufactured in a given period of time.

Steps to Implement Kanban in Industr

Putting the Kanban methodology into operation is not something that happens overnight. It requires following a series of instructions that will ensure we are doing it correctly:

1.- Identify and describe in detail each and every process that takes place in the factory.

2.- Visualize the previously described processes: assign a card to each and place these cards on the Kanban board.

3.- Once the workflows are visualized, it becomes easier to identify issues such as bottlenecks. In cases where necessary, these processes should be redesigned and optimized.

4.- Limit Work in Progress. This means reducing the number of tasks being worked on so that employees can focus on what truly matters.

5.- Measure and act accordingly. Kanban is a dynamic methodology, so it’s essential to continuously analyze the results and take actions aimed at continuous improvement.

Advantages of applying Kanban

As you can see, Kanban offers the industry an advantageous way of working where efficiency prevails. These benefits can be classified as follows:

• It helps prioritize efforts by defining clear objectives and simplifying the process of making strategic decisions.
• It prevents work overload.
• It makes work more collaborative, improving communication between different departments and members of the production chain.
• It eliminates everything that does not add value to the product and can be considered “waste,” along with its associated costs.
• Sustainability is increased. By working at a constant and manageable pace for the teams, employees feel more comfortable and engaged, making them more willing to contribute innovative improvement ideas.

The Kanban philosophy is applicable to any type of business or production system. As is normal, it is not immune to the times of digital transformation we are living in. Currently, both the cards and boards have been digitalized thanks to the development of specific software solutions.

These solutions help automate the updating of the status of each part or product. They also make the boards accessible from anywhere and visually easier to read and understand, which is very important when dealing with boards that have a certain level of complexity.

At Sixphere, we love seeing how everything is optimized thanks to the use of these methodologies. That’s why we offer our software solution Polaris to the industry, a tool that allows the Kanban method to be implemented in any type of plant through the creation of digital cards containing all the relevant and up-to-date information, along with a comprehensive and intuitive panel.

These cards will be received by the most suitable worker based on their tasks, skills, responsibilities, and location, which is determined through beacon-based localization.

Although it’s not the only one, Kanban represents an example of how companies give the attention it deserves to the systematization of their work processes, ensuring everything is as optimized as possible, resulting in better economic outcomes, quality, and employee satisfaction. So… be agile, my friend!

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