Kanban is a Japanese word that means a signboard, or in other words, a signal to do work. If you are familiar with project management, you’ve probably seen a Kanban style task list where everything is organized under different categories. This is not exactly a Kanban. A Kanban is a signal between two work areas, where one area is pulling work from another. In a Kanban system, there is a limited amount of work in process allowed between processing steps. When one step completes a task, they pull workout of the Kanban, which signals the upstream area to do work. A Kanban is used to balance production and prevent overproduction. Kanban creates a pull rather than a push process. Kanban can be applied to many industries and processes to help prevent waste and reduce costs. Reacg out to us at lean6sigmatoolbox.com to learn how you can apply the principle of Kanban in your business.
