Designing
The Kanban System
Preparing
for a Kanban scheduling system can be formal with elaborate
analyses and simulations. It can also be very informal with
fine-tuning done on the production floor. Process
Mapping can help understand the underlying process and Value
Stream Mapping uses Kanban in many places.
We
suggest the following steps:
1.
Analyze Product-Volume For Upstream Work Center
2.
Analyze Downstream Order Patterns
3.
Identify Kanban Products
4.
Identify Appropriate Lot Sizes
5.
Identify Containers
6.
Identify Signal Mechanism
7.
Specify Stockpoint(s)
8.
Specify Initial Kanban Quantities
9.
Develop Upstream Scheduling Algorithm
10.
Operate Fine tune |
Daily
Operations
In
the best systems, operators or teams schedule their own work.
They have current and accurate information of downstream production
needs. The scheduling bucket is rarely larger than a day. In some
systems, it may be only minutes.
Operators
examine returning kanban cards or signals to determine where stock
is low or high.
Aids such as
boards with red, yellow and green zones can assist. Knowing the most
favorable sequence for changeovers, the operator first schedules
items in the red zones. Products in the yellow and green zones then
follow. Operators might also have a list of incoming orders. With
this, they identify any unusually large order(s) that will overwhelm
the stock. |
