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.
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