Kanban for the Shopfloor

Kanban for the Shopfloor is the latest addition to Productivity's Shopfloor Series, winner of the 2000 Shingo Prize. Written at a basic knowledge level for a wide audience, Kanban for the Shopfloor gives your shopfloor workers the information they need to understand, plan, and implement kanban.

Kanban is the name given to the inventory control card used in a pull system. The primary benefit of kanban is to reduce overproduction v the most critical of the seven deadly wastes. A kanban system produces exactly what is ordered, when it is ordered, and in the quantities ordered. It is essentially a work order that also moves with the material. Each kanban identifies the part or subassembly unit and indicates where each one came from and where each is going. Used this way, kanban acts as a system of information that integrates your plant, connects all processes one to another, and connects the entire value stream to customer demand.

In addition to reducing the waste of overproduction, kanban will help your company increase flexibility to respond to customer demand, coordinate production of small lots and wide product variety, and simplify the procurement process.