As briefly as possible about the Kanban method, its basic terms and areas of applicability.

We described the Kanban method, its basic terms and areas of applicability as briefly as possible.

1. What is the Kanban method?

The Kanban method is a method for improving your work. Whatever you do, the hypothesis is that practicing the Kanban method will allow you to do your job even better. From a Kanban perspective, this means that you will better meet customer expectations.

Kanban as a tool in IT management was introduced by David J. Anderson at Microsoft (2005) and Corbis. And the method became widespread and named in 2007.

2. Are Kanban Method and Toyota Kanban the same thing?

(Largest card). Not certainly in that way. Kanban at Toyota plants is lean manufacturing, the defining principle of which is the concept of “just in time”. Kanban, as a management term, really came from Toyota. Translated from Japanese, this word means “signal” or “card”. In automobile factories, such cards were used to convey information from one stage to the next about how many and what parts would be needed.

Let's look at a short example. We need to make three cars “just in time”. This means that we can accurately determine in advance how many parts we will need at certain stages, and we begin from the end to pull out the required number of parts to create this car, answering the questions: “How many liters of paint will we need?”, “How many wheels?”, “How many engines?” and so on. Thus, we do not create surplus spare parts in the form of leftovers and save on warehouses, logistics and other costs.

The Kanban method also adheres to the concept of “just in time,” but unlike Toyota factories, here we are talking about intellectual work. In other words, a programmer's code or a marketer's idea cannot be touched and seen by the average person until it turns into a final product or service. Thus, the Kanban method is used to visualize the flow of intellectual work and reduce the amount of this unfinished work. Due to this, a uniform and predictable speed of service provision to the end consumer is achieved.

3. Can the Kanban method be used outside of IT?

Yes. The Kanban method is suitable for visualizing the flow of any creative and intellectual work. But it is much more effective to use it through the prism of the service paradigm. Look at what you do as a service. What stages does the work go through in order for the service to be provided? By what criteria will you understand that the service is provided in accordance with the Customer’s expectations? This is the starting point for using the Kanban method. Kanban practitioners call this point “start with what you have now.”

4. Is Kanban like Scrum?

No. Scrum is a framework with strict rules and boundaries. You can use different tools and methodologies within Scrum, but if you abandon something required in Scrum, it can no longer be considered Scrum. Kanban is a method, a tool with a set of practices and principles. You can use all the practices, some of the practices, or not use them at all. In Kanban there is no strict concept of what is Kanban and what is not Kanban. However, judicious use of practices can significantly help you provide the highest quality service and meet customer expectations.

5. Does Kanban have values?

Yes. There are nine of them: transparency, balance, collaboration, customer focus, flow, leadership, understanding, agreement, respect.

6. You wrote about the principles of Kanban. What are they?

Kanban does have basic principles, which are also called change management principles:

1. Start with what you have now.
2. Agree on evolutionary development.
3. Encourage leadership development at all levels.

Since the Kanban method lives in a service paradigm, it adheres to its principles:

1. Find out the customer's needs and expectations.
2. Manage the work, let people organize around it.
3. Develop rules to improve performance.

7. What are the practices in Kanban?

There are also six of them:

1. Visualize.
2. Limit unfinished work.
3. Manage the flow of work.
4. Use explicit rules.
5. Introduce feedback loops (cadences).
6. Improve and evolve.

These are directly practical techniques that we use to improve our work and improve the quality of service.

8. Oh, cadences! What are cadences in Kanban?

Cadence is a term from music. In the context of the Kanban method, it denotes rhythm. Cadences are regular meetings that are also feedback loops. Regularity sets the rhythm with which the flow of work flows. Seven cadences:

1. Kanban meeting (daily). Here we discuss the status of blocked tasks.
2. Queue filling meeting (usually every two weeks). We take on the responsibility of what we will do as a service.
3. Delivery planning meeting (usually every two weeks). We return fulfilled obligations back.
4. Service review meeting (usually every two weeks). Using metrics, we discuss the quality of the service and how to improve it, if necessary.
5. Operations meeting (usually once a month). We discuss the quality of interaction of related services with metrics.
6. Risk review meeting (usually once a month). We discuss with the metrics the impact of blocked tasks on the operation of the service.
7. Strategy review meeting (usually quarterly). We discuss changes in strategy with metrics.

9. I heard something about service classes. What is this?

Kanban uses service classes to prioritize certain types of work, customers, or mitigate business impacts such as the cost of delay. The cost of delay is the lost profit or costs incurred due to late delivery of services. Let's look at the impact of delay costs and the corresponding class of service using examples:

1. Accelerated class – emergency first aid-resuscitation. Driving in a dedicated lane. There is no time to put off solving the problem. Need it ASAP.
2. Fixed Date Class – Delay costs increase dramatically after a certain period. Example: a project in the form of a federal law with a fixed start date. If we don't make it on time, there is a risk of losing our license.
3. Standard class - the cost of delay increases in proportion to time. If we do it right away, we get profit immediately. If we do it for a long time, we get profit for a long time.
4. Intangible class - we do it, but this work does not bring any obvious profit, the cost of delay grows slowly. For example, cleaning the house. You don’t have to clean regularly, but after half a year you will have to do a thorough cleaning.

10. What about metrics? How to measure the effectiveness of a service?

The Kanban method has metrics that allow you to answer the questions: what are the problems in the work flow, what is the throughput of the service, what is the execution time, what is the lock resolution time, what is the cycle time and what types of work is distributed? All this allows the service manager to make decisions on the development and improvement of service quality based on accumulated data.

11. What challenges does Kanban face during implementation?

The main challenge is to explain to people at all levels the value of Kanban practices: visualization and limiting work in progress. Due to the fact that people do not see the volume of intellectual work, it is difficult for them to understand the load they are exposed to. But the brain, for example, is the same muscle as the biceps. Imagine a gym: you come in and see the weight on the bar: “Okay, that’s too little. And now it’s too much. But this is just right!” You need to work with the brain in the same way: “This one is a big task, and this one is a small one, and in general, somehow I’ve taken on a lot. I’ll limit the load.” When we visualize the flow of work end-to-end at all levels and limit the amount of work in progress, we create a pull principle for knowledge work and make an even flow of its results to our clients.

12. What programs are there for the Kanban method?

There are a lot of them too. We list only professional ones, developed specifically for the method. Our heart is given to the Russian development Kaiten. In addition to it, there are also TargetProcess, SwiftKanban, LeanKit and others.

13. And which companies already use the Kanban method?

Among the Russian ones are Alfa-Bank, Home Credit Bank, Pochta-Bank, Dodo Pizza, HeadHunter, Clever and others. From foreign: Wargaming, Microsoft, Automotive IT, Blizzard Sports, Dr Dobb’s, Siemens, Tupalo. This list can be continued for a long time.

14. Is there anything else important?

Yes. Finally, I would like to note the importance of two roles in the Kanban method. These are the service delivery manager and the service request manager. The first is responsible for removing obstacles in the supply flow. The second is for managing the flow of requests to the service from many customers. It is very important that these two roles are partners and work together.

15. Okay, I understand. Where to start implementing Kanban in an organization?

To start implementing Kanban in organizations, we use the S.T.A.T.I.K tool. – a systematic approach to the use of Kanban. You can read more about it on the Internet. But we recommend attending a training where this tool is taught in the format of a business game. Using your service (organization) as an example, you can design a Kanban system for subsequent use in combat conditions.

Trainer and consultant on agile methodologies, Scrumtrack.

Kanban is a production organization system developed by the Japanese. The methodology is used for project management. In this article we will analyze the principles of Kanban using an example.

In this article you will learn:

I think everyone is familiar with this working situation: we held a meeting, talked a lot and passionately, discussed problems, found solutions, wrote down problems in the minutes. And then... nothing. A month or two later, a new meeting was called, but the tasks were still on the waiting list.

Thoughtful Japanese back in the 60s of the twentieth century came up with and began to put into practice the Kanban methodology, which allows you to organize the process of completing tasks through visualization. What is Kanban and how does it work? Read in the article.

Basic concepts of the Kanban methodology

In the mid-twentieth century, a group of top managers from Japan, led by TOYOTA President Taichi Ono, asked the question: how to keep production running at maximum speed while keeping inventories at a minimum level? The Japanese took a closer look at the system of American supermarkets, in which cards for all purchased goods were registered at the checkout. Thus, supermarket owners could manage inventory, because information on sold products was sent to the purchasing department, where they formed an order for the supplier based on consumption, and supermarket shelves were replenished with stocks without being overstocked. .

Tahiti Ono isolated the “dry residue” from this practice and formed the rule: the “Supplier” must produce as much goods as the “buyer” ordered. Moreover, the supplier can be either a direct counterparty - the supplier, or a division within the enterprise. The customer can similarly be both external and internal.

At the TOYOTA plant, order cards were introduced (from Japanese “kam” - signal, visible, “ban” - card), which were posted in a visible place in each department and assigned a plan for the production of products for this department. Thus, production was organized like a conveyor belt. Each subsequent workshop along the car assembly chain assigned a plan for the production of parts and components for the previous workshop. The overall overproduction has decreased, the stocking of warehouses has stopped, and savings on logistics have become noticeable. The cards took root and proved their effectiveness, so in 1961 a new Kanban methodology, breakthrough at that time, was formed.

Kanban is a production organization system built on a “pull” principle..

Initially, the system was used only in the classical interpretation, as a system of cards in production. But the methodology developed and improved, and by 1983 it began to be used as a method of project management. A Kanban board appeared.

How to implement Kanban: experience of a Russian company

Kanban is a management method used in the lean manufacturing process. The Russian company managed to overcome staff resistance and implement a lean production system. Her unique experience can be useful to those businesses that are also planning to switch to lean flights.

Kanban board

A Kanban board is really a board posted in a prominent place in an office, workshop, or workplace. Stickers (cards) with tasks are placed on it. Traditionally, the board has three columns:

1. 1. To Do (tasks to be completed).
2. 2. Doing (tasks in progress).
3. 3. Done (completed tasks).

All team members are responsible for maintaining the board, be it a department or an assembly line. Each employee involved in completing tasks can move task cards along the columns of the board as they are completed.

Agree, it’s convenient when all the team’s tasks are visible and you can clearly track the progress of their implementation and mark places of “congestion.”

Kanban boards have also evolved over time, and today you can manage projects (whether production, organizational, or even start-ups) using the Kanban methodology using software products.

In 2005, Kanban entered the IT industry and became one of the software development methods. David Anderson presented the development process as a set of tasks, wrote each task on a card and placed them on the board. Thus, he received a simple and understandable tool for monitoring the seemingly confusing development process.

Intermediate conclusion: the Kanban methodology is convenient, it can be used everywhere from production to closing the financial period, from IT to personal time management.

Kanban principles

The Kanban system belongs to the family, so it does not have strict guidelines, principles, or frameworks. Like the rest of the family, she is people-focused and helps maximize the team's potential. Of course, if the team itself wishes.

Let's study the principles of Kanban using the example of closing a financial year.

Principle one. Visualization

Most people are naturally visual, that is, they perceive information from the world around them through vision. Everything that is visual is better remembered and “catches” attention. Therefore, the genius of the method lies in the most visual project management.

Suppose you are faced with a large and complex task - organizing the closure of the financial year. At first, it is not clear how to organize the work of departments so that no one waits for anyone and does not redo the work twice. Following the principle of visualization, you break the general task of “closing the period” into subtasks:

• submit documents from suppliers,
• fill out the timesheet,
• calculate reserves,
• make acroals” and so on.

Write down each task on a separate card. Let us remind you that you can use both real cards - stickers, and special programs. Now you have a pool of tasks, it's time to place them on the Kanban board.

Principle two. Limiting the number of tasks

As numerous studies show (and your own practice, remember), a team cannot perform too many tasks at the same time. A lot of time is spent switching between tasks, which leads to blurring of deadlines for each task and an overall decrease in efficiency. The method assumes that the number of simultaneously performed tasks should be limited.

Discuss the tasks with subordinate departments, determine the minimum (!) number of tasks that the team can perform simultaneously. For example, while the HR department is performing the task of “filling out a timesheet,” the accounting department is solving the task of “entering documents from suppliers,” and the finance department is solving the task of “making accruals.” As a result, it turns out that your team can simultaneously do 3-5 tasks. Write this number in the “Doing” column of the Kanban board, and place only this number of cards into work. Soon you will see the effect - the cards will go from “To Do” to “Done” faster.

Principle three. Priorities

Once you limit the number of tasks you can do at once, you'll end up with a cluster of cards in the first column of the board - "To Do". It is a property of human nature to take on easy and short tasks, and procrastinate with complex or tedious ones until the last minute.

You will need to set priorities, determine which tasks to take on first. Kanban suggests either placing the highest priority cards at the top of the table or using different card colors. Decide what will be the next priority task for each department, mark such tasks. Your employees will always know what they will be doing tomorrow or early next week. Downtime will disappear. With the help of priorities on the Kanban board, you can always convey to the team the main vector of work and get rid of the situation when everyone seems to be working, but the desired result will not be achieved very soon.

Principle four. Task flow management

What else is good about a Kanban board? It clearly shows how long each task is completed and where the “congestion” occurs. In case a task takes an unplanned time to complete, Kanban offers an “all for one” principle. That is, team members who are underutilized or performing non-priority tasks offer their help in the problem area. Of course, this is the highest degree of collective consciousness, accessible more to the Japanese than to the Russians.

But you should always remember that participation in the work of related departments broadens an employee’s horizons and improves his skills. These arguments may well serve as an answer to questions from the financial department if its employees are asked, for example, to help with entering primary documentation.

Principle five. Continuous improvement

There are no perfect projects. Everyone knows that in theory or plans, the implementation of a project is represented as a clock mechanism, where all the cogs are precisely adjusted to each other and the gears regularly count down the seconds and minutes. In life, one breakdown follows another. The Kanban philosophy offers an answer to this injustice. Yes, the project is not perfect, but based on the experience gained, it can be improved. According to the Kanban methodology, all team members must analyze the work performed and make suggestions for its improvement. It is useful to organize small meetings following the results of a completed project in order to jointly discuss points of failure and propose more effective ways to solve problems. There is no need to have such meetings frequently; once every 1–3 months is a completely reasonable schedule.

Advantages and disadvantages of the Kanban system

If you have read up to this paragraph, you have already been able to appreciate the benefits of the Kanban system. Let's list them briefly:

1. Visibility. You constantly see all the team’s tasks and their movements on the board. The situation when you suddenly remember one of the tasks after a couple of weeks, having fished it out of the mail archives, disappears. Or the financial department is rushing the accounting department, and you cannot assess whether the accountants are not coping, or the financiers are in a hurry.
2. Higher team effectiveness. Due to the fact that tasks are completed faster, the speed of project completion increases
3. Create stronger communications between and within departments. When all the work is visible, the effect of “unloaded neighbors” disappears. This is our standard “We have too much work to do, but they don’t know what they’re doing...”
4. Reducing the amount of inventory. If we talk about the classic, production application of Kanban, then the pull system allows you to greatly reduce inventories of raw materials and finished products. And this means savings on warehouse space, transportation, and an increase in available cash...
5. Establishing long-term partnerships with suppliers. Working with a limited number of suppliers who are willing to deliver products to you on time will reduce risks and possibly save on purchasing costs.
6. Improving the quality of work. The smaller the flow of simultaneous work, be it the production of products or the calculation of financial indicators, the greater the focus on each result.

Of course, Kanban also has its disadvantages. They are not so obvious, but can significantly affect the work. Firstly, Kanban is aimed at a team that wants to work and improve. If your team is lazy and lacks motivation, stricter management methods are suitable for you. By using Kanban, you run the risk of putting all the work on yourself.

From the first drawback follows the second - the lack of time frames. In Kanban, there are no deadlines set for each task, and there are no late fees. Only motivated employees will be able to reduce the time required to complete each task independently.

For a large team with many departments, using a Kanban board will be difficult. Too many different tasks, priorities, results completely neutralize visualization - the most valuable advantage of the method.

If an enterprise uses Kanban in production, it runs the risk of missing deadlines, because if one of the links in the chain works incorrectly, the entire process is slowed down. Problems arise with medium- and long-term planning, because production is focused on orders from “customers.”

Intermediate conclusion: Kanban can only be used in those companies whose teams are motivated to develop and achieve results. Kanban is suitable for small and medium-sized companies, departments and projects.

Analogues of the Kanban methodology

The Kanban method has many analogues; there are sixteen project management methodologies alone. Let's see what control methods can be used in different situations.

1. If you decide to organize your own working time using Kanban, then consider the Eisenhower matrix as an analogue. This matrix consists of four sectors: tasks that are important and urgent, tasks that are important but not urgent, tasks that are urgent but not important, and finally tasks that are not important and not urgent. Kanban has one important advantage over the matrix - on the board you see progress for each task. You clearly see the results of your work and this gives you motivation.
2. For a small team motivated by the result of the project (for example, conducting an audit, implementing new software, developing documentation) SCRUM method is suitable. The basis of this method is to split the overall task into small segments (sprints). The team completes each sprint as quickly as possible, and at the end of the sprint they analyze the results. In essence, SCRUM and Kanban are very similar, but SCRUM is more stressful.
3. For teams that execute project after project, or work to continuously create new value, the critical path method is suitable. It is based on planning using a Gantt chart; its main tool is the deadlines for each task. The critical path method is the opposite of Kanban and forces the team into a strict planning framework. These methods will work differently in different areas. For example, in construction, the critical path method is the most correct solution, but in IT, Kanban is better suited.
4. The waterfall planning method can also be contrasted with Kanban. When using the WATERFALL method, before starting a project, the entire scope of tasks with deadlines is planned in detail. Such an organization allows, on the one hand, to be confident in the final result, but on the other hand, if the scenario suddenly changes or requirements are added, planning must be started from the beginning. In a word, an inflexible methodology. WATERFALL is well suited for production with established production volumes, for proven and more than once proven projects. The same closing of a financial period can be done both using Kanban and WATERFALL.

When choosing a system that is suitable for your case, rely on your personal experience of use. You can even do a mix of several systems if it’s more convenient for your team to work that way. Perhaps you will invent a new method of project management.

Kanban– a management method used in the lean manufacturing process. Translated from Japanese it means a signal or a card. When applying this method, information cards are used, which are transmitted by enterprise employees along the chain of production stages.

The Kanban system is a tool that indicates the need to transfer a product to the next stage of production or remove it from the production process. An example of a successful experience using this method is the construction of a work flow chart at the Toyota plant, where information cards are used to indicate when the next production process needs to start. As a result, the planning chain of actions taken is optimized, starting from forecasting demand for products, creating a plan for work tasks with their distribution among production capacity units.

Kanban()– an integral part of the implementation of the “just-in-time” principle, which involves the implementation of synchronous deliveries of the material needed in production, which is received:

• Get to the workplace on time;
• In the required quantity;
• With the required quality;
• In appropriate packaging.

Purpose of the Kanban Method

The goal of the method is to implement a “just-in-time” system at all stages and lines of production, which leads to a reduction in inventories in the warehouse, while simultaneously ensuring a high degree of timely fulfillment of orders.

In order to simplify communication, specific information is clearly marked on the chosen medium, which relates to the needs of the end consumer. If the material is used up or its reserves are already reaching zero, only then is a new material ordered. In this case, the request is carried out using a card, which accompanies the stage of material delivery, and then returns to the starting point with a new order. If the card reaches the manufacturer, he immediately begins production of the necessary products. As soon as the required quantity of goods has been produced, the card is sent to the workers responsible for transportation, after which it begins its journey again.

Rules for an effective kanban system

Based on the experience of Toyota, the following rules for using kanban have been formed:

• The quantity of goods that is withdrawn from each previous stage must be equal to that indicated on the card;
• At the stage of direct manufacturing of products, as many products are produced as indicated in the information medium accompanying them;
• Products should not be produced without cards, because it is the card system that allows you to control and identify production costs and excessive movement of goods;
• Products are always associated with a card. There is a card - there is an order for the production of products;
• Defective or defective products, if it is determined that they do not meet the quality level, are immediately removed from the production process;
• The fewer cards are used in production, the more sensitive they become, which makes it possible to identify existing problems and control the volume of inventory used.

When using the kanban method, it is necessary to ensure visibility and safety of the diagram used. It is important that the cards do not get lost or mixed up. It is quite common to have a working situation where several cards accumulate in one place at once. In this case, the use of the so-called Kanban board is justified. With its help, it is possible to control the accompaniment of products with cards, recording the information indicated on them, which, as a result, allows us to guarantee the maximum effect from the use of the method discussed in this article.

Or TPM, it seems that Kanban has taken root more in the IT environment than in manufacturing. Is the office microclimate more beneficial than the production environment?

Widespread use in the non-productive sphere of human activity has made it possible to discover many ways to use this tool. However, it also brought a lot of confusion into the understanding of its fundamentals. Some people mean a card, some mean a board, and some mean project management... Let's try to understand what kanban is, how it works and what types of kanbans exist.

An illustrated glossary of lean manufacturing by Chet Marchwinski and John Shook defines it as follows:

From this definition it follows that kanban is used exclusively in a pull system and serves to:

1. Transmitting a signal (or instructions) for the production of products.
2. Transmitting a signal (or instructions) to move products.

The first is called the production or production kanban, the second is called the movement or withdrawal kanban. There is also a third type, which the authors did not mention in the glossary - signal kanban. Unlike the first two, a signal kanban does not indicate production or movement until the number of kanbans in the system reaches a certain level.

Let's see how it works.

Move or Retire Kanban

Note: if you draw the map by hand, you are unlikely to bother with so many texture lines. It is enough to draw a couple of strokes to visually distinguish it from other types of kanbans. Also, your withdrawal kanban may look different if you are using different software. The symbol above and all subsequent ones were drawn in Minitab's Companion program.

A typical withdrawal kanban might contain:

1. Information about the supplier or previous process:

• process or supplier name;
• location (location in production or shelf in a warehouse).

Part information:

• the name of detail;
• article (number, code):

Information about the following process - the customer:

• name of the next process (customer);
• location (location in production or shelf in a warehouse);

Used in the area between the supermarket and the process that consumes products from it. Most often used where a large number of SKUs (articles of article) are involved in the process. Is a signal to move a certain article to a production operation:

Production or production kanban

The value stream map is represented by the following symbol:

A typical production kanban might contain:

1. Information about storage location:

• name of the warehouse or supermarket;
• location (location in production or shelf in a warehouse);
• type of packaging/container/container.

Product Information:

• the name of detail;
• article (number, code);
• number of parts in a batch/packaging/container.

Information about the supplier process:

• process name;
• production workshop or line;
• name/number of the site, cell or machine.

Used in the area between the supermarket and its replenishment process. It is a signal to launch the production of a certain article and replenish the supermarket.

Signal Kanban (also called triangular)

The value stream map is represented by the following symbol:

This kanban is most often used to manage batch flow (the movement of several packages/containers/containers of parts) in processes with a small number of SKUs (articles). For the same reason, information is not indicated on the plates, distinguishing them by color. On the other hand, the contents of the card can be determined at your discretion:

A typical signal kanban is used in combination with a board:

The main difference between a signaling kanban and previous types is that the consumption of parts A and B does not signal the production or delivery of the next container. Instead, triangular cards are moved to a special board, where they accumulate to a certain point. The signal for production or delivery of each part is when the number of corresponding cards reaches the trigger mark:

The signal kanban is used instead of the production kanban in processes with short cycle times and long changeover times. Thus, production receives a signal only when the minimum stock level is reached, and the kanban itself controls the flow of material in batches.

Here's what communication looks like in a pull system using different types of kanban:

As you can see, Kanban allows you to manage both the production and movement of materials in small and large batches. There is no need or circumstance limiting the use of only one type of kanban. You can always adapt any type to make it as easy as possible to manage information and material flows.