These digital cards can contain text, images and even file attachments, as well as a section for further comments.Įach card, represents a task and is placed on a Kanban board, which is divided into a series of columns, representing different stages in a work process.Ī very basic example of this would be three columns: To Do, Doing and Done.įurthermore, a Kanban board may have horizontal ‘swimlanes’ used to divide types of work or different departments. But rather than using physical cards, the Kanban of today is fully digital. Kanban is particularly popular in software development, but it’s also used in marketing, HR and just about every other industry you can think of. Around the early years of this century, his books refining Kanban and combining it with other work methodologies have been hugely influential in shaping how many modern businesses approach workflows and task management. Thanks to the work of leading academic David J Anderson, the principles of Kanban are regularly applied in industries beyond manufacturing. An extension of this is ‘lean’ manufacturing, which demands that every step of the process adds something of value to the customer, thereby reducing waste.

This method of ordering only what you need when you need it is known as ‘just in time’ manufacturing. They did this using physical cards, which would tell those in charge of supplies exactly what they needed and in what quantity. Similarly, the supermarket itself, on finding a nearly empty shelf will order the stock that needs replenishing.įor Toyota, this meant giving line workers the ability to communicate their need for certain parts. When you find you’re running low on sugar, for example, you’ll go the shop and buy a bag of sugar – you restock what you need to restock, prompted by seeing your empty sugar bowl. His idea was to take the principles of supermarket shopping into the factory.

Taiichi Ohno, one of the firm’s engineers, was looking for a way to improve efficiency and eliminate the problem of surplus inventory. Kanban originated in Japan during the 1940s, in the factories of car manufacturer Toyota. In this beginners’ guide, we’ll take you through the basics and show you how Kanban can benefit your business. But if you’ve never heard of it before, or if you’re just unsure about how it works, it can be difficult to know where to start. How a system of cards on boards can bring greater efficiency to SMEs.Įfficiency and teamwork are everything in business, and Kanban can do a hell of a lot to improve both.

Microsoft to do kanban