FT Guide to Lean

8

Lean methods and tools (part V)

This chapter discusses kanban in Section 1 and poka yoke in Section 2.

SECTION 1: KANBAN

Introduction

Kanban is a visual management concept to facilitate the flow of work. It is another Japanese term that has made its way into the language of Lean management. The English translation is ‘signboard’ or ‘signal card’. The concept was developed by Taiichi Ohno in the 1950s to regulate production. He was inspired by the shelf stocking practices of US supermarkets when he saw that they created a system to replace products only as the supply of each product began to run low. The core concept here is to produce product only to replenish product consumed by the next downstream process or customer. It is a use ...