Kanban (看板) means "signboard" in Japanese. At its simplest it is a card that authorizes a specific quantity of a specific part to be produced or moved. Every part in inventory has a Kanban attached; when the part is consumed, the card returns upstream as a signal to replenish exactly that amount.
Push systems produce to forecast and hope the demand is real. When it isn't, you get overproduction, the worst of the eight wastes because it hides all the others. Kanban limits work-in-progress by design. If there is no Kanban, no work happens. Inventory shrinks, lead times drop, and problems become visible fast because the buffer that used to hide them is gone.
Start with actual demand at the consuming process. Calculate how much inventory covers replenishment lead time plus a safety buffer. Size the Kanban to that quantity. Rules: no production without a card, one card per container, and cards move upstream in strict FIFO order. Boards, bins and electronic signals all work, the discipline matters more than the format.
Treating Kanban as "agile sticky notes" and forgetting the pull rule. Sizing lots for convenience rather than actual takt. Producing ahead "just in case." Every one of these turns Kanban back into push and quietly reintroduces overproduction.
A material management method in which all parts, components, tools, and documentation required for a specific product or operation are collected and organized into a single kit before production begins.
A scheduled transportation route collecting or delivering materials to multiple locations.
Keeping materials directly where they are consumed.
A material handler responsible for replenishing production without interrupting operators.
