The Kanban Playbook

A Step-by-Step Guideline for the Lean Practitioner

Chris A. Ortiz

• Publisher: Productivity Press
• Year: 2015
• eBook ISBN: 9781498782616
• Topic: Commerce
• Subtopic: Gestion industrielle

This book is intented for Lean practitioners and facilitators looking for a training tool and guideline that can be used in the work area while improvements are being made. It provides the most visible and detailed approach to Kanban implementation, so that they can see results in a short period.

Chapter 1

Cycle Counting and Baseline

Introduction

Before you can run out and start implementing a Kanban system, there is some preliminary work that needs to be done. This chapter covers a variety of different planning items that will help implement a more effective and user-friendly Kanban system.

Items that are discussed:

• Creating a Kanban sizing report
• Cycle counting, part identification, vendors, and on-hand inventory
• Identification of inventory quantities
• Calculating on-hand cost

Creating a Kanban Sizing Report

A Kanban sizing report is a document that can be created in Microsoft Excel that is used to perform cycle counting and obtain baseline information for the implementation.

Category: Break down your inventory into categories based on the department

Part Description: Description of the supply part that is identified by the vendor

Part #: Actual part number used to order from the vendor

Vendor: Name of supplier you order the part from

Cost per Unit: What is the average cost of the part from the supplier?

On Hand: How many parts are on hand at the moment of cycle counting?

Total Cost on Hand: Multiply the cost per unit times the on-hand quantity

Cycle Counting, Part Identification, Vendors, and On-Hand Inventory

• Staff using Kanban sizing report
• Conducting cycle counts on maintenance supplies and parts
• Tagging parts in the storage area with information on the part
• Helps match up Kanban card with items during implementation

Identification of New Inventory Quantities

Some people think you need to look at a lot of data to establish new inventory levels. Depending on the situation, you might when it comes to production lines. This is an example from a maintenance department with very sporadic usage information. Simply use the experienced people in the department to establish new inventory levels.

You will have to go through each part and discuss its usage, vendor, and lead time to come up with new maximum and minimum quantities. As odd as it may appear, this process is effective in the first pass, and you can refine your numbers after the implementation.

Max Qty: This establishes the highest level of inventory you want based on usage.

Min Qty: This is the quantity of safety stock to work from while the part is being ordered.

Reorder Qty: Once the minimum quantity is reached, this will trigger the need to turn in the Kanban card; this is the quantity that is ordered to refill to the required maximum.

Calculating New On-Hand Costs

The final Kanban sizing report shows the previous on-hand costs of inventory at $277.50 and the new on hand after the implementation will be $120.00. Although this is a simple example, if you follow this thought pattern when designing your Kanban system, it could reach a savings of hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars, depending on the level of inventory and cost per unit.

Creating a Kanban Sizing Report

There are much more complex Kanban sizing reports, and the number of parts will dictate how big the...

Table of contents

• How to Use This Playbook
• Introduction
• Chapter 1 - Cycle Counting and Baseline
• Chapter 2 - 5S and New Maximum Quantities
• Chapter 3 - Kanban Cards
• Chapter 4 - Two-Bin Systems and Material Handling
• Chapter 5 - In-Process Kanban
• Conclusion
• Definition of Terms
• About the Author