Kanban

Kanban is a method used to manage, control, and measure the workflow and tasks of an individual or team. The word Kanban is rooted from the Japanese language and is the combination of the word “kan” meaning “visual” and “ban” meaning “card”. Kanban has its origin in the late 1940s when Toyota decided to put its efforts in the development of a production control system with the goal of shortening the time demand from the start to the completion of a process. The Kanban system is a sign-based scheduling system that helped Toyota to improve production efficiency and eliminate waste, establishing the Just-In-Time production system that is a central philosophy of Lean Production Methods. In recent years the concept of Kanban got widely adopted especially as a project management tool for software development, but it can be applied to just about any industry, either process, production or task related. Following article will first elaborate on the concept and ideas behind the Kanban board, the concept of work tasks as cards and what metrics allow a precise assessment of the current work status. Subsequently the link between the Kanban system as a fundamental tool in agile project management will be explained and its difference to other project management tools like e.g. SCRUM. The conclusion of the article will shade light on the limitations of Kanban and will provide a step-by-step implementation guide on how the tool can be used to improve project management practices.

Big Idea

Board (Columns)

Cards (Tasks)

Metrics to Track Performance (WIP, Lead Time, Cycle Time, Wait Time)

Application

Provide guidance on how to use the tool, concept or theory and when it is applicable

Limitations

Critically reflect on the tool/concept/theory and its application context. What can it do, what can it not do? Under what circumstances should it be used, and when not? How does it compare to the “status quo” of the standards – is it part of it, or does it extent them? Discuss your article in the context of key readings / resources provided in class. Substantiate your claims with literature

Annotated Bibliography

Provide key references (3-10), where a reader can find additional information on the subject. The article MUST make appropriate references to the and reference material provided in class – either incorporating it as a source, or critically discussing aspects that are missing from it but covered by this article. Summarize and outline the relevance of each reference to the topic (around 100 words per reference). The bibliography is not counted in the suggested 3000 word target length of the article.