Advertisement
Advertisement
kanban
[ kahn-bahn ]
noun
- a just-in-time method of inventory control, originally developed in Japanese automobile factories.
kanban
/ ˈkænbæn /
noun
- a just-in-time manufacturing process in which the movements of materials through a process are recorded on specially designed cards
- any of the cards used for ordering materials in such a system
Word History and Origins
Origin of kanban1
Word History and Origins
Origin of kanban1
Example Sentences
Anastasia Alt, 35, uses Kanban boards — a visual tracking system where tasks progress from left to right — in Trello, a project management tool, for “literally everything.”
Toyota revolutionised modern manufacturing with its system of lean production, just-in-time delivery and "kanban" workflow organisation.
Toyota essentially invented modern auto assembly with its "kanban" system for notifying suppliers of what parts are needed where and when to minimize inventory.
"Kanban" means signboard in Japanese, and the Toyota engineer and later executive, Taichi Ono, who developed the system drew inspiration from watching an American supermarket chain, Piggly Wiggly, manage its shelve stock on a trip to the United States in the 1950s.
Toyota's kanban system, which relies on simple visual cues to organise workflow, has been adopted for other industries, including software development.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Browse