Integral Logistics Management — Operations Management and Supply Chain Management Within and Across Companies

6.3 The Kanban Technique

Intended learning outcomes: Explain Kanban as a technique of execution and control of operations as well as a technique of materials management. Disclose the adequate long- and medium-term planning for Kanban.



Kanban is a production control technique that is fitting with the JIT concept. The Toyota Company began to develop Kanban in the 1960s. It became well known in connection with the TPS (here see [Ohno88]). Orders to withdraw required parts from suppliers and feeding operations are released directly by the work centers. Kanban represents the control portion of a planning system that is often not mentioned in the literature. The Kanban technique presupposes demands to be as continuous as possible along the entire value-adding chain. In other words, this should be production or procurement with frequent order repetition.


Course section 6.3: Subsections and their intended learning outcomes

  • 6.3 The Kanban Technique

    Intended learning outcomes: Explain Kanban as a technique of execution and control of operations as well as a technique of materials management. Disclose the adequate long- and medium-term planning for Kanban.

  • 6.3.1 Kanban: A Technique of Execution and Control of Operations

    Intended learning outcomes: Describe the Kanban card. Explain the Kanban feedback loop. Present in detail Kanban rules of order release and control of the feedback control system.

  • 6.3.2 Kanban: A Technique of Materials Management

    Intended learning outcomes: Present in detail the basic data for calculating the number of Kanban cards. Identify the number of Kanban cards in the system. Explain Formula to calculate the number of Kanban cards.

  • 6.3.3 Kanban: Long- and Medium-Term Planning

    Intended learning outcomes: Describe the role of a long-term plan (and, if required, a medium-term plan for resources according to an MRP II concept. Identify the lean / JIT principles that must be implemented as prerequisites for a successful implementation of the Kanban technique.



Course 6: Sections and their intended learning outcomes

  • Course 6 – The Lean / Just-in-Time Concept and Repetitive Manufacturing

    Intended learning outcomes: Produce an overview on lean / just-in-time and repetitive manufacturing. Explain the lean / just-in-time concept in detail. Describe the Kanban technique. Identify the cumulative production figures principle. Disclose an implementing procedure and a comparison of techniques.

  • 6.1 Characterizing Lean / Just-in-Time and Repetitive Manufacturing

    Intended learning outcomes: Explain Just-in-Time and Jidoka: Increasing productivity through reduction of overburdening, unevenness, and useless effort, or waste. Describe characteristic features for simple and effective planning & control techniques of repetitive manufacturing.

  • 6.2 The Lean Concept / Just-in-Time Concept

    Intended learning outcomes: Explain lead time reduction through setup time reduction and batch size reduction as well as further concepts. Describe line balancing through harmonizing the content of work. Disclose Just-in-Time Logistics. Present generally valid advantages of the lean / Just-in-Time concept for materials management and for capacity management.

  • 6.3 The Kanban Technique

    Intended learning outcomes: Explain Kanban as a technique of execution and control of operations as well as a technique of materials management. Disclose the adequate long- and medium-term planning for Kanban.

  • 6.8 Scenarios and Exercises

    Intended learning outcomes: Operation time versus operation cost: disclose the effect of varying setup time and batch size. Calculate the effect of cellular manufacturing on lead-time reduction. Perform line balancing through harmonizing the content of work. Determine the number of Kanban cards.

  • 6.9 References

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  • Case [Course 6]

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