StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Kanban System - Research Paper Example

Cite this document
Summary
The paper 'Kanban System' highlights the benefits of this management tool for an organization such as cost reduction, provision of faster access to information and improving the precision of the information, work platform with is flexible to changes and provide an avenue of attaining and maintaining the quality of products…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER97.3% of users find it useful
Kanban System
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Kanban System"

Kanban System al Affiliation Kanban system has bene in use since its invention in Japan. Kanban System in manufacturing defines a set of specifications and guidelines for production of goods and stock control of the constituents of the good. The system is also called just-in-time. Kanban is a Japanese word that translates to card you can see. The system was introduced by motor vehicle manufacturing company Toyota in the 1950s. Its main role then was to standardize the flow in the company’s production lines. As a tool, Kanban was one among many other tools used by Toyota to ensure that their inventories were not just based on managerial forecast but in line with customer orders. This system was introduced in Toyota car plant in Japan as a means through which the company would smooth their produce throughout their production process. Through this system the company aimed at improving productivity of their system. This system will also ensure that the company secures its involvement and participation in realizing its aim of high productivity by acting as a better means of keeping on check flow of products through the production system. Kanban therefore provides highly visible means of keeping on track the build-up of inventory levels with a production system. The system is made up of cards with all the information of what is required to be done on a product at each stage of production. The cards also explain what parts should be inserted in the subsequent process. Through this cards a firm can therefore control a work in progress, its production and smooth flow of its inventory. Through Kanban system therefore a firm can achieve the following objectives among others i. Cost reduction- Kanban system help firms reduce cost by cutting on time wastage ii. Provision of faster access to information and improving precision of information. iii. Providing a work platform with is flexible to changes. iv. Providing an avenue of attain and maintaining quality of products. Introduction Kanban systems was invented twenty years ago by the vice president of Japanese car giant Toyota. The main aim was to smoothen the flow of products in the car plants throughout the production system of the firm. Since then the system has gone through vary many modifications as a means of production activity control. As a measure of activity control Kanban system have helps firms to achieve goals of Just-in-time and manage operations of the same. Further, Kanban system helps in relaying crucial information for monitoring and controlling the quantities required by the firm according to its production plans. An effective Kanban system provides a better way for employees of firm to understand how the management want their time to be spent (Louis, 2006). This means a firm can identify where idle time lie easily and make further adjustment as fast as possible. This may come interns of one employee or machine being severely overworked while the other have barely enough responsibility to fit its capacity. This way the manger will therefore be able to reassign some task to the idling machine or employee. Relieving the overworked team member or machine off the burden will help increase productivity of the whole system (Louis, 2006). Kanban system also provides a platform to maximize resources through its ability to continuously deliver products while improving the process at the same time. Literature Review Application of Kanban system in production plans in many firms today has proved to be a best way of ensuring cost efficiency in production. Apart from cutting cost, the system also provides vary many avenues for a firm to ensure timely production as demanded by their clients. Kanban System as a Technique of Improving Productivity Kanban system as outlined earlier uses card with sets of information on what need to done from one stage of production to another. If these steps are adhered to accordingly and rigorously, the level of work in progress stock can be easily be kept on check by the number of cards issued for every section of the system (Louis, 2006). These cards gives a corresponding value of one standard container and with the knowledge of size of a container and the number of cards at hand, an employee can just make simple calculation to know the amount of inventory needed. Manipulating these cards therefore means that reduce number of cards issued for a particular part will translate to a fall in the levels of inventory for that particular part. As the numbers of inventory levels reduce, that particular work center will certainly run out of materials and eventually stops function (Louis, 2006). If this reduction in inventory is not addressed effectively, the whole line will be adversely affected. The firms can then either increases the number of operators, redesigning the process or simply reduce set-up times. Kanban system is therefore an effective tool of improving productivity of a firm. It works by showing highlighting production problems as inventory reduces gradually. Through these signals, Kanban systems can be said to work efficiently and effectively. Kanban Card A Kanban system is made up of cards which signals whether there is need to rotate material with a production system of a plant. These card are therefore used to show if there is depletion of inventory in the system (Louis, 2006). As consumption provokes need for increased production Kanban card helps a firm see how demand for their products changes (Louis, 2006). The cards are in two types that is Withdrawal Kanbans or production Kanbans. Withdrawal Kanbans helps in defining the quantity a subsequent process should withdraw from the preceding work. This type of card usually rotates or moves between two work centers only. Production Kanbans on the other hand gives a specific quantity that a specific producing center should produce in order to take place of the already produced products. Kanban Card Usage Application of Kanban system in a production of a firm demands a very high level of discipline. This discipline emanates from rigorously demand of using the Kanban cards. Due to this high level of discipline, there is always need to have a well-documented manufacturing procedures and a well-trained group of operators to ensure efficiency of the system (Louis, 2006). Operators are therefore required to have a confidence born of experience and those fellows with great internal drive to follow the procedures rigorously. 1. What is the difference between a push and pull production system? A push production system operates by attempting to determine when each work centers must not fail to finish its processing in order to operate in line with the master production schedule (Louis, 2006). Having master production schedule in mind, this production system will therefore determine the amount of time upon which each schedule must complete processing of work orders. A pull production system, on the other hand, takes a perfective of the finished product in manufacturing. Here, the production manager will be mostly be concerned by the fact that the finished product meets the customers’ demands (Louis, 2006). Production in this system is then divided into different levels and the controller can then check if the component part is required in finished item to allow for the production. In case the component is not required in the finished good, it will be pulled from the preceding work center (Louis, 2006). The procedure will then repeat over time throughout a production system. 2. What is a Kanban System? A Kanban system is a procedure of scheduling work in order to maximize productivity of a firm by ensuring that no time that could otherwise be used in production is idle (Louis, 2006). Kanban System in manufacturing defines a set of specifications and guidelines for production of goods and stock control of the constituents of the good (Louis, 2006). The system is also called just-in-time. Kanban is a Japanese word that translates to card you can see. The system was introduced by motor vehicle manufacturing company Toyota in the 1950s. What is Kanban? 3. Is Kanban a push or a pull production control technique? Kanban can be said to be a pull system as contrary to a production activity control system in MRP (Louis, 2006). As much as Kanban systems is also control by master production schedule, this MPS is further broken down into a much a detailed plan for the products to be manufactured. 4. How does one calculate the number of Kanban needed in a production system? Finding number of Kanban in a production system requires various variables involve in the process of production (Louis, 2006). The number of Kanban is a system is given by the following formula Number of Kanban = (DD x LT+ SS x SQRT(LT/TB))/KB + (DD x EPEI)/KB Where, DD = Daily demand (Units) LT = Replenishment leadtime (days) SS= statistically calculated safety stock (units) SQRT= Square root TB= Time bucket of the safety stock data points (days) KB= quantity per Kanban (units) EPEI= Supplier’s replenishment interval (days). Conclusion Kanban system can there be seen as an effective measure of cutting cost of production by reducing idle time in the company. The system is also very important in keeping in check any quality challenges in the process of production. Reference Louis, R. (2006). Custom Kanban: Designing the system to meet the needs of your environment. New York: Productivity Press. Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Kanban Systems Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words”, n.d.)
Kanban Systems Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/management/1691355-kanban-systems
(Kanban Systems Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 Words)
Kanban Systems Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 Words. https://studentshare.org/management/1691355-kanban-systems.
“Kanban Systems Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/management/1691355-kanban-systems.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Kanban System

Innovation and Technology

This method is called a Kanban System.... It is also known as the supermarket method because the idea of the Kanban System was initially borrowed by the supermarkets.... They also made the product control cards to use in their production processes and since these cards had the sign of Kanban, this is the reason why it is named as Kanban System.... Below is the conceptual diagram of the Kanban System which describes all of its steps and which would be easy to understand....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay

CIS Management Information System

hellip; The author states that so far, the Danaher has been relying on the manual Kanban System that has its obvious flaws and weaknesses.... As each factory in Danaher's Sensors and Control division requires between 30,000 to 40,000 parts, the manual Kanban System is atrociously taxing, time-consuming, and flawed.... The usage of the electronic Kanban System can do away with the fragilities and flaws of the manual approach.... E-Kanban System will also improve and fasten the communication between Danaher and its suppliers....
3 Pages (750 words) Case Study

Transport and Inventory Management

The paper includes an in-dept analysis of Toyota's production system and inventory management system.... The paper provides a clear idea about the Toyota's production system as well as its inventory management system.... Moreover it also shows the way in which Toyota has identified and dealt with the capacities and limitations of its production system and inventory system.... At the present business environment which is intensely competitive, efficient and effective production system as well as inventory system is the key...
12 Pages (3000 words) Essay

Economic Quantity Research System

The paper 'Economic Quantity Research system' presents EOC which is an equation used to determine the minimum and maximum stock levels.... hellip; According to the World Wide Web, kanban may be defined as a system that is designed to ensure that sufficient tools/supplies for workers for when and where they need it.... In other words, this production system is designed for continuous manufacturing.... This system is most times compared to a supermarket....
1 Pages (250 words) Assignment

Toyota Production system

The firm developed TPS… Evidence suggests that this system has greatly aided the organization to cut down operating costs and to foster employee creativity.... This paper will analyze Toyota's Production system, TPS is an integrated socio-technical system developed by Taiichi Ohno, Shigeo Shingo, and Eiji Toyoda.... This system includes its management philosophy and practices.... As Basu points out, this system addresses seven kinds of waste such as waste of overproduction, waste of time on hand, waste in transportation, waste of processing itself, waste of stock on hand, waste of movement, and waste of making defective products (Basu 11)....
4 Pages (1000 words) Research Paper

Supply Chain Management of Outokumpu

Every business unit is operated by its own supply chain management system, which is overseen by the group level (Outokumpu, 2011).... This paper is focused on Outokumpu's approach to global supply chain, the advantages, and disadvantages faced by them, and the detailed study of their supply chain process....
10 Pages (2500 words) Assignment

Global Supply Chain Management Practices

16 Pages (4000 words) Essay

JIT Inventory Management

This paper outlines how exactly does a Kanban System of a visual system operate.... This paper outlines the production of Kanban, the Kanban System of a supermarket.... The coursework "JIT Inventory Management" describes the system of inventory management.... Any activities that increase nonprofit activity such as uncalled-for movements of resources, piling up of excess stock and application of low-quality production system finalizing with products that need rework are eradicated....
5 Pages (1250 words) Coursework
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us