The Art of Kanban - Creative Safety Supply April 2014 | Page 7

The Art of Kanban

If your workers employ the Five S’s to their work area and feel empowered
through the Kaizen system of improvement it will be easy for them to then
also use Kanban. Most Kanban systems rely on the previously mentioned
cards and bins. The system is a simple act of placing bins on the floor of your
factory, one in the store, and one with the supplier.

When these bins are empty there is a card that has all of the details about the
product on it, the Kanban card. When the factory bin is empty, it can be easily
sent to the store for more of the product, along with its Kanban card. The
same process then happens at the store as their bins are emptied they go to
the supplier to be refilled.

One other concept is the JIT or ‘Just in Time” production method. The two
former ideas combined with Kanban organization allow you to get the
materials you need in time for use. The system will prevent you from having a
lot of excess materials lying around, instead you will have them when you
!2010 www.CreativeSafetySupply.com | [phone]