Kanban Planning

Description of process

The Kanban planning process includes all the activities and supporting tools necessary to determine the correct number of Kanbans to use for a part. The system provides the following tools to help with this process:

• A demand retrieval utility, which allows you to update Kanban quantities in response to the latest projected demands
• Kanban calculations with flexible rules
• A Kanban simulation tool that allows you to evaluate Kanban quantities against a profile of actual demands rather than an averaged demand quantity

Kanban planning is an ongoing process, performed periodically as conditions change and demand for Kanban items fluctuates. The planning cycle for a circuit is as follows:

1. Plan Kanban quantities for the circuit, e.g., retrieve demands, perform calculations, simulation, or what-if analysis.
2. Accept the new, or recalculated, quantities and generate cards.
3. Deploy the Kanban cards, making necessary adjustments for execution.
4. Return to steady-state Kanban execution activity.

Each Kanban circuit has two sets of Kanban quantities: the current Kanban quantities in use on the shop floor, and new, recalculated quantities for use in planning and what-if analysis. By looking at the status of each circuit, you can identify circuits where the new numbers indicate a change in the number or size of Kanbans.  Once satisfied with the new plans, you can accept the recalculated values. The system automatically stores the current values in a history record and transfers the current values to the new values. The history record provides a way to track the progress of each circuit and to monitor inventory trends.

Once you have accepted the new values, the planning process is complete. Control over implementation is then transferred to the Manage Kanban Cards process.