By Sofía Palamarchuk
Kanban, a highly effective framework for “going agile,” is based on the Japanese business philosophy of kaizen, which believes that everything can be improved. One of the principles of kanban that makes it well-suited for agile delivery is that it only works if you commit to continuous improvement. Here, I’ll detail what kanban is, how to use it, and how your QA team can implement it right away.
What Is Kanban?In order to simplify the manufacturing process and increase efficiency, in the 1940s Toyota implemented just-in-time manufacturing—effectively, making only what is needed, only when it is needed, and only in the amount that is needed.
The inspiration for how to actually make this idea work came from supermarkets. Supermarkets keep inventory levels based off the pull of the consumer rather than the push of the supplier. For example, employees restock supermarket shelves after customers buy the product, and they only put out enough of it to make the shelf full again. Managers only order more inventory when they predict that they will run out of something in a couple of days. With this method of stocking, supermarkets minimize the amount of inventory that perishes and goes unsold.
So, how does this translate to a car manufacturing line? Toyota introduced kanbans—which, in Japanese, literally means “cards”—to signal the steps of the manufacturing process. The cards helped regulate the workflow along the line and eased communication between various parts of the chain by making it clear what needed to be produced, when, and how much at a time.
Fortunately, kanban is not just useful for Japanese car makers. Restaurant kitchens, your weekly to-do list, side projects, and, yes, software development cycles all can be managed using this simple method.
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