Design a kanban or pull system

Have each process make only what the next one used, with sized cards and supermarkets, instead of pushing to a schedule.

The task in figures

Gives you back
It does not recur every month
Elmira today
Not covered
Frequency
Per project
Who does it today
Senior
How it is done today

What hurts today.

  • What the schedule says gets made, not what was used.

  • Cards get lost, and the system breaks down.

  • The quantities are not adjusted when demand changes.

In a pull system, consumption triggers replenishment: when the next process uses a container, its card goes back and authorizes making another. Designing it means working out consumption and replenishment times, sizing how many cards and how much inventory are needed, setting up the boards and supermarkets, training whoever moves the cards and adjusting the quantities when demand changes. It is specialist work, and a mistake in the math shows up as stockouts or as excess inventory.

Done today with

  • Expert
  • In-person meeting
  • On the floor
  • Paper and whiteboard
  • Spreadsheet
  • Company system
With Elmira

Each step, today and with Elmira.

She does not: sizing a pull system needs specialist analysis, and setting it up needs being on the floor.

StepTodayWith Elmira
Work out each part’s consumption and replenishment timeSpreadsheet, Company system1 h – 3 hStill by hand
Size the cards and each supermarket’s inventorySpreadsheet, Expert1 h – 3 hStill by hand
Set up the boards, the cards and the supermarketsPaper and whiteboard, On the floor1 h – 4 hStill by hand
Train whoever moves the cardsOn the floor, In-person meeting1 h – 3 hStill by hand
Adjust the quantities when demand changesSpreadsheet, Expert30 min – 1.5 hStill by hand

The conversation

No example conversation: the Obeyaka web app does it, or it comes later.