Kanban Flow
In terms of a project, 'flow' means a way on how the items, tasks, information, people pass through business processes and systems. And the key task is to make this flow efficient in order to complete the project qualitatively and in time. Kanban methodology allows visualizing the flow of work and evaluating the current state of the process at a glance. By giving a complete picture of project status Kanban board contributes to workflow optimization. It allows teams to detect the bottlenecks and workflow weaknesses and eliminate them, to assess their capacity of work. It also enables the evaluation of the effectiveness of work and correction to the optimal speed and cost-effective parameters.
Kanban methodology ensures effective measuring your flow using Kanban metrics. It is valuable for any project because facilitates process improvement, making recommendations, and taking decisions on process changes. It allows teams to track their performance, gauge responsiveness to customer needs and timely make the needed changes for improving their work.
The first Kanban methodology was developed in the 1940s by Taiichi Ohno, an industrial engineer who worked for the Japanese company Toyota. The key goal of its introduction was creating a simple system of control and managing work at each stage of manufacturing. In turn, David J. Anderson was the first who applied the Kanban methodology to the IT field, in 2004. Now, Kanban is applied in a large variety of fields like business, marketing, sales, recruitment, and many more in addition to manufacturing, IT, software development.
Kanban methodology is about the gradual improvement of processes in an organization or project. It encourages to make small changes, but gradually, excluding making sudden radical changes able to cause negative consequences. Kanban system ideally controls the entire flow, ensures companies' flexibility and efficiency at the simultaneous in-time production. All this contributes to significant reducing costs and waste, improving flow and reducing cycle time, increasing company productivity and success. Kanban also helps to detect and avoid bottlenecks able to slow down the production process.
Example 1. Kanban Flow
Managing and improving are the key purposes of the Kanban board. Kanban helps teams to analyze the system and make corrections to improve flow, reduce the time of completion at the simultaneous saving costs. As you improve flow, the work implementation becomes clear, predictable, precise, and smooth. This has significant benefits for business, making your business reliable and the time of project execution predictable.
The application of Kanban method supposes the use of a physical or electronic Kanban board. It also uses stickers illustrating the flow of tasks of the project and presenting them into corresponding columns according to their state. Once you visualize your process, then you can visualize the current work you and your team are doing. Show the Kanban flow in a visual way. The use of ConceptDraw DIAGRAM software supplied with powerful Kanban Board solution for designing Kanban boards is reasonable and effective.
Example 2. Kanban Board Solution Libraries Design Elements
Having at the disposal the ConceptDraw's Kanban Board solution you don't need to be an artist. This solution includes all you need to design the high-quality Kanban boards. It contains a large number of predesigned vector design elements, samples and templates. You can use each of included templates as the base for your own Kanban board. The use of Kanban Task Board Template is a way to quick result.
Example 3. Kanban Taskboard Template
All solution samples and templates are offered for ConceptDraw DIAGRAM users in ConceptDraw STORE. The included samples are an excellent source of inspiration. You can also construct your diagrams based on any included sample you like. Making your Kanban board you can also add additional information, priorities, legend.
Example 4. Family Kanban Board
The infographics you see on this page were created in ConceptDraw DIAGRAM software using the Kanban Board Solution and included pre-made pictograms. They successfully demonstrate the solution's capabilities and professional results you can achieve. An experienced user spent 10-15 minutes creating each of these samples.
Use the powerful tools of the Kanban Board Solution for ConceptDraw DIAGRAM software to create your own infographics and diagrams of any complexity fast and easy, and then successfully use them in your work activity.
All source documents are vector graphic documents. They are available for reviewing, modifying, or converting to a variety of formats (PDF file, MS PowerPoint, MS Visio, and many more graphic formats) from the ConceptDraw STORE. The Kanban Board Solution is available for all ConceptDraw DIAGRAM users.