tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5376448721892545698.post-82616653258396605782008-03-03T14:43:00.000-08:002008-03-03T14:58:15.242-08:00I just stumbled across this story on the origins of <a href="http://kanban.labelprinter.com/">kanban</a>.<br /><em><a href="http://www.fredharriman.com/resources/OriginsofKanban.htm">Fredharriman.com tells us</a>:</em><br /><br /><blockquote>In once incidence remembered by Chihiro Nakao, Mr. Ohno caught someone he knew was about to pull his materials too soon and thundered: "Who are you and where did you come from?! What makes you think you have any right to this material?<br />Show me your kanban!!"</blockquote><br /><br /><br />This illustrates some of what a kanban is not - it isn't a purchase order, it isn't a fax, and it isn't a taped or marked location. All of these can be part of a kanban, but a kanban is simply "a <a href="http://www.labelprinter.com/">visual control </a>that signals an upstream operation to deliver what is needed." (taken from Ralph Bernstein).<br /><br />It is the "authority" created by need to "pull" an item downstream from an upstream operator.<br /><br /><br />Delving into JIT is a difficult process - one that takes time, effort, and<br />committment. We all know that going lean yields great rewards, but in<br />the midst of the difficult process of "gettling lean," it's nice to be<br />reassured that even the originators had trouble from time to time.J Thatchernoreply@blogger.com