This process covers the transition activities between Kanban planning and execution. Once the Kanban planner determines a satisfactory planning solution, the newly recalculated Kanban quantities for the circuit are implemented on the shop floor. During this transition, Kanban cards are generated for the circuit and assigned a status of New.
At any time, a Kanban circuit can have one of the five statuses listed in the table below. These statuses, in conjunction with Kanban card reports, provide the tools to manage the printing, deployment, and collection of Kanban cards on the shop floor.
Status | Description |
New | A newly generated card not yet in use on the shop floor. |
In Circulation | A card that has been deployed to the shop floor and is in active use. |
Obsolete | A card that has been made obsolete because of changes in fundamental information, e.g., Qty per Kanban, Lot Size, or Reorder Point. Each obsolete card must be collected and removed. Only Printed Kanban cards that have their quantity recalculated will be made Obsolete after accepting the recalculation. |
Removed | A record of a card that should no longer be in circulation on the shop floor. You can delete this record unless you want to keep it for a historical record. |
Surplus | A Kanban card that has been removed from circulation, but may be put back in circulation later. |
There are two classifications of Obsolete Kanban cards:
Classification | Description |
Replenishable | A Kanban card, printed on durable material, that is designed to be reused within a circuit. Normally, Kanban cards are replenishable. |
Nonreplenishable | A temporary Kanban card inserted into a circuit to deal with a one-time occurrence, e.g., an unexpected spike in demand. This type of card should be replenished once and then removed from the circuit. It is always created manually and cannot be replenished electronically. |