Kanban

Kanban is a workflow management method that visualizes work as cards moving through stages, pulling tasks through a process in response to demand rather than pushing work through based on predicted demand. This pull-based approach promotes focus, ensures work gets finished before new work is started, and provides at-a-glance status visibility.

The word "kanban" (看板) is Japanese for "sign board" or "billboard". The methodology has deep roots in Japanese working culture, predating its modern form by many decades. A staged card or ticket system for tracking work was a culturally embedded practice among Japanese shopkeepers, restaurateurs, and street traders from around the early 1900s. Notably, the Tekiya — organised gangs of street peddlers operating in shopping districts — used kanban systems to match work going through each business against claimed takings.

In the late 1940s, Taiichi Ohno (1912–1990) led Toyota’s adoption of Kanban within its manufacturing processes. Toyota’s success with the system popularised Kanban among larger businesses worldwide, and it subsequently became a foundational practice of lean manufacturing and agile working.

Kanban is considered an agile working practice on a par with more modern methods like [Scrum] and [Extreme Programming (XP)]. Key principles include: