When compared to manufacturing, the Kanban Method views inventory as usually intangible or invisible and has much lower direct costs attached, variability in the delivery of work is accepted as inherent, the workflow is usually less strict, and the focus on waste reduction is of lower concern. However, Kanban is meant to be used to manage knowledge work resulting in intangible and virtual goods and services. The roots of the method are found in Lean Manufacturing. The motivation to create the method was mainly to find a way to manage and improve professional service businesses as well as a way to provide a humane change method. The Kanban Method as described here is based on Kanban: Successful Evolutionary Change for Your Technology Business, by David J Anderson, 2010. It is not a replacement for what you already do. Kanban is a means to improve what and how you already do things. Kanban is intended to help you manage work better and to improve service delivery to the point where you consistently meet customer expectations. Rather, it is always adding Kanban using an existing methodology, framework, or way of working. There is never a question of using Kanban versus a given methodology or framework. Rather, it is a management method or approach that should be applied to an existing process or way of working. Kanban is not a methodology nor a process framework. This means that they are usually specific to a domain, such as software development.Ī process framework on the other hand is an incomplete methodology – a set of scaffolding that is intended to have broader applicability but requires customization for each context in order to fill in the missing gaps. Methodologies contain prescriptive, defined workflows and processes, including roles, and responsibilities. In software engineering a methodology is a process definition approach to software development and project management (a bit of a misnomer, as “methodology” should mean “the study of methods”). Kanban is often confused with a methodology or framework.

Download confused state of mind