kanban

noun

1. (countable)A card containing a set of manufacturing specifications and requirements, used to regulate the supply of components.

   “The sub-assembly line assembles A. It goes to processing line 1 to withdraw part a, and for this purpose it must take the sub-assembly kanban (called withdrawal kanban). It goes to store a, withdraws boxes in the required quantity and removes those kanban (called in-process kanban or production-ordering kanban) that are attached to the boxes.”

2. (countable, uncountable)A coordinated manufacturing system using such cards.

   “However, since so many Japanese industries have adopted Kanban, this problem is diminishing.”

3. (broadly, countable, uncountable)A system to manage, visualise, and improve work across teams, often as part of an agile methodology.

   “kanban board”

   “The first thing that often differentiates a daily standup in a kanban team from other standup meetings is that a kanban team tends to focus on the work on the board rather than on the individual people in the team.”

4. (alt-of, countable, uncountable)Alternative letter-case form of kanban.