KanbanBOX's Glossary

A

Advance kanban

Functionality that allows the card string ID to advance from the upstream loop to the downstream loop, thus avoiding the need for reprinting.

The Advance kanban is often used when a purchase kanban card is subsequently moved, keeping the quantity and the bin unchanged.

Average consumption

Consumption calculated using the arithmetic average of the actual consumption profile recorded by KanbanBOX during the analysis period (configurable from the company settings).

Specifically, KanbanBOX starts calculating the average consumption after a time period equal to the Lead Time from the first recorded consumption.

B

Batching

Status of a card used to represent that the card is waiting for the minimum batch to be reached for the issuance of the order to the supplier.

Bin

Container holding the material with the quantity indicated on the card. The container is used to move and store the material: it can be a box, an euro-pallet, the supplier's box, a bag, etc.

Board

Visual representation of the cards in their respective statuses for all active loops. In the board, each row represents a loop.

In KanbanBOX, there are three types of boards:

• Board as supplier, showing the cards for which you are the supplier;
• Board as customer, showing the cards for which you are the customer;
• Board as planner, showing all the cards present in the license.

Board visibility

Setting that allows to display on a specific user's board only the cards of the loops in which the user is involved.

C

Card

Representation of a container holding a certain amount of material and belonging to a loop.

The card is identified by a unique code, it contains the information of the loop it belongs to and must be applied to the container to track the material flow.

The card can be:

1. "kanban", when following the kanban logic;
2. "synchro", when it fulfills a specific order and it does not trigger any replenishment once consumed.

Child card

In the context of the Multiprocess, the child card represents a card from an upstream phase generated by the explosion of a parent card.

The child card also represents the material that must be prepared so that the production of the parent card can take place. In KanbanBOX, all child cards must therefore be declared as "Full" for the corresponding parent card to be producible.

Confirmed date

Promised delivery date of the material.

By default, the confirmed date matches the required date: however, it can be modified using the Negotiation module.

Current maximum consumption supported

Consumption that represents the maximum daily consumption that can be actually supported by the loop with the current sizing parameters (number of cards, quantity per bin and Lead Time) to avoid any stockouts.

Custom action

Customizable command that can be added to the homepage in order to, for example, generate worklists to be printed or exported, execute workflows or display standard procedures.

Customer

An actor in the material flow who holds the material in stock and, upon the consumption of the material, triggers its replenishment from the supplier.

The customer can be:

• external, in the case of an external company or a different plant of the same company;
• internal, in the case of a warehouse, a production line, a cell or a department within the same plant.

D

Documents

Functionality that allows a license to manage incoming or outcoming transport documents, respectively during the receiving and shipping phases of the material.

Done

Status of a card used to represent that the material has been physically produced and is ready to be moved or delivered to the customer.

E

Ekanban

Abbreviation for "Electronic kanban".

The term "ekanban" is used to refer to the management of a kanban system through the use of digital systems and software, such as KanbanBOX, in order to reduce the impact of inventory and improve productivity, speed, and service levels within the company.

Empty

Status of a card used to represent when the container has been emptied, but the order has not yet been issued to the supplier.

F

Forecast

1. Functionality that allows you to visualize inside KanbanBOX the forecasts imported from the ERP to:

   • share them with your suppliers;
   • carry out the maintenance on the loops.

2. Quantity of material that is expected to be consumed for a specific component over a certain period of time in the future.

Full

Status of a card used to represent when the material is physically present in the customer's supermarket and can be picked up from it.

H

Heijunka

Functionality that allows the leveling of the cards either in "Released" or "In process" status for each supplier.

The leveling operations can be carried out either manually or automatically within defined work intervals according to in-built leveling algorithms.

I

ID

Progressive number automatically assigned by KanbanBOX to uniquely identify any entity within the application.

For example, in KanbanBOX you will find these IDs: Component ID, Partner ID, Kanban ID, Webhook ID, Worklist ID, etc...

In process

Status of a card used for validation purposes, for example to represent that the supplier has taken charge of replenishing that particular card.

In transit

Status of a card used to represent that the material has been shipped and is in transit towards the customer.

Internal partner visibility

Setting that allows two licenses to share their internal partners, enabling each other to view the shared internal partners in the loops and in the board.

Inventory count

Functionality that allows the inventory count of all the cards managed in KanbanBOX through barcode scanning and through entering the quantity actually present in their respective containers.

K

Kanban

Visual production management system based on the use of physical cards, aimed at reducing waste, improving efficiency and ensuring that the production occurs based on an actual demand, thus minimizing inventory and optimizing material flows.

L

Lead Time

Time that elapses between the moment a card is consumed (set as "Released") and the moment it becomes available in the customer's warehouse (set as "Full").

The Lead Time represents a property of the kanban loop and is usually agreed upon between the supplier and the customer.

License

Representation of a physical plant in KanbanBOX: all material flows involving the plant are managed within the license.

A license can be:

• active, if it owns loops in KanbanBOX;
• passive, if it has visibility on non-owned loops.

Link

Connection between two licenses to collaborate in the supply of material.

When one license sets up a link with another license connected as supplier or customer, the latter will gain the visibility on the loops of the former license in which it is involved as a partner of the loops.

Loop

Representation of a material flow, characterized by a component, a supplier and a customer.

The loop describes and sizes the material flow with a finite number of cards representing the physical containers of material.

In general, the loop type can be:

• "kanban", when the material flow is managed with a kanban replenishment logic (based on actual consumption);
• "synchro", when the material flow is managed according to a make-to-order logic.

Loop project

A loop that is not yet active because:

• it is in the design phase due to partial data;

or

• it is scheduled to become active in the future.

M

Maintenance

Periodic monitoring activity and subsequent update of the loop sizing when there is a variation between the theoretical consumption and the actual consumption registered by KanbanBOX.

The maintenance requires:

• calculating the actual daily consumption for each loop (done automatically by KanbanBOX);
• recalculating the number of cards needed to support the actual consumption (done automatically by KanbanBOX);
• applying, when needed, the resizing to the loop in order to better match the actual consumption profile.

Maximum daily consumption

Maximum value of the average consumption calculated with the moving average from the actual consumption recorded by KanbanBOX during the analysis period (configurable from the company settings).

Specifically, KanbanBOX starts calculating the maximum daily consumption after a time period equal to the Lead Time from the first recorded consumption.

Multiprocess

Functionality that allows the correlation of two or more kanban loops in order to manage:

• kanban with multiple processing stages;
• a sequential pull logic or a kitting logic.

Multiprocess relation

In the context of the Multiprocess, configuration of the interdependency between two loops, one representing the downstream phase of the process, the other the phase immediately upstream.

N

Negotiation

Functionality that allows the information exchange and its management between supplier and customer regarding the following aspects of the order:

• quantity;
• confirmed date;
• required date (only for synchro cards);
• price.

New

Status of a kanban card when the card is created from scratch or when the corresponding kanban loop is created from scratch.

P

Parent card

In the context of Multiprocess, the parent card represents the card from the downstream phase that, upon its explosion, generates the corresponding child card or cards of the upstream phases.

To be producible, all child cards generated by the explosion must be set as "Full".

Part

Item subject to the material flow and identified by a part number. The item can be a raw material, a semi-finished product or a finished product.

Partner

Generic actor in the material flow.

The partner can be a company, a plant, a warehouse, a department, a production cell, etc.

The partner can also take on the role of supplier or customer within one or more loops.

Pending

Status of a card used to represent when the card is waiting for the creation of the order to the supplier in the management software.

The "Pending" status is optional and can be activated for some or all links in the company settings.

Production environment

KanbanBOX operative environment that reflects the company's production reality.

R

Released

Status of a card used to represent that the card has been consumed, which corresponds to the issuance of an order to the supplier.

Required date

Date on which the material in replenishment must be delivered by the supplier to the customer.

Resource

In the context of the Sequencer, it is the work unit (such as a machine, a cell, or a line) to which cards can be assigned in order to be produced.

A loop resource might differ from the loop's supplier when, for example, the supplier identifies a department and the resource identifies a machine within that very department. However, when the supplier identifies the machine itself, the resource and the supplier will be the same.

S

Safety lead time

Additional period of time beyond the lead time that can be configured in the loop's sizing to cover potential uncertainties in the variability of procurement times and supplier performance.

The safety lead time is physically represented by a safety stock, which is useful for dealing with unforeseen issues in the supply.

Sequencer

Functionality that allows the assigning of cards as "Released" and/or as "In Process" to the resources of a department with the aim of:

• optimizing the production sequence of each individual resource;
• providing the operator with an interface to visualize the cards that have been assigned to their resources.

String

Alphanumeric string that uniquely represents a card (8 characters) or a worklist ("WL" + 8 characters).

Supplier

Actor in the material flow responsible for replenishing the requested material.

The supplier can be:

• external, in case of a company or another plant;
• internal, in case of a warehouse, a production line, a production department or the like within the same plant.

T

Template

Model that allows the definition of:

• the dimensions of the printing medium (label, A5 sheet, A4 sheet, etc);
• the information to be printed on the card and its overall layout;
• the number of cards per printing medium.

Test environment

An environment where any user can test the features safely and without compromising the data of the production environment.

The test environment is regenerated every day at 02:00 UTC as a copy of the previous day's production environment.

Trigger

Event upon the occurrence of which a specific automated action is triggered.

For example, in KanbanBOX, you can find triggers for workflows or triggers for webhooks.

W

Webhook

Integration tool that allows sending a message from KanbanBOX to an external software upon the occurrence of a specific event (also called a "trigger") in KanbanBOX.

Workflow

Functionality that allows the configuration and execution of specific manual or automatic operations upon the occurrence of a particular event (also referred to as a "trigger") in KanbanBOX.

Worklist

A group of cards that can be processed simultaneously.

The worklist is uniquely defined by an ID composed of the fixed string "WL" and a variable alphanumeric string.