Excess Kanban

What is an excess kanban card

The excess kanban card is a kanban card that:

• can be used to temporarily increase the total number of cards for a kanban loop;
• does not alter the kanban loop dimensioning data;
• will not trigger any replenishment cycle when released.

Use cases

It possibile to add one or more excess cards as:

• Full, during the physical implementation of the loop, whenever there are more kanbans than those computed in KanbanBOX.
• Full, to correct the number of kanban cards as a result of procurement or production errors.
• Done: if at the moment of creating a new production loop there are already processed orders that have not yet been made available, in a quantity higher than the one defined by the loop sizing.
• In process, whenever there already exist open orders from a supplier or from production while dimensioning a new kanban loop and the number of kanban cards must be aligned.
• Released, whenever there is the need to anticipate some orders to the supplier, for example in preparation for a holiday period.

Logic for Releasing Excess Kanban Cards

When releasing a Kanban card that belongs to a loop with excess cards, KanbanBOX evaluates the total remaining quantity in the loop to avoid stock-out situations, especially in cases of partial deliveries (where some cards may have quantities lower than the standard quantity).

Specifically, KanbanBOX:

• Checks whether the sum of the quantities of the remaining cards is sufficient to maintain the expected stock level.
• If the total quantity is sufficient, the card is simply deleted, restoring the original sizing of the loop.
• If the total quantity is not sufficient, the card generates a new replenishment cycle and is therefore released with the standard quantity for the loop, in order to restore the correct stock level.

It is also possible to configure a tolerance parameter (by contacting KanbanBOX support), expressed as a percentage, which defines the threshold below which KanbanBOX considers the quantity present in the loop to be "insufficient" to meet material needs, and therefore triggers a new replenishment cycle. By default, this parameter is set to 100%, meaning excess cards are deleted upon release.

• 100%: KanbanBOX accepts any partial quantity; regardless of the card’s quantity, it is considered complete, so the card is deleted upon release.
• 50%: KanbanBOX considers the card as "insufficient" only if its quantity is equal to or less than half of the standard quantity.
• 0%: KanbanBOX does not accept any partial quantity; if the card's quantity is less than the standard, it generates a new replenishment cycle.

Example – Tolerance: 0%

With a tolerance set to 0%, consider a loop consisting of:

• 4 Kanban cards, each with a standard quantity of 10 pieces.
• 2 excess cards, increasing the total number to 6 cards.
• Two of the excess cards have partial quantities, e.g., 6 pieces each, due to a partial delivery.
  

When a card is released:

• If the total remaining quantity maintains the expected stock level, the card is deleted to restore the loop to its original sizing.
  
• If the total remaining quantity is not sufficient to guarantee standard coverage (e.g., consuming a 10-piece card reduces the total quantity to 34 pieces instead of 40), KanbanBOX automatically creates a new Kanban card in Released status with the standard quantity of 10 pieces, restoring the standard loop sizing.
  

Example – Tolerance: 50%

With a tolerance set to 50%, consider a loop consisting of:

• 4 Kanban cards, each with a standard quantity of 10 pieces.
• 1 excess card with a partial quantity of 6 pieces.
  

When the card is released:

• The quantity of 6 pieces (which is greater than 50% of the standard card quantity) is considered sufficient to meet the required coverage, so the card is deleted to restore the loop to its original sizing.
  

In this way, KanbanBOX ensures constant alignment between the expected sizing and the actual stock, preventing the risk of stock-outs even in the presence of variations due to partial deliveries or other unexpected events.

Create a new excess kanban

Procedure:

1. Go to Board and select (or filter) the kanban loop of interest;
2. Click on the kanban loop header, then on Add excess kanban cards;

3. Fill out the following fields:

   • Quantity per kanban: quantity of pieces for each excess kanban card;
   • At the section Generate excess kanban cards by select:
     • Number of excess kanban cards to create, to fill in the number of excess kanban cards to be created with the already specified quantity;
     • Total quantity, to fill in the total quantity of parts needed - KanbanBOX will then automatically compute and suggest the number of excess kanban cards to be created considering the quantity per kanban and the potential partial quantities resulting from the computation.
   • At the section Generate a worklist with the cards created select:
     • Yes, to generate a worklist with the excess kanban cards;
     • No, otherwise.
   • Card status, the kanban card status after the creation, to be chosen among
     • Full: the order has just arrived or the supplier has delivered additional kanbans that must be identified.
     • Empty: the order cannot be sent to the supplier yet or it is necessary to wait the input from another department.
     • Released: to directly submit the order to the supplier.
     • In process: the order has already been submitted and confirmed by the supplier.
     • Done: the order is already manufactured but not yet available to the final customer;
   • Required date: the date in which the replenishment must be completed (visible only when creating excess kanban cards as Released or In process);
   • Card reference: i.e., job number or order number regarding the excess cards (it will be shown in the kanban cards);
   • Card note;
   • Order status (visible only if the Pending status is enabled for the license and when creating excess cards as Released):
     • The order has to be created: the excess cards will be created as Pending, waiting for the order to be created;
     • The order already exists: the excess cards will be created as Released.
   • Order number for customer (not visible when creating excess kanban cards as Empty or Pending).
   • Click on Save to create the excess kanban cards.

Create an excess kanban card from the homepage

To create a new excess kanban from your homepage, add the widget Add excess kanban cards.

Procedure:

1. Add the widget Add excess kanban cards to your homepage;
2. Fill in the ID of a card that belongs to the loop to be augmented, then click on Submit;
3. Fill out the fields regarding the excess kanban cards dimensioning (check the previous paragraph);
4. Click Save to create the excess kanban cards.