The Kanban board

The electronic board of KanbanBOX

The visual management of the kanban cards takes place from the electronic board of KanbanBOX. The board graphically represents the status of all the cards of each kanban loop.

From the main menu Kanban boards, access the board that suits your role within the supply chain:

1. Board as supplier: to access the electronic board as the supplier and manage the orders of your customers. Here you can see the loops of which you are suppliers, ordered to show you first those with cards in the Released state with the nearest replenishment date.
2. Board as customer: to access the electronic board as the customer and manage orders to your suppliers. Here you can see the loops of which you are customers, ordered to show you first those with cards in the Empty state.
3. Board as planner: to get an overview of the material flows. Here you can see the loops you are both customers and suppliers, ordered to show you first the loops recently modified (for example new cards in resized or newly created loops, etc.).

The Kanban loop

A kanban loop is represented in a row with all its cards all united by the same component, supplier, customer, container and quantity per card.

The header (gray box) shows the main parameters of each Kanban loop: - the part number for the owner and any transcodings; - component description; - component supplier; - specific customer of the component; - number of kanban cards.

Sorting of the kanban board

The Kanban loops and the Kanban cards are automatically sorted by expiration date and status.

The Kanban board menu

Functionality	Icon	Description
Filter the kanban cards	Columns' search bar	You can filter the board using the space below the column field you want to filter. You can filter one or more columns simultaneously. And you can decide to save the filter.
Search for saved filters	Menu search bar	Open the drop-down menu to view and select the saved filters. The display in Transparent board mode highlights the filtered cards, maintaining a transparent view of the other ones present in the filtered loop, to give you an overview of the totality of each row.
Save filter		Click on the Save filter icon to save the current filter. The New filter name is customizable. In the field Filter visibility you can choose whether to make it available just for you or to all users of your license (for example a manager can create specific filters for the planner or for the warehouse). By setting the Blocked field value to "Yes", it is possible to prevent overwriting of the filter. Then save it as a new filter or overwrite it on a non-blocked existing one by filling the field Overwrite filter. Once saved, you will find the filter in the menu search bar.
Reset filters		Click on the Reset Filters icon to instantly return to the unfiltered view of the board.
Edit or delete filter		From the board you can only create new filters or edit them by the overwriting option. To delete existing filters, click on Settings > Custom filters and, in the Operations column, see the details of the filter or eventually delete it.
Expand cards or Compact cards	and	Click on Expand cards in the kanban board, or on Compact cards in the kanban board, to change the display of the cards in your board. The compact mode is useful when the loops have many kanban cards, to see them all and have a complete overview of your board.
Filter board		Click on Filter board to visualize all the fields for which it's possible to filter the board, divided by topic. Click on the star icon near a filter to add it to the available filters in the board header (or to remove it), or filter one or more fields directly from the popup.

Actions on the kanban loops possible from the board

Click on the header to open the pop-up of the Kanban loop, to view the loop details and to perform actions.

Action	Icon	Description
Kanban loop status		The window shows the summary data and the timeline of the loop.
Kanban loop statistics		To access the loop statistics.
Edit kanban loop		To access the loop edit menu.
Manage limit		To set a limited number of rotations for the loop. See the guide Kanbans with limited turns.
Add extra kanban		To add an extra kanban, see the guide Extra Kanban.
Add excess kanban cards		To add excess kanban cards, see the guide Excess Kanban.
Block all cards of this kanban loop		To block all the cards of the loop.
Send to the supplier the notification for the overdue kanbans		To send to the supplier of the loop an email notification if there are kanban cards with overdue request date. The function is active only for loops with external supplier.

Actions on the kanban cards possible from the board

Cards colours define their status (see the guide Kanban card statuses). Click on a kanban card to open the pop-up of the kanban card, to view the details and the sequence of status changes.

Action	Icon	Description
Card note		Add a note to your kanban cards by clicking on Edit card and filling in the Card note field. The yellow warning sign will automatically appear on the card. Hover your mouse over the sign for more information, even without opening the card details.
Parameters changed		A red exclamation mark on the kanban cards highlights those with modified data (for example when you edit the Part number, the Supplier or the Quantity per kanban) and therefore differ from the standard parameters set for the loop. Explore the details of the card and read - highlighted in red - the parameters not conform to the standard parameters. As a rule, these cards are realigned to the first following emptying. You can force a card alignment by clicking on Force data alignment. If there is more than one card within the same loop, you can force the massive alignment: click on the loop to view its details and then on Force all cards alignment.
Blocked		Block a kanban card from the pop-up by entering a reason when you want a material to NOT be used or made available, for example for quality problems. The card is underlined by a red line. In the same way, Unlock it from the card pop-up.
Out of stock		As a supplier, Mark a card as out of stock from the card pop-up to inform the customer that the card is not currently restorable, for example for the lack of raw materials or components. The card is underlined by an orange line. You can filter the board for the Out of Stock cards.
Urgent		As customer, set a card priority from the card pop-up to inform your supplier that it's really necessary. The card is underlined by a yellow line. You can filter the board for the Urgent cards.
Comments		Number of comments for that card. Click on the speech bubble to read it or on the Comments tab inside the card pop-up to add a comment.
Extra-Kanban		The Extra-Kanban cards represent normal orders (not managed with the Kanban system). Visually, they differ from kanban cards because they have the top right corner full rather than cut. See the guide Extra-Kanban.

Setting the expiration date for a card

It is possible to set the expiration date for the material in the kanban card information, and it can be printed on the label if needed. Here is how:

1. Go to Kanban boards > Board as planner.
2. Filter by Part number, or by Card, to choose the appropriate card to set the expiration date for.
3. Click on the card, then on Edit card.
4. In the Edit card page, go to the field Expiration date and select the date.
5. Finally, click Save.

The expiration date is now visible in the card details.

N.B.: The expiration date can be also set through a Workflow, following the steps indicated in the guide on Workflows.

The board as table

The Board as table allows to visualize the electronic kanban board in a tabular form.

Procedure:

1. Get in Kanban boards > Board as table.
2. Select the board as table that suits your role within the supply chain:
   • Table as customer: to access the board as table to visualize cards in which you are the customer.
   • Table as supplier: to access the board as table to visualize cards in which you are the supplier.
   • Table as planner: to access the board as table to visualize both cards in which you are the customer and the supplier.

Set the partner visibility in the board

You can customize the partner visualization in the board and make visibile or hide in your board loops that belong to a specific partner.

Procedure:

1. Get in Board > Configure board visibility.
2. In the new page Configure board visibility, click the icon Show in board to make visible in your board all the loops that have the partner as supplier or customer, or click the icon Hide in board if you don't need to visualize loops that have the partner as supplier or customer. To hide a loop in you board, both the supplier and the customer of the loop has to be hidden .
   The new configuration is automatically saved.