The Multiprocess kanban

What's a Multiprocess kanban?

The multiprocess is a function that relates two or more kanban loops and allows the management of the following cases:

Examples	Description
A Kanban with multiple production process steps	The release of a kanban card activates a recovery process that involves multiple stages of production.
Sequential pull and component kit preparation	The upstream cards are released after the downstream process has signal a need.

Downstream, the release of a card automatically activates the release of an extra kanban card upstream. The downstream loop of the process is the Parent kanban. At each release of the Parent kanban, an extra kanban is generated in the upstream phase. The upstream loop is therefore the Child kanban.

How to creare a Multiprocess kanban

Procedure:

I. How to create the Parent kanban:

1. Go to Kanbans > New Kanban and choose the most appropriate Type of kanban;
2. In the General information section, enter the required fields and the advanced fields;
3. In the advanced fields of the Process information form, set the field Multiprocess to Yes. By default, this field is set to No;
4. In the Trigger esplosione field, define the action that activates the creation of the child cards.
   • Manual: to release upsteam cards manually, by using an home page widget.
   • When card is set "Released": to release upstream cards when the parent card is set as Released.
   • When card is set "In Process": to release upstream cards when the parent card is set as In process.
5. Set a Lead time of the Parent kanban that considers the lead time of the previous process steps. The Lead Time of the parent loop is therefore the sum of the Lead Time of all the sequential phases involved;
6. Click on Activate Kanban to create the kanban loop. KanbanBOX saves the kanban loop and creates in the Board the cards in status New.

II. How to create the Child kanban:

1. Go to Kanbans > New Kanban and choose the most appropriate Type of kanban;
2. In the General information section, enter the required fields and the advanced fields;
3. In the advanced fields of the Process information form, if the Child kanban is also the last upstream phase, leave the field Multiprocess to No (default);
4. In the Kanban loop calculation form, in the drop down menu Policy select the Synchro option;
5. Click on Activate Kanban to create the kanban loop.

The child loop may already exist and may also have a different policy than Synchro (such as Kanban, Batch kanban, Signal kanban). In this case, there is no need to create a new loop, but during the creation of the multiprocess relation, the existing one can be selected.

III. How to create the Multiprocess relationship:

1. Go to Kanbans > Multiprocess kanban and select the icon Add, on the table, at the top right;
2. Choose the Parent loop and click on Continue;
3. Select the Child loop to link to the the Parent loop;
4. Enter the Use factor. It represents the number of child cards needed to produce the parent kanban card;
5. Click on Save.

Statuses of the multiprocess kanban

The status of a multiprocess kanban card indicates if the parent card can be processed or not, based on the availability of the child cards.
The parent card in a multiprocess relation can be in the following two statuses:

Status		Description
Waiting		The parent card is waiting for the child cards to be available. It means that at least one child card has not been set Full. A Waiting card can be set In process but cannot be set Done, In transit or Full.
Ready		The parent card is workable when all the child cards have been processed. It means that all the child cards have been set Full.

Customization of the multiprocess

Card Reference inheritance

It is possible, during the multiprocess explosion, to pass to the child cards the "Card Reference" of the parent card.
Procedure:

1. Go to Settings > Company settings.
2. In the Multiprocess kanbans section set the field Card reference inheritance as Yes. By default, this filed is set on No.

Automatic closure of child cards

It is possible, when a parent card passes through the Done status, to close automatically all the child cards.
Procedure:

1. Go to Settings > Company settings.
2. In the Multiprocess kanbans section set the field When a parent card goes through the Done status the children are closed automatically as Yes. By default, this field is set as No.

How to Dectivate Multiprocess kanban

Procedure:

1. Go to Settings > Company settings.
2. Scroll to the section Multiprocess kanbans.
3. In the field Enable multiprocess kanbans select "No".