Kanban | Glossary

Definition
Kanban is a method for visualizing the flow of work, with an emphasis on continuous delivery, without overburdening the development team. Work items are visualized to give participants a view of progress and process, from start to finish.

Origin
Kanban , which literally means ‘signboard’ in Japanese, is a scheduling system for lean manufacturing and just-in-time manufacturing (JIT). Taiichi Ohno, an industrial engineer at Toyota, developed Kanban to improve manufacturing efficiency, in the 1940’s.

Further Reading

  • “Kanban: Successful Evolutionary Change for Your Technology Business”, by David J. Anderson.
  • “Kanban from the inside”, by Mike Burrows.

Know more about Kanban by attending our workshops and by visiting our website.