Purpose

This component describes the Kanban control functions. Among other things, it explains how the signal to replenish a material is triggered and which replenishment strategies exist.

Features

The kanban signal has the effect of changing the status of kanbans. As a rule, it is sufficient to work with the two statuses "Empty" and "Full". The kanban signal is usually triggered via the bar code. If a kanban is empty, the system receives the necessary information on the control cycle and replenishment via the bar code and automatically makes the postings necessary to initiate replenishment. If a kanban is full, the system automatically posts the goods receipt for the replenishment (depending on the setting).

For more information see also Triggering the Kanban Signal .

Replenishment using Kanban is possible with in-house production, external procurement, or stock transfer. A series of replenishment strategies is available for each of these three options. In the case of external procurement, for example, you can use standard purchase orders, scheduling agreements, stock transport orders, etc.

For more on this topic, see also: Replenishment Strategy .

With automatic kanban calculation, proposals can be created for the number of kanbans and the quantity per kanban. A report that creates these proposals on the basis of the results of either MRP or long-term planning -according to choice - is available for this purpose. You can also specify the evaluation period that the system is to use for this calculation.

A dialog transaction to check, change and adopt the proposals created by the system is also available From within this transaction, you can also display detailed information on the control cycle, which makes it easier to check the proposals.

For more information see also Automatic Kanban Calculation and Kanban Procedure .

The kanban board is a tool that you can use for evaluations and which also provides an overview of work progress and material consumption. The kanban board presents a clear picture of missing part situations, bottlenecks, etc. for all production supply areas. For this purpose, the statuses of the kanbans and the error situations are represented by different colors. The kanban board can be invoked from both the demand source (consumer) and supply source (supplier) views. Only the data pertinent to each view is displayed. You can also use the kanban board to trigger the kanban signal.

For more on this topic, see also Kanban Board .

Whereas the kanban board provides you with an overview of the kanbans at a certain point in time, the standard analysis function of the Logistics Information System (LIS) provides you with tools to create evaluations of kanban circulation within a defined period.

One advantage of Kanban is the high degree of automation of postings. If, however, posting errors should nevertheless occur (due to missing master data, for example), various evaluation and processing options are available. You can use the Error Display evaluation gain an overview of the error situation. You can postprocess faulty kanbans using the Kanban Correction function.

For more on this topic, see also: Displaying Errors and Kanban Correction

The information basis for Kanban production control is the kanban card. This is a card containing the necessary data on the control cycle and replenishment. You can control the printing and circulation of the kanban cards according to the replenishment strategy and the organization of the control cycle. The cards can be printed out either with each run-through or just once, then continually circulating between supply source and demand source. The cards can be printed either for each control cycle individually or for a number of control cycles using a special collective print function.

For more on this topic, see also: Printing and Circulation of Kanbans and Collective Kanban Print .