Overview of Kanban systems

The just-in-time (JIT) approach to manufacturing control with 'Kanbans' has received much attention in the last decade. The Kanban systems efficiently control repetitive manufacturing environments and offer simplicity. However, they are not suitable for non-repetitive manufacturing systems. The research approaches applied to Kanban systems include simulation, mathematical, and stochastic approaches, with the emphasis on analysing characteristics of Kanban systems, determining the optimal number of Kanbans, and comparing Kanban systems. In this paper, an overview of different Kanban systems, methodologies, and alternatives to the pure Kanban systems are discussed. The basic Toyota Kanban system is introduced. The recently developed methodologies for Kanban systems are surveyed. The Kanban approach is illustrated with the case studies. This paper offers a broad discussion of Kanban systems and classifies the previous studies. Several conclusions are drawn and suggestions for further research are given.