Printable Kanban Card Templates (Excel / Word / Powerpoint)

A Kanban card template is a valuable tool used in many production industries. This is a scheduling system which was introduced by the Japanese. This system can increase productivity and minimize waste in a manufacturing environment. Kanban improves manufacturing efficiency. From the cards, the system takes its name that track production within a factory.

What are Kanban cards?

Taiichi Ohno holds the credit with introducing the kanban card system. He is an industrial engineer and businessman. Moreover, he is well-known as the father of the Toyota Production System. He introduced this system to manage the flow of parts in JIT or “just-in-time” production lines.

‘Kanban’ is a Japanese term derived from ‘Kan’ and ‘Ban’ which means visual and card respectively. In simple words, it means “card you can see.” In a grocery store, when Ohno noticed that the store shelves only had enough stocks to meet customer demand, he got his inspiration for developing Kanban card templates. Also, he noticed that if there were empty spots on the shelves the store’s inventory only got replenished.

From this observation, Ohno developed visual markers that could lessen unnecessary inventories. This system assists in discovering and work flowing process issues. These visual markers are the Kanban cards. In addition, they are still used today due to their practicality.

The origin of Kanban cards:

The Kanban cards have a system that is extremely visual in nature. With the help of these cards, teams in a company can communicate better regarding what work they have to do and when. The Kanban cards became representative of a separate work item since the Kanban evolved into a knowledge work system.

There are no complex processes involved by using Kanban cards and Kanban sheets. Using sticky notes on a whiteboard with lanes is the most common way to display the “pieces of work.” This illustrates the steps the team requires to take in the process. For each piece of work, these simple notes contains important information. These notes define the status of the work item visually within the process of the team.

Why Kanban cards are so effective?

Here are some pointers that explain how and what you must think to become successful in managing for efficiency;

Begin with the information you know

The Kanban system is never about particular processes instead of this, it is used to assess existing processes. Therefore, you don’t have to make any radical changes immediately.

Agree to follow incremental change

This system supports a constant change to the current system in place. But, you should make such modifications gradually and in small increments. Drastic, wide-range, or radical changes aren’t suggested as you can meet inevitable resistance.

Respect the existing roles, processes, titles, and responsibilities

The Kanban system makes the changes to the system, respects, and realizes the fact that the existing state of organization has value. Broader implementation support can be created by the Kanban-style of incremental change. This is because the small corrections that it introduces are more appropriate than a complete overhaul.

Motivate leadership acts on all of the levels

The Kanban technique supports Kaizen. This is a Japanese business philosophy of constant improvement of working practices, personal efficiency, and more. It makes sure that anyone in the team can make great ideas not just by management.

What should be included on Kanban cards?

Below are some tips that you should follow while creating your own Kanban card templates;

Face or front

The main goal of the card is a quick view of the work items’ visual status. Therefore, the face or front should display details meaningful to your team. This information includes the following;

• A unique title or identifier
• A short description of the work
• As estimate of the work’s size
• The person who is responsible for the work

This information should be mentioned on the front of the Kanban card template.

Back

Since the card moves across the workflow, any of the team members can use the back of the template to write down applicable metrics that include the following;

• Start date
• Blocked location and days
• Lead time
• Finish date

This way, the Kanban card gives an important information regarding the overall workflow. By using this card, you can also determine bottleneck any issues before having a significant impact on the system. The information on the card also provides you the chance for continuous improvement.

The Kanban card templates:

You can make a Kanban card template in two ways. You have two versions both of them can serve the same purpose;

Kanban Card templates

The Kanban card is the best way to reduce these oversights in the work environment. Generally, all of the team members have a clear and consistent understanding of their;

• Their jobs,
• What they do,
• What they still need to do
• When there is a change in the work’s scope

Additionally, the team members can always find ways to optimize the processes. We have mentioned above that Kanban card is an effective tool in capturing and communicating this learning. You can standardize the tasks with the use of Kanban sheets or card templates for work based on repetition. This improves the process throughout effectively. Thus, it saves time and resources.

Digital Kanban Card templates

For both onsite and remote team members, this type of template provides easy and equal access. The automatic data collection is inserted into charts and graphs. This way, you can quickly implement data. This also comes with stored history of the whole life of the card.

Why should you use Kanban board template?

Speed is the main reason for using Kanban board template. It can be a time-consuming process to make a Kanban board. The process includes the;

• Brainstorming
• Make a decision on the stages work must pass through
• Setting up the various task cards
• Building automation rule

The best practices are used by Kanban board management templates from more experienced companies. Here are some more reasons for using Kanban board template;

• Uniformity: when you use the same template across multiple boards, it makes sure consistency.
• Familiarity: it becomes easier to understand how work is structured by having consistency across multiple departments.
• Professionalism: a well-made Kanban tool gives an appearance of professionalism.

Some tips for using Kanban card:

Here are some tips that you must consider while using Kanban card;

Visualize the workflow

If you want to visualize the entire workflow of your company, Kanban cards work so effectively. As an individual and a team, you may take the appropriate management steps if you visualize the following;

• The number of requests
• The required time to deliver on the request
• Who makes the risks and requests

If you want that all the members of the team can stay on the existing workflow, then you should place Kanban sheets and cards on a Kanban board.

Limit work in progress

The most important cornerstone of the Kanban system is limiting work in progress. It forces your team members to concentrate on particular tasks for accomplishment. Before a situation reaches a critical stage, it specifies where work gets obstructed.

Manage the flow

In order to deliver maximum value, Kanban can assist to track and manage tasks visually. The information is used about the recent state of the work.

Create explicit policies

The teams make the fundamental rules about their workflows when they work hand in hand. A strategy is also made by the team on how to take note of and deal with blocked tasks or work.

Apply feedback loops

In order to improve the delivery of the tasks and the overall process, the Kanban team should arrange daily meetings with the board.

For improvement, work together

In the process, the Kanban system notifies areas which call for improvement. Work groups establish ways after determining how to solve problems and hypothesize and then test their solutions.

Moreover, the Kanban system can also be applied in many business departments which include the following;

• Audit teams
• Human resources
• Marketing project management
• Organizational executive and strategic leadership
• Task management

How to make a Kanban card template?

Speed is the main reason for using Kanban board template. It can be a time-consuming process to make a Kanban board. The process includes the;

• Brainstorming
• Make a decision on the stages work must pass through
• Setting up the various task cards
• Building automation rule

The best practices are used by Kanban board management templates from more experienced companies. Here are some more reasons for using Kanban board template;

• Uniformity: when you use the same template across multiple boards, it makes sure consistency.
• Familiarity: it becomes easier to understand how work is structured by having consistency across multiple departments.
• Professionalism: a well-made Kanban tool gives an appearance of professionalism.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, a Kanban card template is a great way to visually convey a work item’s progress as it flows through a system or a process. Ohno took into consideration the psychological and emotional aspects of change while building these cards. With the help of this system, you can discover and workflow process issues. People are still using these cards because of their practicality.

Faqs (Frequently Asked Questions)