Rolling Kanban: a new visual tool to schedule family batch manufacturing processes with kanban

Rolling Kanban is the name of a kanban management methodology for batch processes manufacturing environment. Proposed in the early 2000s by FESTO Consulting, for two decades we have lost knowledge both from operative and scientific point of view. Basically, Rolling Kanban means a visual planning methodology based on the production of product-families and variants where: (i) set-up times are reduced between the products of the same family, and (ii) relevant times (dozens of minutes if not even hours) must be considered for changeover between products of different families. In addition, the cyclic production sequence between different product families cannot be maintained. Considering that very few technical information and documents are available about this approach, the main objective of this paper is to retrieve and present, for the first time to the scientific community, the Rolling Kanban methodology. Besides, a real industrial implementation concerning a manufacturer of domestic fittings is discussed as a case study. More specifically, two novel versions of the original Rolling Kanban technique are fully presented to effectively overcome certain limits and criticalities found during its operative use, such as the difficulty to realise a pull production, considering increased set-up time for changeover between products of different families.     

A simulative approach for evaluating alternative feeding scenarios in a kanban system

In accordance with the lean production philosophy, an assembly line may be supplied by means of a kanban system, which regulates and simplifies the flow of materials between the lines and the warehouses. This paper focuses on evaluation of feeding policies that differ from each other in term of the number of kanbans managed per feeding tour. A pure cost-based approach is thus proposed, which considers both inline inventories along with handling costs proportionate to the number of operators involved in the parts-feeding process. A multi-scenario simulative approach is applied in order to establish the number of operators required to avoid inline shortages. The scenario minimising total cost is then selected. The innovation introduced is a model for describing kanban arrivals and their requests for feeding, improving the potential of the simulation to describe real-life environments. Lastly, a case study from the automotive industry is presented in order to highlight the applicability of the proposed approach as well and the effects of alternative feeding policies on the total cost incurred.     

Performance comparison of multiple product kanban control systems

Kanban control systems have been around for decades and have been used to control work-in-process of manufacturing systems. Lately many variations of the basic control system have been developed; however, much of the work in the development and comparison of control systems has focused on a single-stage manufacturing system producing a single product type. In this research, we present procedures for optimising multiple product kanban control systems, namely Base Stock, Traditional Kanban Control System and Extended Kanban Control System (both dedicated and shared type). We then conduct a detailed simulation study to compare the performance of the systems using a common total cost measure. Numerical results show that the dedicated and shared-extended kanban control systems outperform the other two systems. The study also shows that in spite of their different schematics and contrary to conventional wisdom, the performance of dedicated and shared-extended kanban control systems doesn’t differ much.     

A rule induction approach for determining the number of kanbans in A just-in-time production system

A procedure based on rule induction is presented which can be used to determine the number of kanbans while simultaneously determining the critical factors in a just-in-time (JIT) production system. In particular, the classification and regression tree (CART) technique developed by Brieman et al. [Breiman, L., Friedman, J., Olshen, R. and Stone, C. J., Classification and Regression Trees. Wadsworth, Belmont, CA, 1984.] is used to automatically generate rules from dynamic shop floor data. An example application of the methodology is presented and the advantages of a rule induction approach are explained. The paper concludes with a discussion of future research directions.     

Algorithms for the design of a multi-stage adaptive kanban system

The traditional kanban system with a fixed number of cards does not work satisfactorily in an unstable environment. With the adaptive kanban-type pull control mechanism, the number of kanbans is allowed to change with respect to the inventory and backorder level. It is required to set the threshold values at which cards are added or deleted, which is part of the design. Previous studies used local search and meta-heuristic methods to design an adaptive kanban system for a single stage. In a multi-stage system the cards are circulated within the stage and their presence at designated positions signals to the neighbouring stages details concerning the inventory. In this work, a model of a multi-stage system adapted from a traditional and adaptive kanban system is developed. A genetic and simulated annealing algorithm based search is employed to set the parameters of the system. The results are compared with a traditional kanban system and signs of improvement are found. The numerical results also indicate that the use of a simulated annealing algorithm produces a better solution.     

江苏核电大数据可视化分析平台的建设与应用

为解决大量数据无法快速进行可视化分析挖掘的问题,江苏核电基于开源技术进行定制化开发,按照层次化功能架构设计,对平台的数据层、逻辑层和展示层的功能进行开发,快速构建大数据可视化平台,有效解决对数据进行可视化分析的问题。文章从功能特点、建设要求、经济性等维度对大数据可视化产品和传统商务智能产品进行对比,阐述建设可视化分析平台的优点和必要性;梳理与建立基于平台的数据可视化分析的服务的管理流程和职责分工,平台成果应用于物资编码检查分析与可视化业务看板等方面,在支撑管理决策、提升管理水平、提高业务运营效率和改进优化业务四个方面体现了平台的价值。文章介绍的大数据可视化分析平台的建设思路和方法可有效提升数据分析的工作效率。     

Centralised vs. decentralised control decision in card-based control systems: comparing kanban systems and COBACABANA

Kanban systems are simple yet effective means of controlling production. Production control is decentralised or exercised locally on the shop floor, i.e. a downstream station signals to an upstream station that an item is needed. If items are always the same and known, then demands can be satisfied instantaneously from stock; but if items differ and are unknown, demands must first be propagated backwards from station to station before being satisfied. The former is defined as an inventory control problem and the latter as an order control problem. Handling the order control problem via kanban involves a decentralised card acquisition process (during which information is propagated from station to station) that is separated from the actual production process. COBACABANA (control of balance by card-based navigation), an alternative card-based solution, shares kanban’s control structure but centralises the card acquisition process. Evaluating the two systems therefore provides a unique opportunity to compare decentralised and centralised control. Using simulation, we demonstrate that it is specifically the centralised card acquisition process that allows COBACABANA to balance the workload across resources and thus to outperform kanban in an order control problem. This has major implications for research and practice.     

基于多Agent的JIT软件构架研究

以智能JIT管理软件开发项目为研究背景,阐述基于多Agent的JIT软件构架的研究问题。根据JIT原理构建JIT生产过程构架;使用UML建模工具构建JIT管理软件类构架,将领域构架转化为软件构架,并且应用多Agent技术优化软件构架：构建了JIT系统的Petri网模型,分析了JIT系统的动态特性。通过在智能JIT管理软件开发中的实际应用,证明JIT的过程构架和软件构架是合理的,并取得了良好的效果。     

Modelling and simulation of just-in-time flexible systems

The increasing worldwide competition requires economical manufacture, high quality and short delivery time. The Just-In-time (JIT) philosophy of manufacturing is increasingly being considered by manufacturing organizations, as a response to the increased pressure to supply high quality products with short delivery times and at low cost. A very simple shop floor control system that was developed by Toyota in the 1970s specifically for their Just-In-Time assembly plant, has received considerable attention in the Western World, and is known as the ‘kanban’ system (literally translated as ‘card’ system). Japan’s success has prompted many scholars and practitioners, to turn their attention to Japanese management practices. This article is to address the modelling, simulation and implementation issues of Just-In-Time in flexible manufacturing environments. Priority nets are used for modelling and analysis of the kanban system. A large number of simulation runs are conducted/presented to probe the behaviour of the system, with respect to different parameter changes.