Every Industry in this upcoming era requires project management to deliver successful projects with respect to resource following appropriate deadlines. Well experienced and PMP certified project manager has become necessity of all firms. A best project manager manages phases like Analysis, Planning, Execution, Monitor and Control along with closure. Also selecting right methodology defines experience of project manager into project management. Kanban methodology in project management is one of popular framework involving kanban project plan which is used for the implementation of Agile software development. So if word Kanban is breaked down as "kahn-bahn" which refers to Japanese word visual signal. These article aims to elaborate Kanban methodology in detail.

History-

Kanban was developed in 1940 by the Japanese Industrial Engineer Taiichi Ohno at Toyota Car Company. The agenda of kanban was based supply according to customer needs rather than to just stock up products. The idea behind this concept was production according to the customer needs which would reduce wastage and save resources with respect to the time and budget.

Introduction-

Kanban methodology requires real-time capacity to work and clarity of total work. Work items are visually represented on a kanban board. Kanban board allows team members to see the status of every work task at any time. This also helps to analyze and perform task for the process.

Kanban board-

Kanban board is visual board that describes the status of work with respect to every task. The motive of Kanban board is to reduce work in progress and increase efficiency.

Kanban board uses cards and columns to represent activities helping the team to get work done with respect to deadlines and capacity.

Components of Kanban board-

1. Visual Signals-

Kanban board contents visual card on which details of activities are mentioned. This helps the team members to get know about current ongoing status. Many sticky notes or tickets written with respect to particular activity are put on board.

2. Columns-

The column in kanban board represents the work flow in terms of activities. Kanban columns represent activities in particular column as workflow. Seeing the kanban board team gets to know about the complete process by flow of activities. It actually seems like flow chart. The types of workflows are "To Do", "In Progress", "Code review" and "Complete".

3. Work In Progress (WIP) Limits-

WIP limits are maximum number of cards allowed in one column. Suppose if ten cards are allowed in one column then the cards count should not increase above ten. If cards are increased above maximum capacity then they are required to be moved forward before arrival of new cards. WIP limits are very critical for maximum number of cards and if exceed gives beforehand warning of increase in task with respect to capacity.

4. Commitment point-

Kanban teams have space for suggestion on board. At commitment point the team members can suggest their ideas for improvement. All members in a team can also view the suggestion given by respective team member.

5. Delivery point-

This point is end of kanban team’s workflow. Delivery point is when product or service reach customers. The goal of team members is to take the cards from commitment point to delivery point as fast as possible. The elapsed time between actual time taken by team and actual delivery time is lead time. Kanban methodology tries to improve the process by reducing the lead time.

Types of boards-

There are two types of kanban board-

1. Physical board-

This is basically the whiteboard or blackboard where sticky notes are pasted or hanged on it. These boards are divided into vertical columns placing maximum cards between columns. The advantage of the physical board is that it is always hanged and visible to team members 24 by 7.

2. Digital board-

When software came into the picture kanban board turned out into a digital board. Team members can use this board virtually to write activities and suggest ideas. Digital boards also reduce the time as it becomes easy to work remotely for team members.

Importance WIP limits-

WIP limits set the maximum cards in each status of a workflow. Limiting the work in progress makes it easier to identify the current status in a team's workflow. So the project manager can take necessary action on time.

Goals of WIP-

1. It involves breaking down tasks which becomes easier for team members to complete.

2. It measures the lead time which is the difference between actual task time and task time estimated.

3. It follows the deadlines in terms of status with respect to activities.

4. It encourages the team member to upstream their work capacity.

Kanplan-

Kanplan is a mixed methodology for teams who want the ability to backlog groom but are not ready for sprints. The motive is to turn the to-do list into a backlog.

Kanban versus scrum-

Kanban helps to judge the capacity of work with actual total work. As mentioned above kanban works on status describing workflow of a process in terms of activities.  Kanban is great for teams that have lots of incoming requests that vary according to priority and size. On other hand, scrum processes require high control over what is in scope while kanban goes with respect to flow.

Benefits of kanban-

·It is Flexibility.

·Focus more on customer demand.

·Reduction of wasted work saving time.

·Increased in high productivity.

·Increased efficiency.

·Encourages team member’s ability to focus.

Conclusion-

As a result, it concludes kanban is one of the best and beneficial methodologies for the project management systems. The project manager is not only an engineer but also a PMP certified manager. As management is the art of getting things done with respect to time and resources it can be learned and skills can be developed through management courses. So Monks Learning Lab is providing the best course of PMP training to develop professionals in all type of industries under the guidance of experts in firms. Already Monks Learning Labs have given rise to many milestones in this career. It's a knocking opportunity for those who want to be best professionals in the pharmaceutical industries.