Floor inventory tracking of a Kanban production system

A model was developed for tracking production floor inventory for a Kanban manufacturing production system. The production (Kanban) parameters used include percent loading, percent availability, yield, lead time, batch time, and cycle time. The model was constructed for a discrete, non continuous simulation of a multi stage dual-card Kanban production system. The performance of the model was monitored by tracking WIP, orders completed, average time in the system, and the production throughput in the JIT/Kanban production environment. The results and the evaluation technique will prove useful in tracking production floor inventory and selection of the right Kanban technique to implement in a given manufacturing process. It will also provide valuable information for anticipating production capabilities of a Kanban system before actual implementation using the simulation technique presented in this paper.