An overview of design and operational issues of kanban systems

We present a literature review and classification of techniques to determine both the design parameters and kanban sequences for just-in-time manufacturing systems. We summarize the model structures, decision variables, performance measures and assumptions in a tabular format. It is important to state that there is a significant relationship between the design parameters, such as the number of kanbans and kanban sizes, and the scheduling decisions in a multi-item, multi-stage, multi-horizon kanban system. An experimental design is developed to evaluate the impact of operational issues, such as sequencing rules and actual lead times on the design parameters.