Intro to Kanban Bootcamp | London

About this workshop

In the 1940s, Toyota developed a scheduling system to improve their manufacturing production. Aligning the supply of materials with the demand of the production line reduced the amount of inventory in the system, and enabled a flexibility never before seen in the automobile industry.

Over the years, teams dealing with knowledge work (e.g. software development) adapted many of these ‘lean’ ideas, such as limiting the amount of work in progress, to improve the flow of work through their system. This is known as the Kanban Method.

Takeaways

In this bootcamp, we’ll:

• look at a brief history of the Toyota Production System (and lean in general) to understand how the Kanban Method came about
• explain the basics of systems thinking through a hands-on exercise, then use it to explain the concept of visualising work to improve communication
• break down the 6 principles of the Kanban Method
• clarify key terms used (e.g. cycle time, delivery rate, work-in-progress limits)
• explain what work-in-progress limits are, then illustrate how and why you should use them to create a pull system
• demonstrate ways of measuring flow to enable improvements in productivity and flow
• play a simple and fun Kanban simulation game to ensure a deep understanding of the above takeaways
• share examples of successful implementations of the approaches

This bootcamp is for anyone who wants to improve their ways of working and increase their productivity, but is especially relevant to product owners, business analysts, developers, testers, and any users of Agile/Scrum. It is complementary to our 2-day bootcamp on Agile & Scrum.

Prereqs & Preparation

• This bootcamp is perfect for those who would like to understand the basics of the Kanban Method. No prior knowledge is required.
• If you work in a Scrum team, we'd also recommend the Two-day Agile and Scrum Bootcamp. https://generalassemb.ly/education/two-day-agile-and-scrum-bootcamp/london
• Complimentary tea & coffee are provided. We recommend bringing a packed lunch, or there is a Pret downstairs, a Tesco around the corner and Spitalfields Market a 5min walk away from GA London's campus.