Kanban, in its most simplifying role, is a visual signal (or cue) that something needs to be replenished. More specifically, lean manufacturers today use kanban to drive a process to make, move or buy the appropriate parts. Thus, kanban has become one of the fundamental building blocks of a pull (or consumption-based) replenishment system. No card, no replenishment. However efficacious paper kanban is intended, the reality of cluttered transport routes, overflowing finished goods stores, immense quantities of work-in-progress and unscheduled machine downtimes often make the merits of this lean manufacturing program questionable. When there are frequent complaints about delivery problems, the reality is quite distant from the theory. Poor implementation of kanban is quickly compensated in an e-kanbanenvironment.

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