Kanban
The Kanban method applied to software: visualising the flow, limiting work in progress, pulling work, spotting the bottleneck, measuring lead time, cycle time and throughput, reading a cumulative flow diagram.
- 24 cards
- 7 topics
- Free
The outline, topic by topic
Each topic is weighted the way the exam weighs it.
- Concepts
- Questions
- Sort and link
- The numbers
- The curves
- Scenarios
- Understand
A few cards from the deck
Kanban: what is it?
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A method that makes the flow of work visible on a board, limits work in progress and improves the way of working through small changes.
It prescribes neither roles nor cycle length: you start from the existing process and evolve it, without replacing it in one go.
A request is made on day 1, waits in “To do” until day 4, work then starts and it is delivered on day 9. What are its lead time and cycle time?
- Lead time 8 days, cycle time 5 days
- Lead time 5 days, cycle time 8 days
- Lead time 8 days, cycle time 3 days
- Lead time 5 days, cycle time 3 days
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Lead time 8 days, cycle time 5 days
Lead time runs from request to delivery: 9 − 1 = 8 days. Cycle time runs from the start of work to delivery: 9 − 4 = 5 days. The 3 days of waiting are only in the lead time.
… is the number of items finished per unit of time, for example per day or per week.
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Throughput is the number of items finished per unit of time, for example per day or per week.
It counts only finished items: a nearly finished card does not count towards throughput.