Kanban: Origin and Definition
Origin
The term was used by Taiichi Ohno (Toyota) to refer to the visualization system used in production processes that coordinate, on an assembly line, the just-in-time delivery of each part at the moment it is needed, avoiding overproduction and unnecessary storage. Its origin dates back to the late 1940s or early 1950s, in the context of the Toyota Production System (TPS).
Kanban in the tech sector
- The use of kanban boards in software development shows and manages the flow of progress and delivery, and helps avoid the two most common problems: bottlenecks (tasks that pile up in one phase because the next one cannot absorb them) and idle time (phases empty of work because the previous one does not produce enough).
- Since 2005, it has become increasingly common to replace list formats for Product and Sprint Backlogs with cards on boards, which are more versatile because their position can be changed to reflect the progress status of each task or story.
- Kanban practices are valid for evolutionary management with continuous delivery. They should be applied with flexible judgement, without treating them as rigid prescriptions, in order to achieve the adoption that best fits the agile principles of the specific context.
Kanban and Scrum: technical management vs. expert management
Some authors treat Scrum and Kanban as frameworks with different rules. Kniberg and Skarin (2009) describe the differences along these lines:
- Scrum prescribes roles; Kanban does not.
- Scrum works with fixed-length iterations; Kanban works with cadences (single, multiple, or event-driven).
- Scrum limits WIP per iteration; Kanban limits WIP per workflow state.
- Scrum Teams are cross-functional; in Kanban, teams can be made up of specialists.
- Scrum does not allow changes to sprint tasks; in Kanban, a task can be changed until it enters the flow.
- Scrum requires estimates and velocity; Kanban does not prescribe them.
- Scrum boards are reset at the end of each sprint; Kanban boards are continuous.
As agility evolves toward a pragmatic model based on values and experience, these "technical-methodological" differences become less significant. A mature team can freely combine Scrum and Kanban practices according to the needs of the project, without that combination implying methodological inconsistency.
Kanban and AI as a tool
Kanban boards are being adopted as a management tool for workflows with an AI component:
- AI pipelines: teams building data processing systems or language models use kanban boards to visualize the status of each stage of the pipeline (ingestion, preprocessing, training, evaluation, deployment).
- Prioritization assistants: some agile management tools incorporate AI to suggest backlog reorderings or alert about excessive WIP, using kanban principles as the underlying logic.
Common mistake
Treating the kanban board as an end in itself. A kanban board is a visibility tool, not a complete management method. If the team updates the board but does not act on what it reveals (recurring bottlenecks, skyrocketing WIP, tasks that have been stuck in the same state for days), the board becomes mere decoration. The value of kanban lies in the conversations and decisions it generates, not in the board itself.
Resources
🔧 Kanban Flow SimulatorTool · Scrum Manager
References
- Kniberg, Henrik; Skarin, Mattias. (2009). Kanban and Scrum: Making the Most of Both. InfoQ.
- Ohno, Taiichi. (1988). Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production. Productivity Press.
See also
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