Kanban Overview

You can use Infor Shop Floor to manage your Kanban system. Each Kanban is associated with an item, location, and replenishment cycle. When a Kanban is empty, you can create a replenishment request. Kanban replenishment requests always have a status to indicate their current place in the replenishment cycle:

Requested: the request has been created and is awaiting fulfillment
Ordered: a purchase order or transfer order has been created to fill the request
Staged: items are ready to be moved from the staging area to the Kanban replenishment location
Closed: the request has been filled

Note: Replenishment requests may also have a status of Error if there is a system error associated with the request.

After you set up your Kanban system, you can use touch-optimized transaction forms to create and fill Kanban replenishment requests on the shop floor. You can use the Kanban Label Printing form to print barcode labels for Kanbans. If you have the Warehouse Mobility module implemented, you can also use mobile scanner devices to perform Kanban replenishment transactions.

Setting up your Kanban system

Before you can perform Kanban replenishment transactions, you must define Kanban warehouses, items, locations, and replenishment cycles.

To set up your Kanban system:

Specify prefixes for Kanban and replenishment request numbers using the Kanban Setup form. See Specifying Kanban Prefixes for more information.
Designate Kanban warehouses to be used for Kanban items and define a staging location for Kanban replenishment items using the Kanban Warehouses form. See Managing Kanban Warehouses for more information.
Define and configure Kanban items using the Kanban Items form. See Managing Kanban Items for more information.
Create Kanban replenishment locations using the Kanban Locations form. See Managing Kanban Locations for more information.
Define locations and replenishment cycle details for Kanbans using the Kanban Item Locations form. See Defining Kanban Locations and Replenishment Cycles for more information.
Create Kanbans using the Kanban Item Locations form. See Creating Kanbans for more information.
Print barcode labels for the created Kanbans using the Kanban Label Printing form. See Printing Kanban Labels for more information.

Replenishing Kanbans

There are four sources that can be used for Kanban replenishment:

inventory
just-in-time production
purchase orders
transfer orders

You can use the Kanban Replenishment Status form or the Kanban Status mobile scanner transaction to view the status of replenishment requests. See Viewing the Status of Kanban Replenishment Requests or Viewing the Status of Kanban Replenishment Requests Using a Mobile Scanner Device for more information.

Replenishing from inventory

If the replenishment source for the Kanban item is Inventory, items will be picked from inventory to replenish Kanbans for that Kanban item.

To replenish Kanbans from inventory:

Create a replenishment request. The request status is set to Requested. See Requesting Replenishment for Kanbans or Requesting Replenishment for Kanbans Using a Mobile Scanner Device for more information.
Pick items from inventory and move them to the staging location. The request status is set to Staged. See Moving Kanban Items to Staging Locations or Picking Items for Kanbans Using a Mobile Scanner Device for more information.
Receive items from the staging location into the Kanban location using the Kanban Receipt form. The request status is set to Closed. See Receiving Kanban Replenishment Items for more information.

Replenishing with just-in-time production

If the replenishment source for the Kanban item is JIT Production, items will be produced using just-in-time production to replenish Kanbans for that Kanban item.

To replenish Kanbans with just-in-time production:

Create a replenishment request. The request status is set to Requested. See Requesting Replenishment for Kanbans or Requesting Replenishment for Kanbans Using a Mobile Scanner Device for more information.
Replenish the Kanban at the just-in-time production location. The request status is set to Staged. Optionally, you can receive the produced items at the Kanban location as part of the same transaction, which will set the request status to Closed. See Using Just-In-Time Production to Fill Kanban Replenishment Requests for more information.
If you did not receive the produced items at the Kanban location as part of step 2, receive them using the Kanban Receipt form or the Kanban Delivery mobile scanner transaction. The request status is set to Closed. See Receiving Kanban Replenishment Items or Delivering Kanban Replenishment Items for more information.

Replenishing with purchase and transfer orders

If the replenishment source for the Kanban item is Purchase Order or Transfer Order, items will be ordered to replenish Kanbans for that Kanban item.

To replenish Kanbans with purchase or transfer orders: