abstract
- This paper explores the benefits of digitally enhancing Kanban Lean practice in support of Just-in-Time (JIT) reconfigurable supply processes for increased efficiency and reliability. Ensuring JIT-supply of raw materials and parts is essential to achieve Lean production and reduce inventory storage and capital tied up in unprocessed inventory. After a literature positioning, this research work highlights the importance for the industry, more than ever before, to build reliable and reconfigurable supply chains to easier the absorption of demand diversification while using different raw materials and parts at the beginning of their production flows. Kanban, as a solid JIT approach with visual signaling, is still a suitable Lean lever to activate given demand diversification, however, some limits are observed when using physical Kanban cards in a mass-customization context and the Industry 4.0 era. Hence, this work aims to analyze the usefulness of Digital Kanban Systems (DKSs) in support of demand diversification absorption that will increase the reliability of production lines and supply chains. © 2023, IFIP International Federation for Information Processing.