Figure 1.0 below illustrates the Kanban flow based on the several observations at the manufacturing
company. The Kanban system in the manufacturing company starts with the production worker called
line leader or A-Man. Basically when inventory has been used in the production line, the Kanban
card attach at the inventory will be put in the child post, which is provided by the manufacturing
company to locate the card. In general, A-man is responsible for collecting the Kanban card in
every child post for every workstation; thus the line leader will deliver the Kanban card to the
mother post which is one centre point at the end of the production line. At the mother post, the
B-man is responsible for collecting the Kanban card and sent to Kanban sorter room for sorting
Kanban card by using Kanban sorter machine. During the sorting process of Kanban card, the
information of the raw materials that already used in production process will be stored in a system
known as E-SIMS database. E-SIM’s is the communication software (web-based). This electronic
ordering system can be viewed by their vendors through internet connection. All information
required regarding the materials or inventory will be stored in the system and thus the production
workers as well as vendors can easily identified every single part in their production line. After
completion of the sorting process, the Kanban card will be placed in the shopping bag according to
the serial number stated in the Kanban card and finally the shopping bag will be placed at the
logistics rack. Basically, the manufacturing company provides different shopping bag for different
suppliers. Finally, the C-man will put the shopping bag in the mini truck and he will drive the
truck at the loading bay outside the factory in order for supplier to arrange their materials in
the shopping bag according to the Kanban card. The process will be continued with a cycle time of
38 minutes per cycle. If one of the production workers responsible in handling the system which are
A-man, B-man or C-man delayed the collection of Kanban card around the production line, the
overall production process will be interrupted and the effectiveness of the system were be
disrupted.