“Kanban is an effective method for optimizing production and reducing waste in manufacturing processes” – Taiichi Ohno
Differentiation between class of service and work item
The service class corresponds to the nature of the customer’s request, it is characterized by parameters such as complexity, urgency and value. The work item is a specific task to be carried out to respond to a service request. It can be considered as the basic unit of workflow.
Example: You work in a logistics company, you can differentiate the service classes according to customer requirements in terms of speed of delivery, quality of service, support for returns, etc. Work items could be order preparation, packaging, shipping, etc.
Prioritize tasks according to their complexity or urgency
To optimize your production process, it is important to clearly differentiate these two concepts. For example, you can define several classes of services according to the needs and requirements of your customers. This way, you can prioritize tasks according to their complexity or urgency to provide better service.
Example: You are responsible for ticket management in a technical support company. You can define three classes of services: basic, intermediate and advanced. The work items could be fault diagnosis, problem resolution, communication with the customer, etc. You can then prioritize tickets based on their class of service to ensure a quick and efficient response to customers.
Organize tasks and track their progress
Likewise, each work item must be clearly defined and associated with a class of service. You can use project management tools to organize these tasks and track their progress. This will allow you to effectively control workflow and maximize your productivity.
Example: You work in a software development company. You can use tools like Trello or Jira to organize tasks based on their class of service and track their progress. This will allow you to effectively control the workflow and ensure on-time delivery.
Conclusion
Kanban is a proven method for optimizing your production processes and reducing costs. By differentiating the class of service and the work item, you can offer better service to your customers while maximizing your efficiency.