Comments on: Coffee cup kanban

By: Bernie Thompson

Bernie Thompson — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:18:00 +0000

Dave – great point! That’s exactly right.

By: Dave Mackersie

Dave Mackersie — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 21:10:07 +0000

You are missing a key element that would make the process truely “lean”: Rather than just stalling customers, the cashier should switch over to helping the barista in whatever way they can whenever the queue of cups becomes too large. I don’t know exactly what that would be. It could be putting lids on, grinding coffee, adding cream, or some other task. But there should be some alternative task that the cashier switches to when the queue gets be too big. When the queue drops down again, he/she goes back to being a cashier.

By: Corey Ladas

Corey Ladas — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 21:41:59 +0000

Hi Jon,

I agree that most coffee shops are not strictly WIP-limited, although I’ve seen examples of some that are. Espresso drinks are still built-to-order, and there are practical limits on queue size that are imposed by counter space for the cups and waiting area for the customers. A better example of push scheduling in the coffee shop would be the baked goods or the drip coffee.

By: Jon Strickler

Jon Strickler — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 04:54:47 +0000

It is really a kanban if there is no limit on the number of cups that can be in the process at a given time? A true kanban would require that a new cup/order was not started until one was filled and left the process once this limit was reached.

Without the limit to cups in process, the cup is just another order system pushing orders into the coffee making process.

By: Loyalty Programs: A Seattle Coffee Shop, Part 2 « Meals and Media

Loyalty Programs: A Seattle Coffee Shop, Part 2 « Meals and Media — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 19:26:22 +0000

[...] more on coffee cup management, check out Corey Ladas’ blog, Lean Software Engineering or his upcoming book, Scrumban. [...]

By: Eerste stap van het verbeteringsproces binnen het kantoor: de koffie « Cijferpeter’s Weblog

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:38:57 +0000

[...] Coffee Cup Kanban: Bericht over de toepassing van het kanban-systeem bij de bestelling van een beker koffie in een koffiebar. [...]

By: Erster Ziel des Verbesserungsprozesses im Büro: Der Kaffee « Zahlenpeter’s Weblog

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 10:15:05 +0000

[...] Coffee Cup Kanban: Bericht über die Anwendung des Kanban-Systems bei der Bestellung eines Bechers Kaffee in einer Kaffeebar. [...]

By: Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog » Management Improvement Carnival #36

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 18:38:05 +0000

[...] Coffee cup kanban by Corey Ladas – “the cup is the kanban. The cup-ban doubles as an order form that can encode most combinations that a barista should expect.” [...]