Setsuban Kanri
Setsuban Kanri (節番管理) is the name of a production management methodology for make-to-order business companies. More specifically, it indicates a "management system by synchronized process blocks" which had been originally set and implemented as a management model for the control of the manufacturing progress with makers whose products were very much tailored upon the requests of their customers. It is specific to organizations where the production model is one of the following: DTO ("Design-to-order"), ETO ("Engineer-to-order"), ATO ("Assembly-to-order") or MTO ("Make-to-order"). Origins The first applications of this model concerned the Japanese railways and the aviation industry, which in the operational management of activities had been referring to a block by block workflow progress management system (what is meant literally by the expression "suishin kusei kōtei kanri" 推進区制工程管理). This one was the root of the so-called Oiban kanri for series production management, of the Seiban kanri for discontinuous productions and of the Setsuban Kanri for make-to-order productions. The study and formalization of this threefold approach were run later on by JMA - the Japan Management Association, who could base their work on the most significant industrial experiences to date (such as the application of the oiban kanri at Kawasaki Heavy Industries).