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kanban

[ kahn-bahn ]
/ ˈkɑnˈbɑn /
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noun
a just-in-time method of inventory control, originally developed in Japanese automobile factories.
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Origin of kanban

From Japanese kamban literally, “signboard, shopkeeper's in-business sign,” probably alluding to the shop or tavern keeper's final call for orders before taking the sign down, hence '“ast-minute, just in time” in the context of inventory control, from Middle Chinese, equivalent to Chinese kàn “look” + bǎn “printing block”
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

British Dictionary definitions for kanban

kanban
/ Japanese (ˈkænbæn) /

noun
a just-in-time manufacturing process in which the movements of materials through a process are recorded on specially designed cards
any of the cards used for ordering materials in such a system

Word Origin for kanban

literally: advertisement hoarding
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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