Kanban board: Flexible work planning based on priority and sequence
In production, industrial and workshop environments, planning is not always about a fixed date and time, but about assigning the right work to the right people. Throughout the day, new faults, repairs and maintenance tasks come in, priorities change and work needs to be distributed easily among available employees.
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With the kanban board, also known as a task board, Centix supports this entire process from one central platform. Work items and work orders are assigned to a team and then become available in the shared work queue. A planner, team leader or workshop supervisor can then easily distribute the work among available employees. By simply dragging and dropping tasks, you can create a clear team schedule that can be easily adjusted throughout the day.
How the kanban board works
From the moment a work item or work order is ready to be scheduled through to its execution by an employee, the kanban board supports every step of team planning. Work is managed centrally, easily distributed and remains clearly organised throughout the day. This ensures that planners, team leaders and employees always work with the same up-to-date schedule.
1. Register work
Every task starts as a work item. This contains details such as the work to be carried out, its priority and all relevant information. When several tasks are carried out as part of a single assignment, or when the customer needs to provide a digital signature for approval afterwards, one or more work items can be grouped into a work order.
The work item or work order is then assigned to the team responsible for carrying it out. For example, a fault with a packaging machine can be automatically assigned to the Maintenance team, making it immediately available in that team’s work queue.
2. Work queue
The work queue gives the team an overview of all assigned work items and work orders. These can easily be searched, filtered and sorted, for example by priority, creation date or due date. A team leader can, for example, sort the work queue by priority so that an urgent fault appears at the top, while less urgent maintenance tasks are automatically shown further down the list. This makes it immediately clear which work needs to be addressed first.
3. Distribute work
From the work queue, a planner, team leader or workshop supervisor distributes the work among the available employees.
By assigning a work item or work order to an employee using drag and drop, the work is automatically scheduled. The order in which the work is carried out can then be easily adjusted. For example, if a production machine unexpectedly breaks down during the day, the team leader can move the work item directly to the first available engineer. Less urgent work automatically moves down the schedule. If staffing levels change, work can also be easily reassigned.
4. Maintain an overview
Depending on the configuration, the kanban board can be displayed in different ways. Employees can be shown as rows, columns, or combined with the different work statuses.
Each task card immediately displays the most important information, such as the task type, description, status, priority and due date. This gives the workshop supervisor a continuous overview of the current work queue. They can see at a glance which repairs are in progress, which tasks have been paused, for example because parts are not yet available, and which work items still need to be assigned or have already been assigned to an employee.
5. Execution
As soon as a work item or work order is assigned to an employee, it appears directly in their task list in Centix Smart Work.
The employee opens the assigned work and immediately has access to all the information needed to get started, such as object information, documents, checklists and the history of previous work. During execution, they record the work carried out, hours worked, materials used, photos, inspection results and comments directly on the work item.
When the work is part of a work order, the employee starts the work order and carries out the underlying work items. Once the work has been completed, the customer can digitally sign the work order for approval.
All information is synchronised directly with Centix Online, ensuring that planners, team leaders and the back office always have access to the latest progress information.
Discover how Centix supports your planning
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Kanban board or Planning board?
Centix supports two ways of planning work: the kanban board and the planning board. Which planning method is most suitable depends on how your organisation manages its work.
The kanban board, also known as a task board, is designed for organisations where new work comes in throughout the day and the order of execution can change continuously. Work items and work orders are first assigned to a team, after which a planner, team leader or workshop supervisor distributes the work among the available employees. The focus is not on a fixed appointment, but on setting the right priorities and distributing the workload effectively.
The planning board is designed for work that needs to be carried out on a specific date and time. Examples include scheduled maintenance, inspections or service visits where appointments have been made with customers. The availability of employees, teams and, where applicable, equipment is taken into account when planning the work.
Both planning methods can also be used alongside each other. For example, scheduled maintenance can be planned using the planning board, while faults, repairs and internal work can be distributed using the kanban board.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I schedule both work items and work orders using the kanban board?
Yes. Both work items and work orders can be assigned to a team and scheduled using the kanban board. A work item can be assigned directly to an employee, while a work order is used when multiple work items are carried out as part of a single assignment or when the customer needs to provide a digital signature for approval once the work has been completed.
What is the difference between the kanban board and the planning board?
The kanban board (task board) is designed for work where the order of execution is key. Work is assigned to a team and then distributed among the available employees. The planning board is designed for work that needs to be carried out on a specific date and time, such as scheduled maintenance, inspections or service appointments.
Can the planning be easily adjusted throughout the day?
Yes. Work items and work orders can easily be moved to another employee or placed in a different position in the planning. For example, an urgent service request can be given immediate priority, while less urgent work automatically moves down the schedule.
Can I assign work to a team first?
Yes. Work items and work orders are first assigned to a team. A planner, team leader or workshop supervisor then distributes the work among the available employees. This gives each team its own work queue.
Where can employees see their assigned work?
Work assigned to an employee via the kanban board appears directly in their task list in Centix Smart Work. There, the employee has access to all the information needed to carry out the work.
Can I customise the layout of the kanban board?
Yes. The kanban board can be configured in different ways. Employees can, for example, be displayed as rows or columns, or combined with different work statuses. You can also choose which information is displayed on the task cards.