When it comes to visualizing work, people across a wide range of industries rightly think of Kanban. Especially for tasks and processes, the Jira Kanban board has become indispensable in many offices. But did you know that the origins of this method lie in industry and were not developed much later in the software world? Let’s briefly dive into the history behind Kanban and see how this principle has evolved!
The roots of Kanban in industry
In the 1940s, engineer Taiichi Ōno developed Kaizen—and with it, Kanban—at Toyota. One goal was to control material flow and production steps more efficiently. In Japanese, Kanban means “signal card” or “visual board.” The system is as simple as it is ingenious: cards or boards in production indicated which parts were needed next or which step had already been completed. This made progress visible at a glance for everyone involved—from the warehouse worker who knew which screws needed to be restocked to the manager who could keep an overview and plan accordingly. Thanks to this immediate transparency—for example, when only three steering wheels remained at a workstation—bottlenecks could be avoided effectively.
I myself was able to gain experience with Kanban through my professional work in mechanical engineering – outside of modern systems like Jira. Looking back, I am still impressed by the impact a simple card on a container can have on production flow. Minimal means, maximum improvement – and all that just through a card or signal light.
How Kanban was conceived
The Kanban principle was not developed as a rigid set of rules, but rather as a tool for optimizing workflows.
From the outset, Kanban has been about managing work so that:
- only produce when there is demand,
- bottlenecks can be identified early,
- resources are used efficiently.
This basic idea holds true to this day. A particularly interesting aspect arises naturally from making things visible: work becomes transparent. No task goes unseen, no material shortage comes as a surprise, and as soon as a process starts to stall, it is immediately apparent.
From manufacturing tool to work method
In the 2000s, agile methods increasingly entered our working world. Software developers came across Kanban and recognized its advantages. After all, IT was also struggling with a lack of transparency, overloaded processes, and long wait times. They quickly found a way to transform the physical cards and prominent boards from factory floors into elegant boards. Three columns are enough: “To Do”, “In Progress” and “Done”. The entire process then becomes transparent and traceable.
What I find particularly exciting is looking at these parallels across two worlds. Whether it’s screws moving from A to B or tickets in the Jira board – the basic principle remains unchanged and still delivers transparency, focus, and flow of work.
Kanban in Jira: The digital toolbox
Today, Jira is probably one of the best-known systems that provide Kanban boards digitally. Originally intended as a tool for development, it is now used across industries to make work transparent and manageable.
The advantages of Kanban in Jira:
- Process transparency: Everyone can see at a glance which task is open, in progress, done, or in another important state.
- Expose bottlenecks: Column limits control work in progress (WIP) and make blockers visible more quickly.
- Flexibility: Teams can customize their boards.
- Integration: Connections with Confluence, automations, or service management make Jira a versatile toolbox for digital collaboration.
In particular, the ability to integrate Kanban opens up even more possibilities. In manufacturing environments that use Kanban, you will often find work instructions that are issued together with new materials or the cards. This important transfer of knowledge occurs without interrupting processes. Jira and Confluence enable exactly the same thing by, for example, allowing documentation to be attached directly to the ticket.
Benefits for industry today
By moving onto screens, Kanban experienced renewed adoption across companies. Whether in mechanical engineering, the textile industry, or the energy sector, Kanban is now a very popular method for steering projects or processes. Development departments can track the progress of their innovations, service teams organize maintenance orders and requests, and leaders always have a clear overview of projects.
What is particularly interesting, however, is the synergy that emerges, for example, between the shop floor and the office. As a consultant, I see companies today wanting to connect both worlds: physical Kanban signals on the factory floor and digital boards for project and knowledge work. It is precisely at this interface that valuable discussions arise, because it is not about replacing one with the other, but about leveraging the best of both worlds.
Kanban as a tool for the future
With Kanban, you don’t have to force yourself into an ill‑fitting corset, it is more of a template for working efficiently. In my view, this becomes particularly clear in Jira: here, work is no longer managed abstractly in some tables, but is much more a continuous flow that is visible and controllable. Just as a well‑maintained production line moves workpieces from station to station, a Kanban board ensures your team stays focused and always knows what to do.
Conclusion
From Japan’s factory floors to the digital workplace, Kanban has undergone a remarkable evolution. What began as a signal card in manufacturing is now a universal principle that, in Jira, has become one of the most effective tools of modern teamwork.
And this is exactly where the circle closes for me personally: I first encountered Kanban with physical cards and containers – today I support companies in implementing these principles digitally and setting up their processes for the future.
If you’d like to dive deeper, the most valuable thing is an open exchange: Where are your own processes getting stuck? Where could a Kanban board make the decisive difference? This is where the best ideas often emerge, and you are warmly invited to start that conversation!