kanban

The story

From Japanese 看板 (かんばん, kanban), from 看 (kan, “visible”) + 板 (“board or card”), developed and first used in the Toyota Production System.

First known use, by meaning

• from 1980s A card containing a set of manufacturing specifications and requirements, used to regulate the supply of components.
• from 2000s A system to manage, visualise, and improve work across teams, often as part of an agile methodology.