As a CEO walking through the “Gemba” regularly, I saw lots of toilet paper, cleaning supplies, hand soap and other supplies arriving for use by our contract janitorial service. Sometimes they were in a hallway waiting to be stored. I also knew where the many storage areas were. I knew that a Kanban system was the ideal solution, but I had resistance from senior staff when I explained what it was. However, I had one maintenance staff who I identified as an early adopter who thought the idea was great. And a contractor cannot object to me asking to change their process if it saves us time and money.

The early adopter began renovating a small room where supplies were being thrown into. It also had a mop sink, making it an ideal central location for supplies and storing the tools and implements used. Shelving went in and we calculated what a Primary Bin and a Buffer Bin would need to implement a Just in Time Kanban System.

Today, Kanban Systems are going in everywhere, for office supplies, housing maintenance needs like Ice Melt, Toilet Seats and Light Bulbs. The system is proven to save time and money, but the hard part is getting employees to adopt the system. In less than one year after the Janitor Closet was completed, we were saving tens of thousands of dollars in recaptured time and inventory holding costs.