Free template
Updated
Kanban sizing calculator
Kanban sizing works out how many cards a pull loop needs so the using process never runs out and the store holds no more than it must. A common formula is daily demand × replenishment lead time in days × (1 + safety factor) ÷ quantity per container, rounded up to a whole card. The lead time is the whole trip of a card around the loop, not only the machine's run time, and the safety factor covers swings in demand and supply. Page 1 of this template is a worksheet to size loops by hand, one row per part, with the formula and a strip for two-bin loops. Page 2 has a worked example with the arithmetic, what goes into the replenishment lead time and a card count review table. The Excel version takes one row per part and works out the kanbans needed, the change from the cards in the loop now, what the loop holds in units and in days of demand, and the totals, with a two-bin sheet that rounds each bin up to whole packs. The card count then goes on the cards and in the card register of the kanban card template.
Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.
When to use it
When to use a kanban sizing calculator
- When setting up a new kanban loop, before printing the cards.
- When demand, lead time or container size changes and the card count needs checking.
- To review loops that run out, or stores that are always full.
- To size two-bin loops for small parts and consumables.
How to fill it in
- 1
Measure daily demand
Use the average daily use over a period that reflects the coming weeks, not last year's total.
- 2
Measure the replenishment lead time
Follow a few cards around the loop: waiting to be collected, waiting to be made, the changeover, making and moving back. Add it up in days.
- 3
Choose a safety factor
Write it as a decimal or a percentage, for example 0.1 or 10%, enough to cover the swings you have seen.
- 4
Work out the kanbans
Daily demand × lead time × (1 + safety factor) ÷ quantity per container, rounded up only when there is a remainder.
- 5
Compare with the loop today
Add or remove cards to match, and write the change in the card register of the kanban card template.
- 6
Review the count
When demand or lead time changes, and when the store never drops below a full container or two, take a card out.
A filled-in example
Illustrative, not a benchmarkAn example: three card loops and one two-bin loop (illustrative numbers).
- Bracket: 400 a day, half a day of lead time, safety factor 0.1, 50 per container: 400 × 0.5 × 1.1 ÷ 50 = 4.4, so 5 kanbans. It is the same loop as on the kanban card template.
- Cover: 120 a day, 2 days, 0.2, 24 per container: 120 × 2 × 1.2 ÷ 24 = 12.0 exactly, so 12 kanbans and no extra card.
- Screw: 2,000 a day, 3 days, 0.1, 500 per container: 2,000 × 3 × 1.1 ÷ 500 = 13.2, so 14 kanbans.
- Washer, two-bin: 300 a day, 1 day, 0.2: 300 × 1 × 1.2 = 360 per bin, rounded up to 4 packs of 100, so two bins of 400.
The three card loops need 5 + 12 + 14 = 31 kanbans. The screw loop holds 14 × 500 = 7,000 screws, 3.5 days of demand, the most of the three, so its 3-day lead time is the one to shorten first.
Common mistakes
Using run time as the lead time
A card spends most of its trip waiting. Lead time measured at the machine alone gives too few cards and the line runs short.
Rounding down
4.4 kanbans means 5. Rounding down leaves the loop short every time demand peaks.
Setting the safety factor once
As the loop proves itself, reduce the safety factor and take cards out.
Changing cards without the register
Every card added or removed goes in the register, or missing cards go unnoticed.
Download the template
Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.
Run this template in LeanSuite
In LeanSuite video of each process step becomes a current-state value stream map with measured cycle times, inventory and lead time, and the inventory counted between steps is converted into days of WIP.
In the lean glossary
FAQ
Kanban sizing calculator: common questions
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