Digitalizing a heijunka panel

We designed an assistant from scratch to fully cover the planning process of a plant for the manufacturing of phytosanitary products; from the acquisition of ERP production data to the information required at the loading port, through the digitization of the Heijunka panel with Kanbanize. We described all produced products with all the tasks needed and we created templates for every one of them. Then, the assistant filled the kanbanize boards to give the workers in the factory the information needed to execute the assigned task, log time, notify when problems, etc. Kanbanize was the management interface for all the developed tasks at the factory, and help giving the management precious information to improve the manufacturing process: production time per product, cicle time, etc.

Pros

I think that the adaptability to create any imaginable workflow that can replicate a production process, with an impressive number of cards (~2000 a day) with all the data you need through the relations between other cards or with custom fields was my first "Uau". Then I had time to discover how can we manage some automation through the Policies, and when we need more, we had a very capable API to fill the gaps.

Cons

When we needed new functionality to visualize information, we asked for it, and in time it arrived in the next releases. We had some problems with the API that also were solved in subsequent releases. To say something to help decide others, I must say that the path to solving some situations has been hard, but it's the same when you learn to use a new product. Then, in that case, you have to contact the support team.

Best Kanban-Tool on the Market

We have supported a large organisation (market leader in aviation) transferring over 5k Users and several hundred boards from another kanban-tool provider (one which is amongst the market leaders) to Kanbanize. The impact and outcome was significant. Kanbanize offers a customer service that we haven't experienced anywhere else, they exceeded our naturally high expectations by far. We could also see that the engagement of the user-community increased drastically with the new tool; the reporting is integrated and takes a lot less effort than before, in combination with the additional options to customize (e. g. custom fields) it has been a real win for everyone, Execs, Managers, Team-Members. The tool helps generating more benefits, and apart all the cost that can be saved for reporting and admin tasks, the tool itself comes for a price which is less than half of the former provider.

Pros

Kanbanize has amazing features. It's a very intuitive front end, it nicely visualizes complex projects and processes, is highly customizable, allows easy work-delegation across different hierarchies and teams, provides just the right amount of information needed to drive management focus and delivers meaningful, again highly customizable, data to identify bottlenecks and opportunities for improvement. We chose it because it serves every need a large organisation might have, from small agile teams, via complex process flows to NPI projects with hundreds of people involved. The best of all features are the business rules though; with that the admnistration burden which we experienced as the No 1 reason for resistance is reduced to a minimum and the automation also helps the standardization of how work is executed and accelerates the engagement of all involved parties. And the best quality is the Kanbanize team itself, they are not only highly customer-oriented, but they realease new features on a monthly basis and evolve much faster (and robust) than any competitor.

Cons

The only point I can come up with is that it would be nice if we could fully hide swim lanes that are currently not of interest, like it can be done in excel.

These folks don't get it.

Kanbanize only causing problems as it doesn't interface to our existing systems. It's another egocentric software tool that does not collaborate with other software tools. For all of the talk about collaborate, here is another software tool that can't collaborate.

Pros

The pop up for defining the card attributes is nice.

Cons

The cards are by ID number, something every database hides. The more important pieces of information are buried. Difficult to associate the kanban board with the actual workload. The construction of a multi swim lane workflow just isn't there. Product needs to consider a different method to visualize work. They need to rework their card concept.

Managing work with Kanbanize

Kanbanize helped us mapping the workflow of several services in the company that were not mapped before. It was possible because the tool does not offer complexity when adapting itself to the organization structure. Kanbanize changed the mindset from managing [technical] tasks to any kind of work we do.

Pros

Kanbanize excels at visual management and at the capability of connecting the different levels of the organization (horizontally and vertically). Its design is also intuitive allowing users to explore new features with ease. Updates and news are communicated often as well which bring Kanbanize and its users very close with each other.

Cons

I have not been able to integrate Kanbanize with other tools yet, mostly because it must be done by third party tools and it implies additional costs most of the time. However, I can clearly see that built-in integrations (without third parties) are becoming more common, so this may not be an issue in the future anymore.

Everything You Need a Kanban Board to Do

We use Kanban for everything we do as a company, and we also try to get our clients to use it as we work with them. We try to use physical boards when we can, but as time has gone on, this has become less and less viable. Even colocated teams have started to prefer electronic tools and putting them up on monitors in common areas instead of physical boards. Because we use kanban so heavily and rely on metrics for so much, we had a hard time finding online solutions that did everything we needed to do. Kanbanize is one of the few that let us configure the value stream on the board the way we needed to, and when you combine it with the suite of metrics it offers (which are metrics we always used to keep in Excel), it's really one of a kind. If you use kanban heavily and you really use everything about it, Kanbanize is a perfect product well worth the price.

Pros

I primarily liked that the board does everything you need for a variety of situations. Many online kanban boards have some kind of limitation that makes them less than ideal, like no swim lanes or no ability to have subcolumns with a common WIP limit. Kanbanize is flexible enough to cover every situation. The "initiatives" layer of the board was not something we were looking for originally but came to appreciate. Usually, setting something like that up requires some careful board nesting and coordination, but Kanbanize does it automatically. If you want more granularity, the built-in initiatives feature may not be enough, but it's good enough to cover most usage scenarios. The metrics are the same as the ones we keep, manually, so being able to automatically generate those is great.

Cons

The flexibility does take a little time to get used to because so much is offered, but there is an extensive knowledge base. There is also only a limited ability to change a card's historical data, like time spent in various columns, but a lot of online kanban software is like that as well. Also, you get what you pay for, and although I think Kanbanize is the best product out there, it's also one of the more expensive options. Not as expensive as some, but still near the top.

Complete Kanban Method

For a product of this sophistication, the learning curve is very gentle. You can quickly implement and benefit from the most useful features. The support, documentation and the training facilities are excellent. Virtually everything you might want to do to implement the complete Kanban method is at your fingertips.

Pros

I most like its ease of use; breadth of features; analytics; portfolio kanban; regular improvements; excellent support; integration capabilities

Cons

I have not found anything particularly unlikable

Flexible tool for multi team implementation

Pros

The software is easy to implement and adapt. It ahs excellent visualization capabilities and supreme analytics. Well accepted by teams and managers.

Cons

No free version. Only 1-month trial available.

TEXTILO

Its been super good, I am still learning a lot.

Pros

Its really well made and easy to use once you understand the methodology.

Cons

I think it should have an unlimited Sandbox option so we can develop without limits and can go crazy with business rules to set up an amazing system that if we like, then we just have to upgrade our subscription to how many new rules you actually need. With some sort of "Import to main account". Maybe making a Sandbox user per Business Account so we can Dev outside of the main frame and those business rules don't apply to what we have working right now. I am sure if you do this I would make a much bigger and complex system since now I can't freely test out new things, now I am limited.

Great tool, built in CFD and infinitely configurable.

Worked with the tool now for 2+ years. It's easily the best digital Kanban tool on the market, I've tried at least 5 other competitors.

Pros

Built in CFD, aging, built in blockers and infinitely configurable to meet any flow.

Cons

There's really nothing, with every release the product gets better.

The best Kanban tool

I love the flexibility of designing the board and the way I can visualize the whole system in one board.

Pros

I really like the features provided by Kanbanize to fit the Kanban systems I designed. The application is simple and to the point.

Cons

The charts, the cards' usability, and the lack of shortcuts really make it hard to use the application. Also, there is no mobile application.

Kanbanize - a game-changer

I would definitely recommend this product to anyone who wants to manage tasks, tickets and project features. I would use it on every project I am committed to, if possible!

Pros

The organizing ability of this software is phenomenal! The lanes and the columns are highly customisable and can be organised to custom-suit the project. Each ticket can be colour-coded so one can immediately see their distribution. It is also great to be able to link tickets.

Cons

It is a very complex software, and without proper training, one will not be able to utilise its full potential.

Kanbanize - Constant Evolvement Towards Simplified Visual Management

Excellent product - very happy with the company. We are glad to use them for the visual management.

Pros

1) Feature development is well thought out. Rather than adding to visual clutter, features are constantly refined to allow simple visual management. This is harder than it sounds and is not often achieved in agile software development. 2) Regular releases. Releases are on time and only 1 month away. 3) Great customer support. Real people answering your questions and looking at possible bugs. Replies are quick and direct. 4) Price is very reasonable.

Cons

1) Break in subscription value. They just recently divided their subscribers into two tiers leaving original users that do not upgrade their subscription contract to only original features. This is a bad mistake and breaks the premise of SaaS. If a company needs additional revenue they should be raising the cost of the subscription for all in a seamless manner and not bifrucate their user base. 2) Metrics are well developed but it is not easy to get started. Additional thought needs to be given on how to get metrics in the hands of even basic users.

Life Changing Innovation!

I have been in the commercial software development business for 20+ years for Hi-Tech Industries and this is one of the finest products I have ever seen. Fantastic Product and Support. Regardless of your maturity level with the Kanban, Kanbanize will add amazing value to you and your team.

Pros

This kanban solution is extremely powerful due to the simple intuitive interface design and the ability to quickly customize it to your work. It has a rich set of features and powerful integration. My favorites are Simple Cards Design, Easy Customization, powerful metrics, flexibility, and scalable views. It provides extreme power without complexity!

Cons

Business Rules and extremely powerful but could be more accessible.

Unique multi-tool with awesome UI

As a consultant a major part of my work evolves around process optimization or creating flow. I use Kanbanize to show clients how flow can be created, or how you can work towards an optimised process. Another part of my work is about business strategy consulting. Here Kanbanize is also awesome thanks to the possibility of relating boards and the portfolio lane. Kanbanize is always a great starting point for organisational change because it is accessible.

Pros

Although feature rich, Kanbanize is easy to start with. Simple templates, explainers and a knowledge base are there to guide you if you need it. I knew Kanban when I started with Kanbanize and it was a great experience to work with a true Kanban tool. It felt very familiar and with a great UI it quickly became my favorite tool.

Cons

Kanbanize offers rules for automation. This is really awesome. However, for me there are never enough rules, so I liked the limitation of rules the least.

Best Kanban tool

Implementing big Kanban systems is not easy. Lots of task/cards, teams in different locations, lack of metrics and indicators, etc could make it really challenging. Kanbanize solves all these problems and gives many additional features to improve the efficiency.

Pros

Great set of features. Full support for any Kanban scenario (both IT and non-IT). Very useful integration API (REST). The tool itself and integration API are very stable and bugless. There is very interesting mechanism for sharing information with 3-rd party stakeholders. E.g. use to share project status with a final client. Really good support (both technical and commercial)

Cons

Pricing for small teams could be improved