In its simplest form, a Kanban board is essentially a “to-do, doing, done” list. You often see them on office walls made out of sticky notes. A form of ‘Agile’ project management, the Kanban system was originally developed in the 1940s by Taiichi Ohno, an industrial engineer working for Toyota automotive in Japan. By using the process, the manufacturer was able to produce what was needed, only when it was needed - avoiding overproduction and the requirement to keep a large inventory. Kanban is often credited with taking Toyota from operating at a loss, to the global giant it is today.