Kanban Pull System has been implemented at Malaysian automotive suppliers through the Supplier Kaizen initiative done by UMW Toyota Motor. This production method is very effective in reducing waste in production and also promotes visualization of production. However, the Kanban Pull System used currently faces problems in terms of its maintenance and sustainability due to its nature that needs extensive human intervention and discipline to run it. To a certain extent, this problem hampers the Kanban Pull System to work effectively and even collapse the usage of the system. This paper studies the feasibility of enhancing the Kanban Pull System with antenna technology by developing a novel tracking system for the Kanban through real-time application. The study includes the development strategy, the description of potential components in designing the tracking system and the analysis of related existing system such as RFID tracking system. The findings will result in revolutionizing the Kanban Pull System and bring out the true effectiveness of the system in visualizing the production for better control of manpower usage, process, inventory and material which eventually improves the bottom line.

Keywords

Kanban Pull System, Lean Manufacturing, Visual Control, Antenna technology, RFID Tracking system