Pasqua Hospital Emergency Department Kanban

Travis Bell, a porter at Regina Qu'Appelle Health Region's Pasqua Hospital, describes how the busy, supply-dependent Emergency Department reorganized one of its supply rooms using kanban principles to establish control over its inventory. Supplies have been consolidated, labelled and placed in colour-coded bins, each with a permanent home. Kanbans, which are visual management tools in the form of cards or containers, signal when new supplies, parts or services are needed.

"We will be able to deliver more timely care because we won't have to go to the units to grab certain supplies. . . . If we do get everybody on board -- suppliers, vendors, all the units, all the staff -- there's no reason why we should ever run out of anything."