MSG Systems achieved better focus, better communication & culture of Kaizen in the whole team.

Implementation of Kanban

When and How Did You Decide To Implement Kanban?

As I read in David Anderson’s Blue Book and saw the possibilities for my current project at that time, 8 years ago. It proved to be a game changer.

What Business Functions Have you Implemented Kanban In?

Currently mainly Development Projects (e.g. one with 2.8 M € Budget), our complete accountant workflow, talent management. In 2018, we plan to Kanbanize our Innovation Management and maybe our Risk Management in general.

What Benefits have you Experienced due to Implementing Kanban?

Focus, better communication, culture of Kaizen in the whole team.

Does your Organization use Any Other Scaled Agile Methods Such as Scrum of Scrums, Disciplined Agile, Safe, Others?

Yes, other departments use it, I don’t. It doesn’t fit to our customer culture (Public Sector).

How did SwiftKanban Help?

When did your Organization Start using SwiftKanban?

2 years ago, we started this initiative with SwiftKanban.

Which Other Tools did you Evaluate Before Selecting SwiftKanban?

Well, to be honest, no other one. SwiftKanban was the only “professional” solution that we could install on our own server.

What Are Some Of The Key Strengths And Weaknesses Of SwiftKanban That you Would Like To Highlight?

a) In general, I love the product! You also care about your customer and it was great to work on a Docker solution for the installation (Thanks to your Support and Sales teams!).

b) I (have) already communicated “a ton” of different feature requests and bugs. Thanks for the opportunity! (It would be great to see some of these implemented!)

c) I feel (there is a need for) “enterprise features” to support the organizational structure of a company, e.g. to structure Kanban Boards and their access to different containers/ folders.

What Are Some Ways, If Any, In Which SwiftKanban has Made you and your Team More Effective?

Visualization, first and foremost.

More Specifically, can you Share Any Metrics – Such as Lead Time, Throughput or Flow Efficiency – That You Have Seen Improvements as a Result of Using Kanban and SwiftKanban, and by How Much?

We are not able to share specific metrics. However, our tribal knowledge reflects projects that what used to take 4 – 6 months has reduced to 2 – 3 months. In our most extreme example, we have been able to launch a full product offering in only NINE days.

Would you Recommend SwiftKanban To Others? If Yes, Could You List the Top 3 Reasons For Doing So?

a) Customer Care.
b) Edge-development for Kanban because David A. is on-board.
c) Hopefully – as soon as we installed SwiftSync – its versatility.