Abstract
We developed an event-driven simulator of the Kanban process a WIP limited pull system visualized by the Kanban board. WIP (work in process) represent the capacity in the activity to perform features simoultaneously. The simulator is fully object-oriented, and its design model reflects the objects of the Lean software development domain. We used this simulator to assess comparatively WIP-limited and unlimited processes. We also studied the optimum values of the working item limits in the activities, using a paradigmatic case of 4 activities and 100 work items. The cost function used is equal to the total time needed to complete the project, plus a weighted sum of the limits themselves. We performed an exhaustive search on all the admissible values of the solution, finding sensible optimal values, and a non-trivial behavior of the cost function in the optimization space.
This demonstrates the feasibility and usefulness of the approach.
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Anderson, D., Concas, G., Lunesu, M.I., Marchesi, M. (2011). Studying Lean-Kanban Approach Using Software Process Simulation. In: Sillitti, A., Hazzan, O., Bache, E., Albaladejo, X. (eds) Agile Processes in Software Engineering and Extreme Programming. XP 2011. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 77. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-20677-1_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-20677-1_2
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