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Stockout Issues in IFS Kanban – Not Reflected in Reality


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Hello,

I'm currently experiencing an issue in IFS Applications where the Kanban module shows stockouts (empty bins) on our assembly lines, even though materials are physically available at the point of use.

As a result, the main warehouse receives unnecessary pick requests, which show up on their picking lists, even though the items are already at the line.
In practice, warehouse staff often ignore these picks because they recognize the items as Kanban-managed — but this leads to confusion and inconsistency, particularly for new employees who aren’t familiar with the workaround. And sometimes there is also empty bins.

Additionally, we don’t use the Kanban card functionality when performing part movements — instead, we rely on manual transfers.
Could this be contributing to the issue? Could reporting delays (feel like this would lead to the opposite) or incorrect process flows be involved?

From my analysis, around 46% of where the system use the material from is from our main warehouse, despite material being available on the line.
One clear issue I’ve noticed is that our Kanban circuits is too small — but I’m wondering: Could that alone explain this behavior, or are there other factors we should consider?

 

Could it be that we use the set up wrong? 

 

Best answer by Steve_IFS

Jonathan, interesting scenario you have. Have you looked into the Inventory Transactions to see where the system is issuing material from versus where the physical material is being pulled from? My first thought is that there must be other locations where the physical material is being pulled from rather than the Kanban locations. Are you experiencing cycle count problems as well? Perhaps there are other processes that are incorrectly backflushing inventory from the Kanban locations?

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  • Hero (Employee)
  • 39 replies
  • Answer
  • March 27, 2025

Jonathan, interesting scenario you have. Have you looked into the Inventory Transactions to see where the system is issuing material from versus where the physical material is being pulled from? My first thought is that there must be other locations where the physical material is being pulled from rather than the Kanban locations. Are you experiencing cycle count problems as well? Perhaps there are other processes that are incorrectly backflushing inventory from the Kanban locations?


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  • Author
  • Do Gooder (Customer)
  • 1 reply
  • March 28, 2025

Yes, I’ve looked into the inventory transactions and compared the quantities that should have been issued from the Kanban location but were instead reported from other locations.

In practice, the main warehouse doesn’t physically pick Kanban items, even though they appear on pick lists. Instead, they report the issue from the warehouse location, while the material is actually pulled from the Kanban point of use.

This leads to inventory mismatches — the system shows stock being consumed from the warehouse, So yes, I’d say cycle counts can show big discrepancies.

I’ll will look further into whether there are processes incorrectly backflushing from the Kanban locations. 

My current theory is that our Kanban quantities are too small, which leads to the system frequently perceiving a stockout — even though material is still physically available.

When demand is registered, the system reserves quantities forward in time, and since the Kanban level is set too low, this causes the Kanban location to appear empty in the system — even though material is still there. This mismatch between physical stock and system availability may be the root cause of unnecessary picks and system confusion. I think this is a logical explanation. 


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