Kanban order board
A kanban order board shows orders as columns (new, in progress, ready). Cooks and floor staff pull from left to right. The pattern comes from Toyota manufacturing in the 1940s and works because the eye reads horizontal flow faster than vertical lists.
What it means in operation
On MobiTaste, the staff dashboard renders the order kanban with four columns by default: pending approval (if the approval gate is on), in progress, ready, completed. Each card shows the table number, items, time elapsed, and a one-tap bump button. Cooks bump cards as dishes leave the pass. Floor staff watch the ready column and bring plates to tables. The board updates in real time across every connected device, so the cook and the waiter see the same state without anyone shouting “table four ready”. Filters let a busy kitchen narrow to one station at a time.
Why it matters
The reason kanban beats a list is glance time. A list of 20 orders requires reading top to bottom to find the new one. A kanban with new orders in the left column shows the work at hand in one glance. For a kitchen in the weeds, glance time is the difference between staying ahead and falling behind. The buyer’s question is whether the board updates in real time without manual refresh. If it does, it earns its place on the line. If it does not, it is a screenshot pretending to be a tool.
Related terms
- KDS: the screen the kanban runs on.
- BOH / FOH: the teams that pull from the board.
- Approval gate: the step that adds the pending column to the board.