What are Planning, Tasks, and Kanban Boards?

Within project management, planning, scheduling, and manufacturing operations, you may find yourself attempting to locate the most beneficial planning and scheduling process available. With all of the methodologies that are out there, which is the best one? What is the best one for your operation? The simple answer may be one concept - Kanban. 

Kanban planning is a commonly used methodology that is usually implemented within a lean and agile operation and enables the absolute best results for adequate planning and scheduling. While Kanban is by far one of the most advantageous planning and scheduling tools, there are a variety of other planning tools such as a planning and task board. Within this blog, we are going to discuss the differences amongst a planning, task, and Kanban board and how they contribute to your overall operation. 

The Differences Between a Planning, Task, and Kanban Board

When choosing a particular planning procedure, it is essential to understand the differences amongst these tools. Therefore, the main differences between planning, task, and Kanban board pertain to the following: 

• Planning Board - A Planning Board is an important tool for a project’s Agile planning activities. It allows individuals to plan and monitor features that are required in each sprint and assign them from the product backlog to specific sprints. A planning board view complements the list view and offers you capabilities to accomplish various actions such as creating, editing, and deleting artifacts, planning folders, and teams. 
  
  
• Task Board - A Task Board is another important tool within the Agile process. It aids the team to focus on the work at hand in the current sprint and feed progress data back into the system. Unlike the list view and planning board view, which can be used for agile project planning, the task board view is for tracking tasks in a sprint. 
  
  
• Kanban Board - The Kanban board is by far the most advantageous agile project management tool and provides a snapshot of the statuses of work items within a planning folder, how your project teams are planned in terms of work distribution, and directs you to re-distribute the tasks to ensure optimal resource utilization. Kanban Boards utilize the Kanban method for project implementation and is built upon concepts such as value stream mapping and WIP limits. 

A software that can easily aid with implementing of Kanban planning and methodology is PlanetTogether’s Advanced Planning and Scheduling Software. PlanetTogether’s APS software is a must have for manufacturers that are seeking to improve efficiency within a manufacturing operation while cutting costs and increasing profitability. Advanced Planning and Scheduling Software is essential for manufacturing operations around the globe in order to maintain a competitive edge and keep up with industry technology. 

Advanced Planning and Scheduling Software 

Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) software has become a must for modern-day manufacturing operations due to customer demand for increased product mix and fast delivery combined with downward cost pressures. APS can be quickly integrated with a ERP/MRP software to fill gaps where these system lack planning and scheduling flexibility and accuracy. Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) helps planners save time while providing greater agility in updating ever-changing priorities, production schedules, and inventory plans.

• Create optimized schedules balancing production efficiency and delivery performance
• Maximize output on bottleneck resources to increase revenue
• Synchronize supply with demand to reduce inventories
• Provide company-wide visibility to capacity
• Enable scenario data-driven decision making

Implementation of Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) software will take your manufacturing operations to the next level of production efficiency, taking advantage of the operational data you already have in your ERP.

Video: What-If Scenarios for Kanban Planning in PlanetTogether APS

Kanban boards are one of the most effective ways to visualize workflow, manage flow, and limit work-in-progress (WIP) so teams can reduce bottlenecks and improve throughput. By combining Kanban principles with what-if scenario planning in PlanetTogether Advanced Planning & Scheduling (APS), you can test changes to your planning, task, and Kanban boards before you commit to them.

In this video, you’ll see how PlanetTogether APS helps you:

• Build and compare multiple what-if schedules when priorities, demand, or capacity change
• Experiment with different WIP limits, work distributions, and board designs to see how they impact flow, throughput, and due dates
• Use Kanban-style visual scheduling to identify bottlenecks and re-balance tasks across resources for optimal utilization
• Replace trial-and-error on the shop floor with data-driven, simulated scenarios that keep your team focused on finishing work, not just starting it

This video is ideal for project managers, planners, and manufacturing operations leaders who want to combine Kanban boards, Agile planning, and APS what-if scenarios to create more predictable, efficient workflows.

 

See the “Before & After” of Kanban-Driven APS Scheduling

Understanding the differences between planning boards, task boards, and Kanban boards is the first step toward better planning and scheduling. Planning boards help you organize future work; task boards track what’s happening in the current sprint; Kanban boards visualize end-to-end flow, WIP, and resource loading so you can actively manage work distribution and avoid overloads.

To fully realize the benefits, those boards need to be connected to an engine that can turn them into optimized, realistic schedules. That’s where PlanetTogether Advanced Planning & Scheduling (APS) comes in—integrating with ERP/MRP to create finite-capacity plans, maximize bottleneck output, synchronize supply with demand, and enable scenario-based, data-driven decision making.

Download our Before-and-After Scheduling Infographic to see how moving from basic boards and spreadsheets to Kanban-driven APS scheduling helps you:

• Visualize the “before” state of fragmented planning versus the “after” state of integrated, optimized schedules
• Use Kanban concepts—visualization, WIP limits, and flow management—to guide APS scheduling decisions and eliminate bottlenecks
• Improve on-time delivery and throughput by aligning workload with real capacity
• Reduce firefighting and multitasking by giving teams clear, visual priorities on the board
• Leverage the operational data already in your ERP/MRP to continuously refine your planning and Kanban practices

Share it with your planning, operations, and Agile teams as a quick visual guide to how Kanban boards plus APS can transform your scheduling from reactive to strategically optimized.