Book excerpt: The Kanban board is constructed, the swim lanes are drawn and the blockade stickers are positioned. Now what? Kanban is not able to reach its full potential in many companies. Often, the meaning behind the individual practices, such as WIP limits, is not correctly understood. All hope is placed in a method instead of actions. Kanban helps uncover the weak points in a work system, and as a result, reveals how to better generate value for the customer. This book can help in tweaking an existing Kanban system, as well as expand your own repertoire of solutions. Klaus Leopold describes in detail the principles and functionality of Kanban, which are not always intuitive. He discusses typical problems that he has observed in his work with real-world Kanban systems. Klaus illustrates the possibilities that exist when the entire value creation chain of a company is taken into account and how tools such as Cost of Delay and forecasting can become strategic aids. Thus, it should become clear that Kanban is not a team method, but rather a method for improvement that considers the entire value creation chain of a company.