Kanban システムを海外へ！

「Kanban（かんばん）でプロジェクトを可視化する」(Visualizing Agile Project Using Kanban Boards)という論文をかき、InfoQ に掲載されました。これは、Agile2007に印刷して持っていったものです。
http://www.infoq.com/articles/agile-kanban-boards

そうすると、David Andersen が、Kanban をソフトウェア開発に利用する、というYahooグループを立ち上げてくれました。現在、一日10通くらいの流量があります。
http://www.agilemanagement.net/Articles/Weblog/KanbanisCatchingOn.html

ここでは、Agileに特化せずに、WIP(Work In Process = しかかり、中間成果物)を制限し、仕事を自律させるための手法としてのかんばんについて議論をしています。AgileやToC、そしてTPSが周辺知識です。

そして、TRICHORDの英語版がリリースされました！これも、海外に向けてです。リリース文は、英語を練り、レビューし、結構かっこいいものになりました。

TRICHORD drives project improvement at Gemba.
Tokyo, Japan - Sep 11, 2007: Today, Change Vision, Inc, a software visualization company, announced TRICHORD, an Agile Project Management tool built on Eclipse to make software projects more productive, collaborative, and fun. TRICHORD helps project
teams drive Kaizen(*1) (constant improvement) at Gemba(*2) (the workplace) using Kanban(*3)(ToDo cards). Change Vision, Inc has been providing developers and managers with easy-to-use software tools which focus on “visualization” and are inspired by concepts of Toyota Production System and Lean Software Development.

The name “TRICHORD” connotes the principles that inspire its functionality. TRI refers
to three viewpoints (Time, Task, and Team) and CHORD means harmony. Its goal is not
just to visualize status data in the projects. Kanban makes the data visible as if it were
written on tangible cards on a wall, so that everyone can see them at a glance, understand them intuitively, and work collaboratively. Thus Kanban makes tasks
self-directing and facilitates work flow. TRICHORD operates as a workcenter for sharing project status across the whole team, providing the three levels of Kanban Boards – Feature Kanban (Release-Feature), Story Kanban (Story-Iteration), and Task Kanban (Daily-Task). A Feature Kanban is supported by a Parking Lot Chart, Story and Task Kanbans are supported by Burndown Charts. In addition to them, Niko-Niko Calendar (Smiley Calendar) service shares the team's mood and works as a simple “twitter”-like SNS communication center for the projects.

(*1) A systematic approach to continuous improvement of processes
(*2) Japanese word for the actual workplace.
(*3) A ticket that controls process flow in Toyota Production System.

Pricing and Availability
TRICHORD is expected to ship worldwide on 11th of September at an estimated price of
US$200 per 1 User License. To learn more about TRICHORD, please visit
http://trichord.change-vision.com/en/index.html.

About Change Vision, Inc.
A Tokyo-based independent software vender, Change Vision, Inc. provides tools that
visualize both “systems” and “projects” combined with Agile software development
consulting services. Our mission is to help teams innovate their software development
by visualization.
For more information, visit http://www.change-vision.com/index_en.html

Press Contacts:
Sales and Marketing Group
TEL：+81-3-3349-5255 Mail：info@change-vision.com
Shinjuku-Mitsui Bldg. 34F, 2-1-1 Nishi-Shinjuku Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 163-0434 Japan

そして、来週はSoftware Development Best Practice Conferenceにて、TRICHORDを展示、 海外へ日本の新風を吹き込んできます。