By My Visual Management — Making Continuous Improvement Visual
In Continuous Improvement and Lean environments, Kamishibai boards are one of the most effective ways to make workplace checks, standards, and accountability visible. They use colour-coded cards to show when tasks have been completed — or missed — at a glance.
At My Visual Management, we help organisations design and implement Kamishibai boards that bring consistency, engagement, and transparency to daily and weekly audits.
What Is a Kamishibai Board?
A Kamishibai board is a visual control tool used for layered process audits, standard work checks, or routine maintenance.
Green cards usually indicate a completed or conforming task.
Red cards show missed checks, issues, or actions that need attention.
The word “Kamishibai” means “paper drama” in Japanese — a reference to flipping cards to tell a story. In Lean terms, the story is about standards and discipline: are we doing what we said we’d do, every day?
Why Kamishibai Boards Work
- Transparency and Accountability – Anyone can instantly see if audits are up to date.
- Consistency – Tasks are standardised and scheduled, reducing variation.
- Engagement – Teams physically interact with the board, reinforcing ownership.
- Speed – Problems are visible immediately, so corrective actions start faster.
- Sustainability – When paired with clear visuals and accessories, habits stick.
How to Design an Effective Kamishibai Board
- Define the Purpose – What do you want to make visible? Safety, 5S, machine checks, or quality audits?
- Set the Frequency – Daily, weekly, or monthly cards help standardise rhythm.
- Keep It Simple – Each card should describe one clear task.
- Use Colour Intentionally – Green = done, red = not done, amber = needs review.
- Add Accessories – Use magnetic holders, tokens, or sliders to make it interactive and easy to update.
- Assign Ownership – Each row or column should clearly show who is responsible for completion.
Benefits You’ll See on the Shop Floor
- Faster identification of missed checks
- Improved audit completion rates
- Increased ownership and engagement
- Reduced downtime from neglected tasks
- Visual culture of accountability and improvement
Kamishibai Boards from My Visual Management
Our Kamishibai boards are:
- Custom-designed to your audit process and frequency
- Available with magnetic card holders or flip-card systems
- Supplied with colour-coded cards, frames, and status indicators
- Built using durable, easy-clean materials for factory and service environments
- Whether you need a compact 5S audit board or a multi-tier LPA system, we’ll help you make your checks visible, simple, and sustainable.
Interested in your own Kamishibai Board?
Get in touch with us to discuss your process and visual requirements.
We’ll design and produce a Kamishibai board that fits seamlessly into your Visual Management system — helping your teams make improvement visible every day.
Serve your checks and audit processes
Be clear, at a glance
Use red and green status for clear visual status
start on one line, machine or cell before rolling out your visual management
Make your own process visual
Use a range of accessories to keep visual management interactive and easy to use
Customise content exactly as you need
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Our Approach
We create visual management boards everyday. As a result we have plenty of experience. We work for organisations in food production, the power industry, national rail, pharmaceuticals, education, healthcare, packaging and distribution.
Our team works with a simple idea or sketch and creates a professionally designed layout. This is then turned into a highly functional visual management board.
We offer customised options because we want to create the perfect board for you. So, here are a few examples. We can add magnetic areas or a dry-wipe finish (for use with whiteboard pens). Furthermore, you can choose Red/Green sliders or R.A.G. (Red, Amber, Green) status dials so you can quickly and visually update your board. These are just a few examples of the ways in which our boards can be tailored to meet your needs. You may also be interested in whiteboard overlays that can be used on top of an existing magnetic board.
