"WIP the enemy of done" Topic

There is a methodology in Software Development called Kanban which derived from the Japanese auto industry. In Kanban, limitng WIP (work in progress) is key. link

As it relates to painting, does having a large WIP keep us from completing our projects?

The mountain of lead most of us have is like a backlog. A large backlog doesn't delay things too much: you havent spent time on it.

The layers of projects on the painting table IS a problem. So I wonder: what do you do to comtrol the number of projects you start?

I always have one 'major' project on the bench. Along with that I have a 'secondary' for when I just don't feel like working on the major one. I limit the work on the secondary to flashing, priming, research, color selection, etc. Works for me.

"Control"???….

I hear the sounds you make and the word…it is…alien to me….

Funnily enough when I was in Engineering school, after the dinosaur maintenance class we did look at Japanese manufacturing and Kanban meant continuous improvement – but I would not be surprised to find that it is an umbrella term for their whole manufacturing approach

In terms of software development (I laugh when they say Engineering) current thinking is based around daily builds (this does work well) so having lots of outstanding bugs and incomplete modules wastes a lot of times – so in this context reducing WIP is very important

Painting for most of us should be a fun activity, and the amount of WIP that can be tolerated depends on the individual. If the ranks of desperate figures waiting for that last crossbelt to be done are getting you down, then focus on backlog

For me, as much backlog as I have storage space on my painting desk works. So I have to finish something before I can start something new and shiny.

I tell myself that having multiple periods and scales worked on at the same time gives me variety and encourages me to paint more.

John

Too many projects is a sign of ill discipline. It is as simple as that.

If you don't have the time to achieve your goals, or the money to pay someone else to achieve them in good time for you, you need reappraise your ambitions.

Only once you have honestly come to terms with your capability, one way or another, can you proceed to actually achieve what is achievable. Until then you are just another dreamer. It's a bummer, isn't it.

We use the Kanban process here at Intel. I've never thought about applying to my painting although stopping the job when there's an issue could get interesting.

I always have one 'major' project on the bench

I started that way, but one leads to two, etc. I think part of the problem is the size of the "project." Embarking on a French Napoleonic army is too much. Instead, I'm going try really work in small parts, like say 3 bases of 4. Once that's done I can reevaluate the priority and paint one Planetfall unit of 5 tanks.

I run the risk of having incomplete "armies" but things would get done.

At this point almost all of my armies are "done." I define done as "I have enough to play most games/scenarios."

So now I only add what may be missing for the next game. Example: I am going to paint this week 4 Zis-2 Guns and 2 88 AT Guns for my next Flames of Epicness WW2 game.

Just about the time I'll be bored of the WW2 guns, I'll be done! (I hate painting WW2 – no color, just gray green and brown, yuck).

Completely agree with Olicana.

My Gran used to use a suitable expression for biting off more than you can chew…"Your eyes are bigger than your stomach son"

:-)

But this is a hobby (thought of adding more but that says it all)

In my manufacturing career I ruthlessly applied Kanban techniques.
However this fell apart when the Customer needed 1200 Sapphire Blue armrests at his place at 7:00 AM the next morning and he calls at 1:40 in the afternoon.

My habit is to take the new lead and mount and prime it.
So when I need something in a hurry, there they are.

I must admit that sound manufacturing practices do not apply to hobby practices. For one thing manufacturing is not affected (or should not be) by the "Oooh! Shiny!" Syndrome.

Of course Kanban as well as Agile techniques in general depend on splitting the work correctly into chunks and making sure there is a good understanding of the dependencies between the deliverables. Of course this is a QA manager talking…

Now on to painting. I have dropped my number of in progress projects, as it was causing me too much stress to have all these half done projects weighing on my mind. Took the fun out of the hobby. But the same also applies if I put myself on to strict a schedule, as it starts to feel like work. So, I try to strike a balance and if I subjectively feel like it is not fun, I change course.

I have a huge backlog of AWI WIP units. Since I decided to put them on washers for gaming with The Sword and the Flame, I am back painting AWI again.
Had they not been in the WIP stage, I would not have bothered to go through the buy, mount, prime and proceed stage. Most are in the 50% finished category so my project is doable.
You won't be seeing Brandywine or Monmouth with skirmish based figures but certainly King's Mountain or Cowpens.
Of course Monmouth was unlikely with my Age of Reason figures either, but I ain't complaining.

Now, this new project has also lead to a combing out of the lead pile too. "Here Roger. Have a pile of lead. Just bring it up to play with."

So, hello 5th Foot, Black Watch, von Donop, 27th Foot, Ferguson's Rifles, Philadelphia Associators, amusettes, von Barner, etc.

I had been doing a 1+ approach to projects – a primary with one or more small projects to avoid painting one or two items and then having to clean the brush for the next color.

Lately this is getting a bit out of hand with LIR, Sassanians, Chin, Han, Skythians, Lombards, Parthians, and Early Armenians on the painting table.

Still have to shade/varnish and base a couple of previous lots as well.

This has all put on hold the Classical Indian BBDBA project started.

So in answer to the OP questions – when i get this sorted out, I'll let you know…

I had been doing a 1+ approach to projects – a primary with one or more small projects to avoid painting one or two items and then having to clean the brush for the next color.

Ahah – I believe he has it !!

I call this the N+1 approach

There are many ways to define N, in general N is the amount of space you have available.

Incidentally goragrad, you are not ambitious enough – you should throw in some Napoleonics and WW2 as well :)

John

I excel at managing my painting projects, I just suck at actually getting my hands dirty.

6sigma, kanban, lean and totally jit. But I hardly finish anything :-D