One card is one claim batch. A column’s WIP limit is the most cards that may sit in it at once: when a column is full, no new card enters until one leaves. The snapshot below is the board at the close of the sample week.
Ready
WIP LIMIT 8 · ON BOARD 5
Batch R-41 · 12 claimsCharges received · Priya next
Batch R-42 · 9 claimsCharges received · Priya next
Batch R-43 · 14 claimsEligibility confirmed · Marcus next
Batch R-44 · 8 claimsCharges received · Priya next
Batch R-45 · 11 claimsNotes complete · Marcus next
In Progress
WIP LIMIT 6 · ON BOARD 6 · AT LIMIT
Batch P-18 · 10 claimsCharge entry · Priya
Batch P-19 · 13 claimsCoding review · Marcus
Batch P-20 · 7 claimsCharge entry · Priya
Batch P-21 · 12 claimsSubmission prep · Elena
Batch P-22 · 9 claimsCoding review · Marcus
Batch P-23 · 10 claimsDenial follow-up · Tom
Verify
WIP LIMIT 4 · ON BOARD 3
Batch V-09 · 11 claimsFinal verification · June
Batch V-10 · 8 claimsFinal verification · June
Batch V-11 · 12 claimsAudit sample check · June
Done
NO LIMIT · FINISHED TODAY 5
Batch D-31 · 10 claimsSubmitted Fri a.m. · Elena
Batch D-32 · 14 claimsSubmitted Fri a.m. · Elena
Batch D-33 · 9 claimsSubmitted Fri p.m. · Elena
Batch D-34 · 12 claimsSubmitted Fri p.m. · Elena
Batch D-35 · 8 claimsSubmitted Fri p.m. · Elena
In Progress is at its limit of 6. Under the board’s rule, nothing new is pulled from Ready until a card in In Progress moves on — starting more would only make everything on the board finish later.
What the board predicts — Little’s Law
AVERAGE FLOW TIME = WIP ÷ THROUGHPUT = 14 batches ÷ 7 batches/day = 2.0 days
- Work in process (WIP): 14 batches on the board and not yet done — 5 Ready + 6 In Progress + 3 Verify.
- Throughput: 35 batches reached Done across the 5-day week — an average of 7 batches a day.
- Average flow time: 14 ÷ 7 = 2.0 days — a batch entering Ready today should, at this week’s pace, be submitted about two working days from now.
That is the board’s quiet promise: hold the limits, and the wait stays short and predictable. Let the columns fill past their limits, and the same arithmetic says the wait grows with them.