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This paper addresses the problem of sequencing in decentralized kanban‐controlled flow shops. The kanban production control system considered uses two card types and a constant withdrawal period. The flow shops are decentralized in the sense that sequencing decisions are made at the local workstation level rather than by a centralized scheduling system. Further, there are no material requirements planning (MRP)‐generated due dates available to drive dispatching rules such as earliest due date, slack, and critical ratio.Local sequencing rules suitable for the decentralized kanban production‐control environment are proposed and tested in a simulation experiment. These rules are designed so that they can be implemented with only the information available at the workstation level. Example sequencing problems are used to show why the shortest processing time rule minimizes neither average work‐in‐process inventory nor average finished‐goods withdrawal kanban waiting time. Further, it is shown how work station supervisors can use the withdrawal period, in addition to the number of kanbans, to manage work‐in‐process inventories.