Kiichiro Toyoda

Kiichiro Toyoda introduced the thinking behind just-in-time, producing and moving only the parts needed when they are needed, which today shapes how warehouses think about inventory and flow. He led Toyota's move from looms into automobiles and pushed a system in which each step of the line produced only the quantity the next step would use, avoiding piles of parts between processes. Taiichi Ohno later developed this into kanban and the full Toyota Production System. Fulfillment operations apply the idea when they replenish pick faces only as stock is consumed and keep work in progress low between picking and packing.

• Forward Pick ReplenishmentRefilling pick locations from reserve stock
• ReplenishmentRestoring stock to target levels
• Carrying CostTotal cost of holding inventory over time

• Sakichi Toyoda1867–1930 · Loom inventor and Toyota Group founder
• Taiichi Ohno1912–1990 · Architect of the Toyota Production System
• Eiji Toyoda1913–2013 · Toyota president and chairman

1. Legend: Kiichiro Toyoda, founder of Toyota (Manufacturing Digital) manufacturingdigital.com
2. Kiichiro Toyoda (Automotive Hall of Fame) automotivehalloffame.org