Taiichi Ohno
Taiichi Ohno was a Japanese production engineer at Toyota who is regarded as the father of the Toyota Production System, including just-in-time production and kanban.
What they did and why it matters
Ohno's system for producing only what is needed, when it is needed, is the source of the lean methods many warehouses use to cut inventory and waste. At Toyota he developed kanban, a signal that lets a downstream process pull parts from upstream only as they are consumed, and he defined the forms of waste that lean teams still target, such as overproduction, waiting, and excess motion. Pull-based replenishment of forward pick faces, lower safety stock through reliable flow, and daily improvement routines in fulfillment centers all borrow from his work.
Related people
Events
Sources
- Ohno Taiichi (Britannica Money) britannica.com
- Taiichi Ohno (Automotive Hall of Fame) automotivehalloffame.org