Taiichi Ohno

Ohno, a Toyota production engineer, developed from the late 1940s the methods now called the Toyota Production System: making only what the next step needs, signalled by kanban cards, and treating overproduction, waiting and excess stock as waste. It let a cash-poor company compete with American mass producers. The approach depended on close supplier relationships and a stable workforce, which made it harder to copy than its tools suggest.