Departments
Intermediate Japanese - Free Online Course
OHNO TAIICHI
大野 耐一
Taiichi Ohno
(1912-1990)
Taiichi Ohno is regarded as the father of the Toyota Production System (TPS), which is sometimes referred to as Just-in-Time (JIT) in the West.
Ohno was born in Dalian, China in February, 1912. After receiving a degree from Nagoya Technical School, he became an employee at Toyoda Spinning, which manufactured looms. In 1939, he transferred to Toyota Motor Corporation, where he worked his way up through the ranks to become an executive.
Ohno was the manager of a machining division when he laid the groundwork for the Toyota Production System. He made TPS accessible to millions of non-Toyota managers when he published the book Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production in 1978.
Ohno’s honors included a commendation from Japan’s Emperor Hirohito. Ohno died in May 1990.