Taiichi Ohno (1912-1990) is considered the father of the Toyota Production System. For over five decades, Ohno-san, as he was respectfully referred to by colleagues and pupils, put novel management practices to work at Toyota that have since become commonplace in the West. Think jidoka, just-in-time, kanban and kaizen. An industrial engineer by training, Ohno-san integrated lean principles into a system of flow and human accomplishment that encompassed Toyota, its suppliers and distributors. Ohno-san's superpower: He believed unwaveringly in people's ability to use their intellect and mastery for the purpose of solving problems on the shop floor, the company, and throughout society at large.
About the editors: Niels Pflaeging is an entrepreneur, consultant, researcher, creator of socio-tech and practitioner of organizational transformation. Stefan Schmeing has over two decades of experience in risk, quality and sustainability management. He works for a Japanese trading company.
"Let the flow manage the processes, and not let management manage the flow." Taiichi Ohno
