Visiting the US, Ohno saw how Piggly Wiggly supermarkets worked: customers took what they needed, and the shelf was replenished only when a certain quantity was taken. He flipped this for manufacturing. Instead of pushing parts from the previous process, the subsequent process would pull what it needed.
Defects were no longer an accepted cost of doing business. Quality was moved upstream through poka-yoke (error-proofing) devices, jidoka (autonomation) that stopped machines on fault, and standardized work that reduced variation. The organization embraced root-cause thinking: when a problem occurred, teams dug deeper rather than applying quick fixes. Over time, defect rates dropped and fewer resources were consumed in inspection and rework. the evolution of a manufacturing system at toyota pdf
The PDF likely traces Kanban from its primitive state (1940s: "just-in-time" for looms) through to a sophisticated information network: Visiting the US, Ohno saw how Piggly Wiggly
Evolutionary lesson: Kanban didn't appear fully formed. It mutated from supermarket logic, was selected for survival during oil shocks, and was retained via Toyota’s supplier association (Kyohokai). Evolutionary lesson: Kanban didn't appear fully formed
Taiichi Ohno is the architect of the operational side of the system. He visited Ford plants in the US but realized he could not copy them. He inverted the logic of manufacturing.
The evolution begins not with cars, but with the textile industry.