Which Toyota industrial engineer developed the kanban scheduling system?

Taiichi Ohno developed the kanban scheduling system at Toyota.

Kanban is a Japanese production-control method in which signals—originally cards or other visual markers—tell workers when to make or replenish parts. Ohno, a Toyota industrial engineer and executive, developed the system to support Toyota’s just-in-time manufacturing approach and reduce excess inventory.

Unlike a traditional push system, which produces according to forecasts, kanban is primarily a pull system: downstream demand triggers replenishment from an upstream process. This helps expose bottlenecks, limit work in progress, and make shortages or process problems visible. The Japanese word kanban means “signboard” or “visual card.”

A common mix-up is crediting Shigeo Shingo, another major Toyota Production System contributor, or Eiji Toyoda, a senior Toyota leader. Both were important to Toyota’s manufacturing history, but Ohno is the canonical answer for developing kanban. Kanban later spread beyond automobile factories into software and other knowledge-work settings, where visual task boards preserve the same basic signaling idea.