Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog: Deming, lean thinking, innovation, customer focus, continual improvement, six sigma.
January 22, 2006
Toyota’s Early History

via Got Boondogle:

A book that I recently finished is “Quest for the Dawn” by Shoji Kimoto. “Quest for the Dawn” is a fascinating true story set from about 1930 to the mid 1950s of a bold business quest to build an automobile from the ground up. The relentless inventors were Sakichi and Kiichiro Toyoda and, of course, the car manufacturer was the Toyota Motor Company.

Look interesting, so I went on amazon.com and Quest for the Dawn by Shoji Kimoto was available for $1, through a 3rd party, plus $3.49 shipping. I really like many of the things the internet makes easy.

And relating to the zero defects post earlier today. I never thought of it as a defect when I couldn’t order an obscure book, in a minute or two, from home and have it delivered to me. Deming was right that: “Absence of defects does not necessarily build business… Something more is required.

Related: Shigeo Shingo’s Influence on TPS

4 Responses to “Toyota’s Early History”

  1. Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog » Blog Archive » Toyota Homes Says:

    [...] Could Toyota’s efforts beyond automobiles create problems over the long term? Yes. But Toyota’s solid management system is built with the knowledge that change is inevitable (Toyota’s Early History - Toyota was a loom maker before moving into the automobile industry). If Toyota wants to prosper in the future it needs to contoinue to grow and adapt and take risks. by curiouscat   Tags: Management, Innovation, Toyota Production System (TPS)   Permalink to: Toyota Homes [...]

  2. Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog » Quality and Innovation Says:

    [...] Yes, today incredible innovation is taking place at companies like Google but this is not new. Toyota has understood the importance of innovation (biotechnology - Hybrid cars 1993 - moving into car manufacturing - robots) for a long time (and so have many many more: IBM, Disney, Nike, NASA, DARPA, Apple, Microsoft, Wal Mart, Sony, Merck, Intel, Chalres Schwab, 3M, Amazon, Da Vinci, Miles Davis, Picasso, Edison, Fosbury, Einstein…). And given the date lets add the United States of America to the innovation list. [...]

  3. Curious Cat Management Improvement Blog » Toyota Production System History Says:

    [...] article continues the chain of articles on the topic - last month: Origins of the Toyota Production System. by John Hunter   Tags: Lean thinking, Management, Management Articles, Toyota Production [...]

  4. CuriousCat" Toyota's Partner Robot Says:

    Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe said robotics will be a core business for the company in coming years. He says Toyota will test out its robots at hospitals, Toyota-related facilities and other places starting next year. He hopes to see partner robots in use by 2010. ‘We want to create robots that are useful for people in everyday life’…

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