Toyota

In nineteen fifty, car manufacturing required massive warehouses. Parts sat waiting for assembly line needs. Ford and GM stockpiled inventory everywhere. Toyota asked why. Why hold expensive components when suppliers could deliver exactly when needed? What if the factory received parts just hours before assembly? Could they eliminate warehouses? Toyota created just-in-time manufacturing. Parts arrived when needed then minutes later were installed. A Toyota factory held two hours of inventory. Competitors held two weeks. Warehousing space meant everything. Toyota saved billions eliminating idle inventory capital. The mathematics transformed manufacturing efficiency completely.