Sakichi Toyoda (February 14, 1867 – October 30, 1930) was a Japanese inventor and industrialist. He was born in Kosai, Shizuoka. The son of a poor carpenter, Toyoda is the founder of Toyota Industries, which eventually spawned the Toyota Group. He is often referred to as the "King of Japanese Inventors.
One of Toyoda's early inventions were numerous weaving devices, including the automatic power loom in which he implemented the principle of Jidoka (autonomous automation). The principle of Jidoka, which means that the machine stops itself when a problem occurs, later became a part of the Toyota Production System.
Toyoda developed the concept of 5 Whys: When a problem occurs, ask "why" five times to try to find the source of the problem, then put into place something to prevent the problem from recurring. This concept is used today as part of applying lean methodologies to solve problems, improve quality, and reduce costs.
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