Toyoda, Eiji

Eiji Toyoda (Sept 12, 1913 – September 17, 2013) was, at the time of his tenure, the longest serving president of Toyota.

He was the nephew of Sakichi Toyoda, the man who founded Toyoda Loom Works, the predecessor of the automotive version of the company.

Eiji Toyoda reportedly visited the Ford River Rouge Complex in Michigan and borrowed many ideas to ramp up production at the Japanese auto maker. He was, however, careful not to adopt the inefficient parts of Ford’s production.

Eiji Toyoda worked with Taiichi Ohno on developing the Toyota Production System.