# Supermarket (pull system)

Operations · `Supermarket (pull system)` · verification: source checked

A supermarket is a location holding a predetermined standard inventory that supplies downstream processes. It is normally placed near the supplying process so that process can see customer usage and requirements. Each item has a fixed location from which a material handler withdraws the exact amounts needed downstream, and the removal triggers a signal to make more, such as a kanban card or an empty bin, which the handler carries back to the supplying process.

## Specification

| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Kind | system |
| Origin | Toyota (first installed 1953 in Toyota City) |

## Study notes

- Toyota installed its first supermarket in 1953 in the machine shop of its main plant in Toyota City (Ohno 1988, p. 27).
- Taiichi Ohno took the idea from photographs of American supermarkets showing goods arrayed on shelves by specific location for withdrawal by customers (Ohno and Mito 1988, p. 16).
- Supermarkets are ordinarily located near the supplying process so that process can see customer usage and requirements.
- The make-more signal can be a kanban card or an empty bin.
- The document cross-references Fill-Up System, Kanban, Material Handling and Pull Production; none of these has a matching reference id.

## Sources

1. [Supermarket - Lean Enterprise Institute](https://www.lean.org/lexicon-terms/supermarket/) (accessed 2026-10-25)

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