United Technologies Corporation (UTC) established Ito University as the tangible means to build a network of lean leadership philosophies to improve UTC's internal and external supply systems.
When he was 64, a retiree from Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. (MC), Ito moved to a Hartford suburb to work on improving the productivity of UTC's businesses.
George David first encountered Ito in 1989, after he was brought in by the unit's Japanese joint venture partner, Matsushita Industrial, to try to figure out why Otis's newly designed, modern Elevonic 401 elevators were not performing in the field, including some that caught fire.
Their Japanese partners got directly involved with the engineers who were tasked with analyzing the cause of the problem.
Later, with Ito in charge, the work they did changed the fundamental design of the elevator line worldwide.