Originally Toyota's in-house electrical components division, spun off as Nippondenso in 1949 (now Denso Corporation). As Toyota's largest supplier, Denso was both a proving ground and a transmission vehicle for TPS. taiichi-ohno extended TPS practices to Toyota's supply chain, and Denso was among the first suppliers to adopt just-in-time, kanban, and kaizen. The Toyota-Denso relationship exemplifies a key TPS principle: supplier relationships are long-term partnerships, not adversarial negotiations. Toyota invested in developing Denso's capabilities rather than squeezing margins — an approach that Deming also advocated (Point 4 of the 14 Points: end the practice of awarding business on price alone). The Toyota supplier network, with Denso at its center, became a model for lean supply chain management.