People make mistakes, processes do not have to. Poka-YokeJapanese for "mistake-proofing"; designing a process so an error is either impossible to make or immediately obvious. Click term for full definition makes the wrong way impossible, or at least impossible to miss. Watch the short video, then work with the toolkit PDF: it explains the method, shows a worked example and gives you a blank template to fill in.
Tool video
The short tool video will appear here.
Poka-Yoke in short
- Describe the error. What goes wrong, where and how often? Use your FMEA or defect data.
- Find where it starts. Go to the step where the mistake is made, not where it is found.
- Ask: can we prevent it?. Shape, sequence, system rule. Make the wrong way impossible.
- If not: detect it at once. Sensor, count, colour, alarm. Stop before the next step.
- Test and standardize. Try it, check the defect rate, then add it to the SOP.
Key points
- Design out human error.
- Prevention first, detection second.
- Act where the error is made.
- Simple and cheap works best.