poka yoke(pokayoke)Everyone will make mistakes. Traditionally managers thought these are due to the carelessness of the workers. But lean manufacturing understands that large portion of these mistakes is due to the problems in the system itself. Therefore lean manufacturing calls for a system which is mistake proof by nature. This is known as poka yoke. It is not possible to eliminate all the mistakes people make. People are not mistake proofed by their nature. But organization can avoid these mistakes from reaching the customer, which is known as a defect in this case. Mistakes can be stopped as soon as they happen at least. Pokayoke is very simple concept in nature. The basic concept of this is avoiding the problems by correcting the process. It is very important to avoid a mistake becoming a defect. But meanwhile it is very important to find out why there are mistakes in the system. According to my knowledge some systems lead people to do mistakes. So many data passing processes, so many contact points, unnecessary documentations and processes makes the systems complicated. Complicated systems can make mistakes easily. One simple example of poka yoke is having an automatic stoppage of machinery when oil levels go down. So people will not operate machinery with lower oil levels. This will make sure your system is operating smoothly. Another very good example for this kind of mistake proofing process can be found in computers. Every plug has a socket exactly matched with it. No other device can be plugged into this. So even if you want to do a mistake you can’t?. Most of the times implementing these kind of controls is free or inexpensive. Pokayoke systems reduce the cost of failure dramatically. No defective part will be passed to the next process. So at the end of the process you can trust that you have a good quality parts on your hand. Poka yoke is one of the critical steps in the lean journey. |
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