Do The Poka-Yoke And Turn Yourself Around

Eggy that changes color in boiling water instead of a traditional timer for your boiled eggs

Poka-Yoke is a fundamental in today's product design. It is a term that is generally distilled to "idiot-proofing". Poka-Yoke can be used in Lean Manufacturing wherever there is operator intervention in a process step.

The picture above is an everyday example of Poke-Yoke, an alternative Egg Timer that takes the guess work out of making a hard/soft boiled egg. Other examples include the various ports for cables for your TV or computer. These cables are not interchangeable and only fit in one orientation (i.e. USB/HDMI/Serial cables are all unique and cannot be put in backwards or upside down). 

Poke-Yoke should be considered when determining CAPAs and during 5S activities. It is a method to bring control to a process that is historically variable. There are many creative solutions but here are some good places to start:

Form Field Entry - When creating spreadsheets, databases, or software, ensure to include data validation parameters to make sure the correct data is entered in the preferred format. This ensures consistency throughout the process and that the data is in the right units or significant digits. For information that is repeated, use an auto populate option so time is not wasted typing/writing the same information. 

Wrong Machine Parts - Many operations have shops that service many machines and carry many spare parts. Although this is necessary and convenient, if not properly handled, inventory can be overwhelming and wrong machine parts could be inadvertently swapped for use when they are not equivalent. One way to avoid these mistakes is to have clearly labelled parts or parts that are not ordered based on type but instead ordered based on what equipment they are authorized for use. 

Equipment Set Up - Errors in equipment set up, adjustment, or preparation can be avoided by use of jigs or visual markers. This ensures that the same tasks are performed the same way every time and takes the variables out of the equation. 

Sometimes the errors that Poke-Yoke methodology seek to curb seem inconsequential but if left unchecked, they quickly add up and contribute to overall Cost of Quality. 

Discussion
What Poke-Yoke strategies have worked for you?