Do The Poka-Yoke And Turn Yourself Around
Eldon Kao
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:
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