what is poka yoke

Poka-yoke is a Japanese term that means "mistake-proofing" or "error prevention". It is a quality control technique developed by former Toyota engineer Shigeo Shingo. The purpose of poka-yoke is to prevent defects in the manufacturing process that are the result of human error. Poka-yoke is any mechanism in a process that helps an equipment operator avoid mistakes and defects by preventing, correcting, or drawing attention to human errors as they occur. The term can refer to any behavior-shaping constraint designed into a process to prevent incorrect operation by the user. Essentially, a poka-yoke is a safeguard that prevents a process from proceeding to the next step until the proper conditions have been met. Poka-yokes can be either warning mechanisms or control mechanisms. Warnings provide an alert that is designed to prevent additional errors or defects from happening, while control mechanisms stop the next step of a process from occurring. Poka-yoke is easy to implement because of its universal and rational nature. It is a way of ensuring quality without actually having a quality assurance process, rather than preventing defects from appearing in the first place.