Poka-Yoke

from the Perspective of Competitive Advantage

by
Edwin B. Dean

Poka-Yoke is Japanese for mistake-proofing. The practice of Poka-Yoke arose in the Japanese manufacturing community to enhance the quality of products by preventing mistakes in the production line.

The concept is simple. If mistakes are not permitted to enter the production line, then quality will be high and rework low. This results in increased customer satisfaction and lower cost at the same time. The result is high customer value. Not only is the concept simple, but often the fixes are simple as well.

Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, Ltd. / Factory Magazine, ed. (1988) provides a succinct overview of Poka-Yoke with 240 visual examples.

References

• Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun, Ltd. / Factory Magazine, ed. (1988). Poka-Yoke: Improving Product Quality by Preventing Defects, Productivity Press, Portland, OR, USA.

Surfing the Web

John Grout's Poka-Yoke Page

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