Design error-proofing devices (poka-yoke)
Make a recurring error impossible to make, or caught on the spot, with a simple device at the workstation.
The task in figures
- Gives you back
- It does not recur every month
- Elmira today
- Helps
- Frequency
- Per project
- Who does it today
- Engineer, Senior
- Version
- Elmira Junior
What hurts today.
People are asked to be more careful, and the error comes back.
The device gets switched off because it is in the way, and nobody notices.
Nobody measures whether the defect went down.
Asking people to be more careful does not get rid of a recurring error. Poka-yoke makes it impossible, or catches it on the spot: a guide that only lets the part go in one way, a sensor that stops the machine if a component is missing. Designing it means seeing at the workstation how the error happens, devising the device, building and testing it, checking that the defect does not come back and adding it to the standard and to each shift’s check.
Done today with
- Expert
- On the floor
- Paper and whiteboard
- Spreadsheet
- BI dashboard
- Diagramming tool
Each step, today and with Elmira.
You design and test the device. On WhatsApp, Elmira shows you the defects before and after, so you know whether the error stopped happening.
| Step | Today | With Elmira |
|---|---|---|
| See at the workstation how and when the error happens | On the floor | Your call |
| Devise the device that prevents or catches it | Expert, Diagramming tool1 h – 4 h | Still by hand |
| Build it and test it at the workstation | On the floor2 h – 8 h | Still by hand |
| Check that the defect does not come back | Spreadsheet, BI dashboard15 min – 45 min | |
| Add it to the standard and to each shift’s check | Paper and whiteboard15 min – 30 min | Still by hand |
The conversation
No example conversation: the Obeyaka web app does it, or it comes later.
Does this happen to your team?
Book a demo and we will show you Elmira doing this task.
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