Quality Minute: Poka-yoke

Poka-yoke (POH-kah YOH-kay) is a Japanese term for a mistake proofing device (poka=mistake, yoke=prevent).​  It was devised by Shigeo Shingo in 1961 and is an enduring and simple concept. ​​  A poka-yoke device can be for prevention or detection.  What are some ways that poka-yoke can be applied in what we do?  Share your ideas.

Characteristics of a good poka-yoke device:

• simple and cheap
• part of the process
• placed close to the work to provide quick feedback​​

This is the story of the first poka-yoke device:

• ​Problem: springs were missing from switches.
• Old procedure: a worker takes two springs out of a box and assembles a switch.
• New procedure: a small dish is placed in front of the parts box.  The worker takes​ two springs out of the box and puts them in the dish. The worker assembles the switch. If a spring remains in the dish, the worker knows the assembly is missing a spring.
• Outcome: the new procedure completely eliminated the problem of the missing springs.​

The 3 "A's" of Quality and Business Performance

A sound strategy, the ability to execute, and a skilled workforce are some of the things an organization needs to achieve high business performance and quality.  Once that is achieved is when the real challenge starts, though.  It’s not good enough to just attain high performance and quality, an organization must continuously improve in order to stay competitive.  A key to doing this is to focus on a few critical aspects of the business; employee engagement and capability growth.  Here's a method I use with my teams:

Work together to find how people can maximize their contributions.  Look for activities that intersect these three points:

• Aspiration - what motivates you, what you enjoy
• Aptitude - what you are good at
• Aim - what the business needs to get done, the goals of the business

This works because engagement and value are created at these intersections.  When you do work you enjoy, work you’re good at, and it is work the business needs to get done, the stage is set for business performance and quality to grow.

How do you find the intersections?  Sometimes, they’re easy to find; they’re obvious or you get lucky and stumble into one.  Other times, you're going to have to invest some energy and maybe even change how you operate.  Do these three things to find the intersections:

• Observe - be patient, observe objectively and constantly
• Develop Rapport – take a break from titles and org charts
• Listen – listen actively, set aside agendas and personal ambitions

Make this a practice.  Allow it to work for your teams and the results will follow.

Quality Minute: Waste

What is waste?  The Toyota Production System (TPS) offers a definition.

There are seven kinds of waste:

• overproduction
• unnecessary transportation
• inventory
• motion
• defects
• over-processing
• waiting​

In a software "manufacturing" environment, overproduction and inventory could be in the form of unnecessary features or unwanted features.  Unnecessary transportation could be inefficient task management.  Another example could be excessive communication such as reply-all email storms that occur when a process is missing.​

Quality Minute: Value

What is value?  The Toyota Production System (TPS) offers a definition.

• Value is defined by the customer.​
• Value is anything that a customer is willing to pay for.​
• Anything that doesn't add value is waste.

How is value​ related to quality?  The TPS definition of value supports the definition of quality "Fitness for Use".​  That is, when a product is demonstrated free of critical defects and has the functionality and performance that a customer is willing to pay for, the product is "Fit for Use" and ready to ship.​