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Poka-Yoke

yoke Poka-yoke (ポカヨケ, [poka joke]) is a Japanese term that means "mistake-proofing" or "error prevention". It is also sometimes referred to as a forcing function or a behavior-shaping constraint.

A poka-yoke is any mechanism in a process that helps an equipment operator avoid ( yokeru) mistakes ( poka) and defects by preventing, correcting, or drawing attention to human errors as they occur. Forcing functions are very effective in safety critical situations such as this, but can cause confusion in more complex systems that do not inform the user of the error that has been made. Shingo argued that errors are inevitable in any manufacturing process, but that if appropriate poka-yokes are implemented, then mistakes can be caught quickly and prevented from resulting in defects.

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