Tag Archives: poka yoke

Bad Weather is Part of the Transportation System

Posted on January 6, 2014 by John Hunter

The job of managers is to create a robust system that delivers value to customers. A system that fails constantly (fails during the continual variation the system faces) is a failed system. Bad weather is part of the variation airlines face. Any management system has to cope with the variation that it faces. The management system must be designed and managed so that the organization successfully delivers value to customers under the conditions the organization will face. The air travel … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer focus, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Accept Taking Risks, Don’t Blithely Accept Failure Though

Posted on February 13, 2013 by John Hunter

For discussion by ASQ’s Influential Voices this month, Paul Borawski looks at Risk, Failure & Careers in Quality. There is a bias toward avoiding the possibility of failure by avoiding actions which may lead to failure or even any action at all. This is a problem. The need in so many organizations to avoid failure means wise actions are avoided because there is a risk of failure. Many times the criticism of such cultures however gets a bit sloppy, in … Continue reading →

Posted in Innovation, Management, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Visual Management with Brown M&Ms

Posted on August 15, 2011 by John Hunter

When you hear about rock musicians having a clause in their contract that they must have a bowl of M&Ms in their dressing room with all the brown M&Ms removed you could be excused for thinking: what will these crazy celebrities do next. Well it might just be those crazy celebrities are using visual management (granted I think there could be better methods [a bit more mistake proofing where the real problems would be manifest] but it is an interesting … Continue reading →

Posted in Creativity, Quality tools | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Improving Software Development with Automated Tests

Posted on March 8, 2010 by John Hunter

Automated software testing is a mistake proofing (poka-yoke) solution for software development. The way automated testing works is that software code is written that tests the software code of the application. This automated testing code test that business rules are correctly being followed by the code in the application. So for example, a user should not be able to create a new account without entering password. Then you create code that does not allow an account to be created without … Continue reading →

Posted in IT, Lean thinking, Management, Process improvement, Quality tools, Software Development | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Great Visual Instruction Example

Posted on December 14, 2007 by John Hunter

This does a great job of explaining what you need to know clearly. While this presentation for Azithromycin doesn’t prevent a mistake it sure makes it much more likely that the process can be completed successfully. We need more effort in creating such clear instructions. Visual clarity is more important than lots of words. Applying that concept is not as easy as it sounds but it is a very important idea for instructions to end use and instructions for processes … Continue reading →

Posted in Health care, Management, Psychology, Quality tools | Tagged , , , ,

Zero Defects

Posted on January 22, 2006 by John Hunter

Zero Defects by Norman Bodek: Do you believe it is possible to have Zero Defects? I am not talking about six sigma at all. I believe it is possible to have zero defects (in a sense). But I do not believe it is a good management strategy to practice what those I have heard in the past preaching zero defects. A Dichotomy by Norman Bodek. Wow, you really have to look to find this article after you follow the link … Continue reading →

Posted in Deming, Management, Quality tools, quote, Systems thinking | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments