Infallibility (Poka-Yoke) Fundamentals for Improving Production Processes, Case Study: An Automotive Parts Manufacturing Company

Abstract

In production processes, quality is defined in terms of defects and sigma level wastes. In order to achieve zero level wastes, it is required that production processes’ sigma levels be increased through improvements in the processes. Utilizing Infallibility Strategy (Poka-Yoke) increases the sigma level of production processes and thus leads the process towards producing parts without fault and with zero defects.

In the present study, the researcher has implemented the Infallibility Strategy (Poka-Yoke) in an automotive parts manufacturing company. In order to achieve the objectives of the study, the researcher, using a map, first determined the areas in which defects occurred in the production process, then the significance of defects with regard to their frequency of occurrence and their scope were determined, and the proper anti-error system was chosen.

Given the number of defects and the annual production capacity, the PPM and the manufacturing process sigma level were calculated. Obtained results demonstrated the significant increase in the manufacturing process sigma level, which in turn implied the successful implementation of the Infallibility Strategy (Poka-Yoke) in the studied company.