poka-yoke

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese ポカヨケ (poka yoke), from ポカ (poka, “a blunder”) + よける (yokeru, “to dodge, avoid”).

Noun

poka-yoke (uncountable)

1. A methodology of using low-cost techniques to error-proof production processes.
   • 2007, Bijay K. Jayaswal, Peter C. Patton, Design for Trustworthy Software […] , Prentice-Hall:

     Poka yoke emphasizes 100% inspections upstream for possible causes of defects, as well as rapid feedback and follow-up actions.

   • [2010, James Coplien, Gertrud Bjørnvig, “What the System Is, Part 2: Coding It Up”, in Lean Architecture for Agile Software Development, John Wiley & Sons, →ISBN, page 133:

     One of the central concepts of Lean practice in Toyota today is something called poka-yoke (fool-proofing).]

Further reading

• poka-yoke on Wikipedia.Wikipedia