John Grout's Poka-Yoke Page

Information on Mistake-Proofing, ZQC, & Failsafing.
Make Your Selection from the 20 Pocket Protectors Below
May, 2004: John Grout and co-author Doug Stewart receive Shingo Prize for Manufacturing Excellence in Research

All of the pocket protectors featured on this page are the creations of Mick McGill. They are used with permission.

I need your help locating additional information about Poka-Yoke. Please send information, citations, links to other relevant www sites, or corrections to John Grout at jgrout@campbell.berry.edu or call (706)235-1418. If the citation is not easily avalable please include information on how to obtain it.

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Disclaimer: This is not an official Berry College web page

Mistake-Proofing, & Poka-Yoke Readings List

The reading list icons indicate the research area or discipline of each citation:

Medical literature
Engineering literature
Mistake-Proofing Literature Mistake-proofing and poka-yoke literature
Psychology Literature Psychological literature
Software Applications Software & human-computer interaction literature

Many of the books listed below can
be obtained from Productivity Press
Productivity Press: A major source of training and information on Lean business practices

Productivity Press: A major source of training and information on Lean business practices

Mistake-Proofing Literature Poka yokay systems to ensure zero defect quality manufacturing.
Bandyopadhyay, J. K. 1993. International Journal of Management 10 (1): 29-33. content notes

Engineering Literature In-Process Quality Control for Manufacturing.
Barkman, W.E. 1989.New York: Marcel Dekker. (Preface and chapter 3 are of particular interest.) content notes

Mistake-Proofing Literature Using Poka Yoke (Mistake Proofing Devices) to Ensure Quality.
Bayer, P.C. 1994. IEEE 9th Applied Power Electronics Conference Proceedings 1:201-204. content notes

Mistake-Proofing Literature The Basics of Mistake-Proofing.
Beauregard, M.R. Mikulak, R.J., and McDermott, R.E. 1997. New York: Quality Resources. content notes

Mistake-Proofing Literature The trend: 100 percent quality verification.
Bodine, W.E. 1993. Production (June): 54-55. content notes

Mistake-Proofing Literature Despite fuzzy logic and neural networks, operator control is still a must.
Bose, Rana. 1995. CMA 69: 7. content notes

Psychology Literature *Variable errors set a limit to adaptation.
Brehmer, Berndt. 1990. Ergonomics 33 (10/11): 1231-1239. content notes

Psychology Literature Set Phasers on Stun and Other True Tales of Design, Technology, and Human Error.
Casey, Steven. 1993. Santa Barbara, CA: Aegean. content notes

Mistake-Proofing Literature The Pokayoke Solution.
Chappell, Lindsay 1996. Automotive News Insight August 5:24i. content notes

Mistake-Proofing Literature Make your service fail-safe.
Chase, R. B., and D. M. Stewart. 1994.Sloan Management Review (Spring): 35-44. content notes

Mistake-Proofing Literature Mistake-proofing: Designing errors out.
Chase, R.B., and D. M. Stewart. 1995. Portland, Oregon: Productivity Press.
Productivity Press has discontinued sales of this book (a very sad outcome). Some copies may be available in local books stores. It is both more readable and broader in application than Shingo (but does not have a catalog of examples like Shingo). content notes

Mistake-Proofing Literature Poka-Yoke Designs Make Assemblies Mistakeproof. (Requires Adobe Acrobat)
Dvorak, Paul. 1998. Machine Design Magazine, (March 10): 181-184. Article quotes yours truly and many of my friends. content notes

Engineering Literature *Guidelines for Preventing Human Error in Process Safety
Embrey, D. (ISBN 0-8169-0461-8) available from American Institute of Chemical Engineers. New York NY. content notes

Medical Literature Human Error: Designing for Error in Medical Information Systems
Felciano, Ramon M. 1995. Stanford University Web Page. content notes

Medical Literature Human Error in Medicine Bibliography
Felciano, Ramon M. 1995. Stanford University Web Page. content notes

Mistake-Proofing Literature An Economic Analysis of Inspection Costs for the Mistake-Proofing of Binomial Attributes.
Grout, J.R. and Downs, B.T. 1995. Working Paper 95-0901. Dallas, Texas: Cox School of Business, Southern Methodist University. view abstract content notes

Mistake-Proofing Literature Fail-safing and Measurement Control Charts.
Grout, J.R. and Downs, B.T. 1998. Quality Management Journal 5(2): 67-75. view abstract content notes

Mistake-Proofing Literature Mistake-Proofing Production.
Grout, J.R. 1997. Production and Inventory Management Journal 38(3):33-37. view abstract content notes

Mistake-Proofing Literature Mistake-Proofing: Process Improvement Through Innovative Inspection Techniques.
Grout, J.R. 1998. The Quality Yearbook, 1998 Edition: 405-414. content notes

Engineering Literature Managing Human Error in Aviation.
Helmrich, Robert L. 1997. Scientific American (May):62-67. content notes

Mistake-Proofing Literature Make No Mistake.
Henricks, Mark, 1996. Entrepeneur (October): 86-89. (includes quotes from yours truly. Last quote should read "...average net savings of around $2500 apeice..." not average cost.) content notes

Mistake-Proofing Literature The role of variation, mistakes, and complexity in producing nonconformities.
Hinckley, C.M. and Barkan, P. 1995. Journal of Quality Technology 27(3):242-249. content notes

Software Applications Your Job Managing Error in Out of Control.
Kelly, Kevin, 1994. New York: Addison-Wesley. content notes

Engineering Literature Plant Design for Safety: A User-Friendly Approach
Kletz, Trevor. 1991. New York: Hemisphere Publishing Corp. content notes

Mistake-Proofing Literature Cpk of 2 not good enough for you?
Lafferty, J.P. 1992. Manufacturing Engineering (October): 10. content notes

Medical Literature Error in Medicine.
Leap, Lucian L. 1994. Journal of the American Medical Association 272(23): 1851-1857. content notes

Mistake-Proofing Literature Company Cuts The Risk Of Defects During Assembly And Maintenance.
Marchwinski, Chet (ed.) 1996. MfgNet: The Manufacturer's Internet Newsletter Productivity, Inc. Norwalk, CT. content notes

Mistake-Proofing Literature Mistake-proofing.
Marchwinski, Chet (ed.) 1995. Productivity 17(3): 1-6. content notes

Mistake-Proofing Literature SPC vs. ZQC.
Marchwinski, Chet (ed.) 1997. Productivity 18(1): 1-4. An article about my work with Brian Downs on when to use SPC and ZQC. (ZQC is the acronym for mistake-proofing.) content notes

Software Application Microsoft, HP Use Poka-Yoke to Squash Software Bugs.
Marchwinski, Chet (ed.) 1997. Productivity 18(5): 1-4. (An article summarizing the work of Harry Robinson and James Tierney) content notes

Engineering Literature Poka-Yoke Prevents Accidents As Well As Defects.
Marchwinski, Chet (ed.) 1997. Productivity 18(5): 4-7. content notes

Mistake-Proofing Literature Poka-Yoke and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
McClelland, S. 1989. Sensor Review 9(2): 63. content notes

Mistake-Proofing Literature Toyota Production System.
Monden, Y. 1983. Norcross, GA: Industrial Engineering and Management Press. (pp.10, 137-154) content notes

Mistake-Proofing Literature Boka/yoke-ing your way to success.
Myers, Marc 1995. Network World. September 11, 1995: 39. content notes

Software Applications *A Case History Development of a Foolproofing Interface Documentation System.
Nakajo, T., Azuma, I. and Tada, M. 1993. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering 19(8): 765-773. content notes

Mistake-Proofing Literature * The principles of foolproofing and their application in manufacturing.
Nakajo, T. and Kume, H. 1985. Reports of Statistical Application Research, Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers 32(2): 10-29. content notes

Mistake-Proofing Literature Poka-yoke: Improving product quality by preventing defects .
Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun/Factory Magazine, (Ed.). 1988. Portland, Oregon: Productivity Press. content notes

Psychology Literature The design of everyday things.
Norman, D.A. 1989. New York: Doubleday. content notes

Mistake-Proofing Literature Mistake-Proofing for Operators: The ZQC System.
The Productivity Press Development Team. 1997. Portland, Oregon: Productivity Press. content notes

Psychology Literature *New Technology and Human Error.
Rasmussen, J. et. al. (Eds.) 1987. New York: John Wiley and Sons. content notes

Psychology Literature Human Error.
Reason, James. 1990. New York: Cambridge University Press. content notes

Mistake-Proofing Literature The limited role of statistical quality control in a zero defects environment.
Robinson, A.G. and D. M. Schroeder. 1990. Production and Inventory Management Journal 31(3): 60-65. content notes

Mistake-Proofing Literature Modern Approaches to Manufacturing Improvement: The Shingo System.
Robinson, A.G. (Ed.) 1991. Portland, Oregon: Productivity Press. content notes

Mistake-Proofing Literature How To Achieve Error-Proof Manufacturing: Poka-Yoke and Beyond: A Technical Video Tutorial
SAE International may be ordered online for $895 ($25 preview copy). content notes

Mistake-Proofing Literature Zero quality control: source inspection and the poka-yoke system.
Shingo, Shigeo. 1986.t rans. A.P. Dillion. Portland, Oregon: Productivity Press. content notes

Mistake-Proofing Literature A Study of the Toyota Production System From an Industrial Engineering Viewpoint
Shingo Shigeo, 1989. Portland, Oregon: Productivity Press. Online excerpts content notes

Mistake-Proofing Literature Using Poka-Yoke Concepts to Improve a Military Retail Supply System.
Snell, Todd and Atwater, J. Brian 1996. Production and Inventory Management Journal 37(4): 44-49. content notes

Software Applications Eradicating mistakes in your software through poka yoke
Tierney, James alternate title "From Deming to Shingo: using Japanese quality assurance principles to eradicate problems from your software development process." A video tape of a presentation at a local ASQC meeting, MBC Video, Inc 14415 N.E. 64th St., Redmond, WA 98052. (206) 885-7934. content notes

Mistake-Proofing Literature Implications of fool proofing in the manufacturing process.
Tsuda, Yoshikazu. 1993. In Quality through Engineering Design, editted by W. Kuo. New York: Elsevier. content notes

Mistake-Proofing Literature On training for mistake-proofing.
Vasilash, G.S. 1995. Production (March): 42-44. content notes

Psychology Literature An introduction to vigilance.
Warm, J.S. 1984. In Sustained Attention in Human Performance, edited by J.S. Warm. New York: John Wiley and Sons. content notes

Medical Literature Improvement in transfusion safety using a new blood unit and patient identification system as part of safe transfusion practice.
Wenz, B. and Burns, E.R. 1991. Transfusion 31(5): 401-403. content notes

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