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OnlineStudentGuide

OpusWorks2016,AllRightsReserved

ErrorProofing

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TableofContentsLEARNINGOBJECTIVES......................................................................................................................................2INTRODUCTION....................................................................................................................................................3BENEFITSOFERRORPROOFING.............................................................................................................................................3APPLYINGERRORPROOFING...................................................................................................................................................4

6-STEPERRORPROOFINGPROCESS..............................................................................................................5GUIDEQUESTIONS.....................................................................................................................................................................6SOLUTIONS..................................................................................................................................................................................6OFFICEERRORPROOFINGTECHNIQUES...............................................................................................................................6MANUFACTURINGERRORPROOFINGTECHNIQUES............................................................................................................7SUMMARY....................................................................................................................................................................................8

©2016byOpusWorks.Allrightsreserved.Version5.5April,2016TermsofUseThisguidecanonlybeusedbythosewithapaidlicensetothecorrespondingcourseinthee-LearningcurriculumproducedanddistributedbyOpusWorks.NopartofthisStudentGuidemaybealtered,reproduced,stored,ortransmittedinanyformbyanymeanswithoutthepriorwrittenpermissionofOpusWorks.TrademarksAlltermsmentionedinthisguidethatareknowntobetrademarksorservicemarkshavebeenappropriatelycapitalized.CommentsPleaseaddressanyquestionsorcommentstoyourdistributorortoOpusWorksatinfo@OpusWorks.com.

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LearningObjectives

Uponcompletionofthiscourse,studentwillbeableto:• DefineErrorProofingfromaLeanperspective• Describeitsbusinessbenefits• Discusshowitcanimprovequalityandreducefailuresandomissions• Understandandbeabletoapplythe6-Steperrorproofingprocess• ExplainhowtoimplementErrorProofingforbothofficeandmanufacturingprocesses

Introduction

ErrorProofingisalsocalledMistakeProofing,fromtheJapanesePoka-Yoke[pohkahyohkeh],sometimespronouncedPoka-Yoke[POHkuhYOKE]inEnglish.Itisatechniqueusedtomakefailure–orpotentialfailure–easytodetect,ortopreventitfromoccurringinthefirstplace.TherearetwoprimarytypesofErrorProofing,PreventionandDetection.Preventionanalyzesthecauseofafailureandtakesactiontostopthatcausefromoccurring.Detection,ontheotherhand,identifieswhenafailurehasoccurredandpreventsthatfailurefromprogressingthroughtheprocesstocreateadefect.

BenefitsofErrorProofing

ThemainbenefitofErrorProofing,asthenameimplies,istopreventorreduceerrors.Inanybusinessenvironment,therearemanyopportunitiesforerror.Humanfactors,suchasfatigue,forgetfulness,insufficienttraining,andalackofunderstandingareoftenthereasonmistakesaremade.Workplacefactors,suchasunclearqualitystandardsormisidentificationofworkitems,canalsoleadtoerrors.ErrorProofingfocusesonensuringthatprocessesrunwithouterrors,evenwhenhumanfactorsandotherexternal

conditionscannotbecontrolled.

Someexamplesofcommonerrorsinanofficeenvironmentinclude:omittingimportantinformationwhencompletinganapplicationorotherpaperwork;processingthewrongitem;losingormisplacingpaperworkorotheritems;andskippingstepsinaprocess.

Inamanufacturingenvironment,examplesofcommonerrorsinclude:settingupequipmentincorrectly;losingormisplacingpartsorotheritems;installingorprocessingthewrongitem;skippingstepsinapr ocess;andmakingincorrectadjustments.

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Thesourceofanerroristheleastcostlyplacetodetectandcorrectafailure.Onceadefectiveitemisallowedtomovepastthesourceprocess,alltimeandmoneyspenttocontinueprocessingtheitemiswasteful.

Forinstance,asadefectiveitemmovesthroughtheprocess,timeandmoneyarespentoninspectionandqualitycontrolchecksthatcouldhavebeenavoidedhadthedefectbeenidentifiedatthesource.Indeed,defectsthatreachthecustomerarethemostcostlyofall.ErrorProofingseekstocontrolqualityatitssourcethroughpreventionorearlydetectionoffailures.Ifeachprocessstepproducesproductthatiserrorfree,inspection,rework,andrepairloopscanbeeliminated.Withtheseloopseliminated,eachstepcanbefocusedonexecutingspecificworkactivitiesratherthanonidentifyingandfixing

issues.Inadditiontoitsprimarybenefitofreducingerrors,ErrorProofingalsoreducesboththetimeandcostassociatedwithfailurecorrection.ApplyingErrorProofing

SofarinthismodulewehaveexplainedthepurposeandbenefitsofErrorProofing,andwehavedescribedthedifferencebetweenPreventionandDetection.Nowlet’sdiscusshowtoinitiateandapplythisLeanprinciple.

WheninitiatingErrorProofing,itisimportanttoselectateamofpeoplewhoregularlyexecutetheworksteps,becausetheyaretheoneswhoknowthemostabouttheworkactivities.Qualityorinspectionrecordswillprovidegoodinformationaboutcommondefectsthatarefound,buttheworkteamshavealeveloffamiliaritywiththeprocessanderrorsthatcanonlybeobtainedbymakingregularchecksandpayingcloseattention.EachErrorProofingeffortmustfocusonthreeprimaryphaseswithinthelifespanofadefect:cause,failure,anddefect.

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Let’slookatanexampleofadefecttohighlighteachofitsthreephases.Imaginethatapersonwhohasjustmovedtoanewcityusesanonlinemappingtooltolocateaspecificstore.Theyentertheaddressinformationtheyhave,andthemappingtoolprovidesdrivingdirections.Howeverwhentheyarriveatthedestinationprovidedbythemappingtool,theyarenotattheintendedstore.Thedefectinthiscaseisthewrongdestinationprovidedbythemappingtool,andthefailureisthemappingtool’sinabilitytorecognizethedesiredstorelocation.Butwhatisthecause?Aphonecalltothestorerevealsthecausetobethatthepersondidnothavethestore’scompleteaddress.ThepurposeofErrorProofingistopreventthecausebydetectingfailuresanddefectsbeforetheyescapetothenextstepintheprocess.Inourexample,thecausemaynothavebeencompletelypreventablesincethestorecannotcontrolwhereorhowthecustomerobtainedtheaddress.However,thestorecanlimitthelikelihoodoferrorbytakingstepstohelpcustomersfindthemeasily.Forinstance,theycouldpublishamapordirectionsinalltheiradvertisementsandlinkdirectlyfromtheirwebsitetoamappingtool.ThesearejustacoupleexamplesofErrorProofingtechniquesthestorecouldusetopreventcustomersfromusinganincorrect

addresstofindtheirlocation.Hadthiserrorbeendetectedatthesource,thefailurewouldhavebeenavoided,andthedefectwouldnothaveoccurred.

6StepErrorProofingProcess

Thebestwaytodetectandpreventdefectsfromoccurringistofollowa6StepErrorProofingprocess.Followingthedefine,measure,analyze,improveandcontrolflow,thisprocesswill:Identifyanddescribethedefectandfailure.Oncethisisdone,thecurrentstandardprocedureisreviewedtodetermineifadeviationfromtheprocedurecausedthefailure.Fromthis,therootcauseorcausesofthefailurecanbedetermined.Next,ideaswillbegeneratedandasolutionchosen.Theerrorproofingdeviceormethodwillbedeveloped,implementedandtestedforeffectiveness.Thelaststepistocommunicateandtrainpeopleontheuseofthenewprocess.

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GuidingQuestions

Asyoudocumenttheerror,thereareseveralquestionsthatcanbeusedasaguidewheninvestigatingwhatwentwrong.ThesequestionsanswertheWhen,Where,What,andWho,andlookattheeffectofadeviationfromastandard,ordocumentedprocess.Itisimportantatthisstagetogatherthefactsandnotplaceblame.Also,don’tjumptoconclusions.Followthecauseandeffectchaintogettotherootcause-thatfundamentalbreakdownorfailureofaprocessorproduct,whichwhenresolvedandcorrected,preventsrecurrenceofthefailureorproblem.Anyinformationthatpertainstothedefectshouldbecollectedandanalyzed.Solutions

YouhavejustlearnedthatErrorProofingfocusesonthreephasesofadefect’slifespan(cause,failure,anddefect)tofindsolutionsforreducingerrors,andyouhaveseenthe6StepprocessforErrorProofing.Nowlet’slookathowsolutionsareimplemented.Therearethreekeytypesoftechniques,ormechanisms,usedinErrorProofing.

Thefirsttypeoftechniqueisanalert,inwhichtheprocessproducesawarningsignalwhenafailureorproblemhasoccurred.Anexampleofanalertthatcouldbeusedinourpreviousillustrationoftheincorrectstoreaddressmightbeamappingtoolthatreturnsawarningmessagewhenitisnotabletolocateanexactaddress.

Asecondtypeoftechniqueisacontrol,inwhichtheprocessautomaticallypreventsafailurefrommovingforwarduntilithasbeencorrected.Again,lookingatourstoreexample,themappingtoolmayimplementacontrolmechanismthatrequirestheusertoselectarecognizedaddressfromaselectionofsimilarlistings.

ThefinaltypeoftechniqueusedinErrorProofingisashutdown,inwhichtheprocessisautomaticallyblockedorcutoffwhenafailureisdetected.Shutdowntechniquesaremostoftenapplicableinmanufacturingenvironments.Inourexample,themappingtoolmayrequiretheusertostarttherequestoveruntilarecognizedaddressisentered.

OfficeErrorProofingTechniques

Let’srecallthetwoprimarytypesofErrorProofingdiscussedearlier,PreventionandDetection,aswelookathowsomespecifictechniquescanbeappliedinanofficeenvironment.Guidesareusedinanofficeenvironmenttopreventinformationfrombeingenteredinthewrongplace.An

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exampleisanypaperformorelectronictemplatethatisusedtocollectastandardsetofinformation,ratherthanrelyingonablanknotepadorotheradhocformofcommunication.Guides,inthiscase,fallintothePreventioncategorybecausetheyareusedtopreventthecauseofafailure.

Checklistscanbeusedtoensureallstepsofaprocessarecompletepriortoadvancingtheitem.Anexamplemightbeachecklistthatmakescertainaprojecthasmetallitsmilestonerequirementsbeforeproceedingtothenextstage.Again,thistechniqueisusedtopreventthecauseoffailurefromoccurring.

ErroridentificationandwarningwhichprovidesnotificationofanabnormalityfallsintothecategoryofDetectionbecauseitservestopreventafailurefromprogressing.Anexampleisthewarningthatappearswhenanelectronicfileisclosedwithoutsavingrecentchanges.Similarly,limitswitchesareusedtodetectmissingorincompleteinformation.Anexampleisanonlineformthatcannotbesubmittedwithoutalltherequiredinformation.AnotherexamplethatfallsintotheDetectioncategoryisadigitalcounter,usedtoensurecorrectquantitiesarepresent.Forexample,digitalorelectronicreconciliationcanbeusedtomatchalistoftransactionstotheday’stotal.Ifthetotalsdonotmatch,thefailurewillneedtobecorrectedbeforeitisallowedtoprogress.

ManufacturingErrorProofingTechniques

Nowlet’slookathowthesesametechniquesmightbeappliedinamanufacturingenvironment.Guidescanbeusedinamanufacturingenvironmenttohelppreventitemsfrombeingplacedinthewrongpositionorlocation.Aswesawintheofficeenvironment,guidesfallintothePreventioncategorybecausetheystopthecauseofafailurefromoccurring.Anexampleisalignmentpinsthatwillonlyaccommodatethecorrectpart,properlyaligned.Checklists,whichalsofallintothePreventioncategory,helpensureeachstepinaworkprocessiscompletepriortoadvancingtheitemtosubsequentsteps.Examplesincludesafetyorchangeoverchecklists.

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Limitswitchescanbeusedtopreventand/ordetectmissingorincompleteitems.Forexample,afillingoperationmighthavealimitswitchtokeeptheprocessrunninguntilithitsthecorrectweight.Inthiscase,thelimitswitchwouldfallintothePreventioncategorybecauseitpreventsthecauseofafailurefromoccurring.Whenusedtodetectmissingorincompleteitems,itwouldfallintotheDetectioncategory.Digitalcounterscanalsofallintoeithercategory.Forexample,adigitalcountercanbeusedtoensureamachinecontinuesrunninguntilaspecificnumberofpartshavebeenproduced,oritcanbeusedtoidentifywhenanincorrectquantityofproducthasbeenassembled.ErroridentificationandwarningtechniquesthatprovidenotificationofanabnormalityfallintotheDetectioncategory.Anexampleisanalarmusedtoindicateamissingpartoranemptybin.Summary

So,whatdoyouknowaboutErrorProofing?Tosummarize,youknowthatErrorProofingtechniquescanbeverysimpleandcosteffective.Youunderstandthatpreventingfailuresisfarmoredesirablethaninspectingfordefectsbecauseitleadstodecreasedleadtimeandprocessingcost.YouknowthatErrorProofingcanbeappliedinbothofficeandmanufacturingenvironments.And,finally,youunderstandthatErrorProofingteamsshouldbemadeupofpeoplewhoregularlyexecutethework,becausetheyarebestsuitedtoidentifyrootcausesanddevelopErrorProofingsolutions.