One successful approach for impleme

One successful approach for implementing quality at the source is to use poka-yoke, or mistake-proofing methods aimed at designing fail-safe systems that attack and minimize human error. Poka-yoke systems work well in practice. Consider, for instance, a company that makes modular products. The company could use the poka-yoke method by making different parts of the modular product in such a way that allows them to be assembled in only one way—the correct way. Similarly, a company’s shipping boxes could be designed to be packed only in a certain way to minimize damage and eliminate all chances of mistakes. At Toyota plants, every vehicle being assembled is accompanied by an RFID chip containing informationon how many nuts and bolts need to be tightened on that vehicle for an operation at a given workstation. A green light comes on when the right numbers of nuts have beentightened. Only then does the vehicle move forward on the assembly line.Another tool for implementing quality at the source is andon, which is a system that gives machines and machine operators the ability to signal the occurrence of any abnormal condition such as tool malfunction, shortage of parts, or the product being made outside the desired specifications. It can take the form of audio alarms, blinking lights, LCD text displays, or cords that can be pulled by workers to ask for help or stop the production line if needed. Stopping a production line can, however, cost a company thousands of dollars each minute production is halted. Needless to say, management must realize the enormous responsibility this method puts on employees and must prepare them properly.