At parts assembly production sites,where parts are picked from stock, it is almost inevitable that picking mistakes will occur. As parts become more complex and their component types increases, the problem of picking mistakes grows. With Mitsubishi Electric’s Guided Operator Solutions, such mistakes can be easily eliminated, helping to reduce waste, improve quality and boost productivity.
Poka Yoke = mistake preventation
Statistically, it has been found that human error when picking parts is one of the most significant causes of mistakes in assembly operations. Typical problems include picking the wrong parts with a similar shape or name, picking and assembling parts out of sequence, or simply missing a part from a sequence.
While product inspection can prevent faulty goods being shipped to customers, it does little to prevent those defects from being introduced into the product in the first place. While for companies a certain level of waste or rework will be accepted, for others there will be the desire to eliminate mistakes earlier in the production process before real value has been added to the product.
To solve these issues Mitsubishi Electric have developed their integrated guided operator solutions, based on the principles of Poka Yoke, a Japanese term that translates generally as ‘mistake prevention’. Poka Yoke is a method of eliminating mistakes in a manufacturing or logistics operation at source before they can occur.
