This paradoxical situation gave rise to the idea of jidoka, or human automation. jidoka is what enables the machine to be stopped the moment a defect occurs, a machine component breaks, the production flow backs up, or a mistake-proofing alarm goes off. People apply their own human wisdom and experience-based "know-how" to equip the machine with devices that are able to detect any of the above conditions and bring it to an immediate stop.