The literature presents a number of similar definitions of pokayoke,
even though they use different key terms and are often far
from precise. According to Shingo [5] a poka-yoke is a mechanism
for detecting errors and defects, which inspects 100% of the
pieces, working independently on the operator’s attention span.
To Grout [7] a poka-yoke is the use of process or design features
to prevent errors or the negative impact of errors. Middleton [23]
defines poka-yoke as the systematic practice of eradicating errors,
by locating their root cause. Plonka [24] considers that a poka-yoke
is a mechanism for detecting, eliminating, and correcting errors at
their source, before they reach the customer. Other studies simply
define a poka-yoke by means of examples, either by simply
substituting this label with others, such as sensors and jigs, or by
translations such as mistake-proofing [25] or error-proofing [1].
Such synonyms draw on concepts that are intuitively meaningful
in the sense that everyone associates something with them, so they
feel they understand them [26].