Jidoka

Lean Manufacturing Series

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Contents
1.  Introduction
2.  Background and History
3.  Components and Implementation
a.  Why Jidoka?
b.  What does Jidoka do?
c.  History
d.  Prevention Techniques
e.  Jidoka Steps
4.  Knowledge Check

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Introduction
•  Jidoka is providing machines and operators the ability
to detect when an abnormal condition has occurred and
immediately stop work. This enables operations to
build-in quality at each process and to separate men
and machines for more efficient work.
•  Jidoka is one of the two pillars of the Toyota Production
System along with just-in-time.
•  Jidoka is sometimes called autonomation, meaning
“automation with human intelligence”.

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Background and History
•  In the olden days, back-strap looms, ground looms, and
high-warp looms were used to manually weave cloth.
•  In 1896, Sakichi Toyoda invented Japan's first self-
powered loom called the "Toyoda Power Loom."
Subsequently, he incorporated numerous revolutionary
inventions into his looms, including the weft-breakage
automatic stopping device, which automatically
stopped the loom when a thread breakage was
detected, the warp supply device, and the automatic
shuttle changer.
•  In 1924, Sakichi invented the world's first automatic
loom, called the "Type-G Toyoda Automatic Loom (with
non-stop shuttle-change motion)" which could change
shuttles without stopping operation.
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Background and History
•  The Toyota term "jido" is applied to a machine with a
built-in device for making judgments, whereas the
regular Japanese term "jido" (automation) is simply
applied to a machine that moves on its own. Jidoka
refers to "automation with a human touch," as opposed
to a machine that simply moves under the monitoring
and supervision of an operator.
•  Since the loom stopped when a problem arose, no
defective products were produced. This meant that a
single operator could be put in charge of numerous
looms, resulting in a tremendous improvement in
productivity.

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Components and Implementation
•  What is Jidoka?
•  Why Jidoka?
•  What does Jidoka do?
•  History
•  Prevention Techniques
•  Jidoka Steps
▫  Detect
▫  Stop
▫  Fix
▫  Investigate

© 2013 Gemba Academy LLC. All rights reserved. 7

What is Jidoka?
•  Quality must be built in during the manufacturing
process!
▫  If a defective part or equipment malfunction is discovered, the
machine automatically stops, and operators stop work and
correct the problem.
▫  For the Just-in-Time system to function, all of the parts that are
made and supplied must meet predetermined quality standards.
This is achieved through jidoka.

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What is Jidoka?
•  Jidoka means that a machine safely stops when the
normal processing is completed.
▫  It also means that, should a quality or equipment problem arise,
the machine detects the problem on its own and stops,
preventing defective products from being produced. As a result,
only products satisfying the quality standards will be passed on
to the next processes on the production line.
▫  Since a machine automatically stops when processing is
completed or when a problem arises and is communicated via
the "andon (problem display board)," operators can confidently
continue performing work at another machine, as well as easily
identify the problem cause and prevent its recurrence.
▫  This means that each operator can be in charge of many
machines, resulting in higher productivity, while the continuous
improvements lead to greater processing capacity.
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Why Jidoka?
•  Increase quality
•  Lower costs
•  Improve customer service
•  Reduce lead time

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What Does Jidoka Do?
•  Adds human judgment to automated equipment
•  Minimizes poor quality
•  Makes the process more dependable
•  Jidoka gives the employee the authority and
responsibility to stop production

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Prevention Techniques
•  Poka Yoke
▫  Visual control of quality
▫  Prevents defects from happening
▫  Example: A floppy disk can only be inserted into the drive in one
orientation
•  Andons
▫  Commonly lights to signal production line status
–  Red: line stopped
–  Yellow: call for help
–  Green: all normal
▫  Andon signals require immediate attention

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Jidoka Steps
•  The four steps in Jidoka are:
1.  Detect the abnormality.

2.  Stop.

3.  Fix or correct the immediate condition.

4.  Investigate the root cause and install a
countermeasure.

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Detect and Stop
•  The first two steps can be mechanized or automated.
▫  Poka-yoke devices are one method to allow a process to detect
a problem and stop. But if you take a broader view, every one of
the mechanisms of the Toyota production system is really
designed to do these two things.
•  Time itself can be a powerful detection mechanism if
work cycles are paced to the takt time.
▫  What should be complete 25% into the takt time? How about
50%? Is the work progressing the way you expect it to? There is a
huge opportunity to detect a problem when there is enough
time to respond--instead of discovering at the end of the day (or
week) that things are way behind. If the team member is given
the means to immediately signal that she has encountered a
problem (via andon, for example), then the response can be
immediate.

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Detect and Stop
•  Kanban also serves as a system to detect abnormalities.
▫  If there is inventory without a kanban attached, I know that
either overproduction has occurred or somebody didn't follow
the rules. If the system has been running smoothly and there is
a shortage (or overage), I know something has changed.
•  All of the mechanisms of lean manufacturing follow the
same pattern.
▫  They are designed to operate with the bare minimum (just
enough, just in time) in order to detect abnormal conditions or
system changes that might otherwise go unnoticed.
•  Detecting an abnormal condition does no good, though,
unless there is follow-up.
▫  Visual controls are just decoration unless they trigger action.

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Detect and Stop
•  Bringing all production to a grinding halt until the
problem is resolved can be difficult.
▫  Depends on the nature of the problem. But stop is frequently
simply a mental shift. It means "stop doing what you were doing
because you need to do something different." It is an
acknowledgement that some kind of intervention is required.
That might mean shutting down a process or machine, or it
might mean signaling for assistance.

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Fix and Investigate
•  The third and fourth steps cannot be automated.
▫  They are entirely the domain of people because they require
diagnosis, analysis and problem solving. How well an
organization can get through the steps involving fixing the
problem and installing a countermeasure ultimately decides
whether they move forward into continuous improvement or slip
back when JIT reveals a problem to them.

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Fix and Investigate
•  Step three is to fix or correct the abnormal condition so
production can resume.
▫  It might entail adding a temporary countermeasure to avoid
recurrence of the problem. It might require some fire fighting.
It might require running an exception process such as putting in
some temporary kanbans or putting a unit into a rework stall. It
might mean shutting down production until a broken tool is
fixed.

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Fix and Investigate
•  These decisions need to be made at the lowest possible
level of the organization, but no lower.
▫  As the scope of the issue and its potential customer and
economic impact increase, so must the level of action required.
If the solution requires violating the principles of the production
system, it should not be taken lightly. There are plenty of ways
to solve problems while maintaining system integrity. Every time
you bust the system to get something done, you erode
confidence just a little bit.

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Fix and Investigate
•  The last of the four steps is to investigate the root
cause of the problem and install a permanent
countermeasure.
▫  This is an opportunity to expand your knowledge of your
processes and production system. Depending on the nature of
the problem, it could be a straightforward solution. Of course it
might also require enlisting help of a six-sigma black belt.
Either way your system is improved. You will certainly have to
prioritize your efforts, but do not just stick chronic problems
into the too-hard box.

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 Knowledge Check

© 2013 Gemba Academy LLC. All rights reserved.

What is Jidoka? (Mark all that apply)

1.  Jidoka is providing machines and

operators the ability to detect when an
abnormal condition has occurred and
immediately stop work.
2.  Jidoka is one of the two pillars of the
Toyota Production System along with
just-in-time.
3.  Jidoka is sometimes called
autonomation, meaning “automation
with human intelligence”.
4.  Jidoka means that a machine safely
stops when the normal processing is
completed.

© 2013 Gemba Academy LLC. All rights reserved. 22

In Jidoka should a quality or equipment problem
arise, the machine does which of the following?
o  A) Detects the problem and continues operating
o  B) Detects the problem on its own and stops
o  C) Continues processing the batch and stops
o  D) Alerts the operator who then stops the machine

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Why should Jidoka be used? (Mark all that apply)

1.  Increase quality

2.  Lower costs

3.  Improve customer service

4.  Reduce lead time

© 2013 Gemba Academy LLC. All rights reserved. 24

What does Jidoka do? (Mark all that apply)

1.  Adds human judgment

to automated
equipment
2.  Minimizes poor quality
3.  Makes the process more
dependable
4.  Gives the employee the
authority and
responsibility to stop
production

© 2013 Gemba Academy LLC. All rights reserved. 25

Match the Jidoka step with its description by
dragging the description to the step number.
Jidoka Step Description
A.  Fix or correct the

□  C
1
immediate condition.
B.  Stop.

□  B
2
C.  Detect the abnormality.

□ 
D.  Investigate the root
D cause and install a
3 countermeasure.

□  A
4

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How can you implement jidoka in your organization?

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Congratulations!!!
•  You have completed the course.

•  Visit Superfactory (www.superfactory.com) for more

information on manufacturing excellence.

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