Jidoka is a typical Lean Manufacturing term that revolves around maintaining a continuous high level of quality in each product and process. The consequence of low quality in products and processes can e.g. be production standstills, longer lead-times and faulty end products. Bad quality will most likely disrupt the continuous flow of production that is pulled by the customer, and also create an enormous amount of wasted labor, materials etc.

Jidoka can be seen as the pillar in the Lean house that secures quality, which will ultimately reduce lead-times, costs and increase the overall quality of the products being made.

The main elements of Jidoka are probably:

§       Create Poka-Yokes - bullet proof checklists of wanted quality control

§       The checking of parts during production

§       Immediate feedback on defects

§       Find the root cause of defects and solve it immediately

§       Never pass on defects

§       Resolve problems or stop linked production steps

§       Use JIT, small batches and small inventories to reveal lack of quality

§       Empower people to take individual action to secure quality

By keeping quality in line, production can run smoothly, so that production is not stopped for too long periods. This will thus enable the continuous flow of production, and also reduce waste.