Red Ribbon Poka Yoke

Hey Milo, that's pretty smart.
I've wracked my brain but can't come up with any examples, although I do put feathers on my arrows so I know which end to pick up and they act as a safety and arming indicator.
Del

Nice...

It also has the added bonus of being able to liberate the instructions (assuming they were with the blister pack) without having to pull all the pieces out. I always like to give the instructions a once over before I commit to the project.

Shawn

Yes that's so. However the commitment was when we paid for the box and put it in the car. The instructions were not part of the decision making process...

Milo

And what do you do when your package displays the tell-tail ribbon, but the manufacturer has neglected to attach the assembly hardware to the other end?

That is a fair question but somehow I figure if we ask how they poka yoke that, then you will ask "how do they assure they attached the correct hardware pack..."

The joys of assembly!

Fleas on top of fleas...

So how do you assure that the rods in your pouch are the rods you want, and not the wrong rods from the last assignment???

Milo

There is a manufacturer I represent (manufacturer special doors, e.g. the door between the kitchen and dining room in a restaurant) that uses the Poka Yoke method for their small parts and instruction package. I have seen them use four different trace tape colors, each one for a particular type of installation. Pretty clever, I think.

Instructions? We don't need no stinking instructions! _{^{(with apologies to B. Traven)}}

"Instructions? You can't handle the Instructions"

Apologies to Jack Nicholson.

Milo

Hmm, 30-35 years ago when I was designing (prototyping) PCB's; I used "rainbow" colored ribbon cable. As I remember it, I had to toss the first few rows to make it match the resistive color code, but nobody (ESPECIALLY ME!) was ever confused!