ABSTRACT
The Japanese word ji-do-ka comprises three Chinese characters. The first, ji refers to the worker herself. If she feels “something is wrong” or “I am creating a defect,” she must stop the line. Do refers to motion or work, and ka to the suffix “-ation.” Taken together jidoka has been defined by Toyota as “automation with a human mind” and implies intelligent workers and machines identifying errors and taking quick countermeasures.1
