Shigeo Shingo

SMED, poka-yoke, mistake-proofing

Shigeo Shingo (1909–1990) was a Japanese industrial engineer and consultant who worked extensively with Toyota to codify what became the Toyota Production System. He developed SMED to reduce machine changeover times to single-digit minutes, and poka-yoke, a discipline of error-proofing processes to prevent defects at source. The Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence, awarded by Utah State University, is named in his honour.