Development of a framework for Poka-Yoke system performance assessment during the service design for attaining leanness

Purpose This paper aims to develop a framework for assessing the futuristic Poka-Yoke system performance of service businesses toward attaining leanness during their design phase considering various factors enhancing Poka-Yoke system performance. The paper also attempts to validate the framework by implementing it in the service business of pathology laboratories. Design/methodology/approach Various factors and subfactors that enhance Poka-Yoke system performance are identified through literature. A structural methodology based on graph theory and matrix approach is applied to developing the Poka-Yoke system performance index (PYSPI). The Poka-Yoke enhancing factors and their interrelations, with due consideration of their structure, are modeled through graph theory. The performance factor digraph is defined; the nodes of this represent the Poka-Yoke enhancing factors, while the edges represent their degrees of interrelationship. The equivalent matrix of the digraph forms a Poka-Yoke system performance function that will yield the evolution of the PYSPI. Findings A higher value of the PYSPI indicates that the service system design has a high level of inherent capacity to resist any wrongdoings while rendering the services. The methodology is implemented for assessing the Poka-Yoke system performance of a pathological laboratory service in the health-care service industry. It was found that management factors followed by strategic factors can significantly impact PYSPI. Practical implications The methodology can be applied during the design stage of service systems to understand the extent to which the system is capable of avoiding mistakes. It can also be used to assess the Poka-Yoke system performance of an existing service system and take corrective actions. Originality/value This paper introduces the system structure approach of graph theory and matrix for measuring the Poka-Yoke system performance in service businesses that forms the novelty of the work.