CICU Successfully Organizes 11th Poka-Yoke: Human Mistake Proofing Training & Competition

Ludhiana, July 25, 2026: The Chamber of Industrial & Commercial Undertakings (CICU) successfully organized the 11th Poka-Yoke: Human Mistake Proofing Training & Competition at the CICU Complex, Focal Point, Ludhiana, reaffirming its commitment to strengthening the competitiveness of Punjab's industries through continuous skill development and quality excellence.
CICU has consistently been conducting industry-oriented programs aimed at enhancing the capabilities of industrial professionals and workers. Skill upgradation remains one of the organization's key priorities in support of the Government of India's Make in India, Zero Defect Zero Effect (ZED), and Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives.
Addressing the participants, Honey Sethi, General Secretary, CICU, emphasized that the rapid pace of global competition demands continuous upskilling, particularly for the Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector. He highlighted that Poka-Yoke, a Japanese concept introduced by Shigeo Shingo at Toyota Motor Corporation in 1961, focuses on preventing human errors before they result in defects. The methodology significantly enhances productivity, improves product quality, minimizes rejections, reduces the cost of poor quality, and eliminates the need for 100% inspection. He further stated that the objective of the training and competition was to enable industries to learn and adopt best practices and practical case studies in implementing Poka-Yoke systems for operational excellence.
More than 40 professionals, including Quality Managers, Assistant Managers, Engineers, Designers, Tool Makers, Project Developers, Maintenance Experts, and Unit Heads from various industries, participated in the morning training session. The highly interactive technical session was conducted by Subodh Jain, a renowned Lean Manufacturing expert with over 30 years of industry experience across the automobile, FMCG, and service sectors. He shared practical insights into various error-proofing systems, tools, and implementation techniques, while also addressing common shop-floor challenges and their effective solutions.
The afternoon session featured the 11th Poka-Yoke Competition, where 15 leading manufacturing companies showcased their innovative mistake-proofing solutions through presentations and videos. Participating organizations included Poddar Tyres Ltd., Dolfin Rubber Ltd., Farmparts Company, Forge Mach Auto Pvt. Ltd., Steel Strips Wheels Ltd., Hella India Lighting Ltd., Nicks India Tools, Vardhman Special Steels Ltd., Shri Ram Piston, National Industries Units I & III, Forge Auto International, and New Swan Enterprises.
The participating teams demonstrated practical Poka-Yoke applications designed to improve productivity, enhance quality, eliminate waste, reduce manufacturing costs, and strengthen process reliability under categories such as Alarm, Control, and Shutdown Error Proofing Systems. The competition provided an excellent platform for knowledge sharing and cross-learning among participating industries.
The competition was evaluated by an eminent jury comprising Subodh Jain, Senior Consultant and Lean Manufacturing Specialist; Dinesh Mehta, HOD – Quality, New Swan Enterprises Unit-VI; and Dr. T. S. Bedi, Admin & Operations Manager, CICU Centre of Excellence. The jury highly appreciated the innovative solutions presented by the participating companies and encouraged industries to implement these best practices for continuous improvement. The event was efficiently coordinated by Tarsem Verma, Admin Manager, CICU, along with Vinod Kumar.

In the concluding remarks, Rachna Jain, Manager, CICU-BNG, stated that the MSME sector is facing increasing global competition, making continuous learning and process improvement more important than ever. She expressed confidence that the practical knowledge gained during the program would help participating industries enhance productivity, quality and competitiveness. She also thanked all the delegates, trainers, jury members and participating companies for making the event a grand success.
The participants highly appreciated the initiative and acknowledged the program for providing practical knowledge that would contribute significantly to operational excellence within their organizations.