Everyday Poka-Yoke: Baby Stroller Fail

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My wife found this ad in a local newspaper that was both amusing and dangerous. But, it presented a great opportunity to implement Poka-Yoke.

Here’s the text of the Ad:

Garland, UT 84312 – Nov 12, 2010

Evenflo Stroller – has 1 issue to be aware of - I have a very functional stroller with 1 issue to be aware of. If you hit a bump or the front wheel gets caught while pushing it, it can fold up unexpectedly! It has happened on my toddler – not to any injury or anything – but it is something I want you to be well aware of if you chose to take it. I would not classify this as a young infant stroller. It has an area to carry your bags underneath and a cushioned handle. It does have a broken release button, but is still useable, just tricky. The brake bar tends to not stay off the wheel so I bump it up with my toe periodically.

That being said, it is a nice stroller – for FREE!

So, since we know that Poka-Yoke is designed to prevent human error, let’s analyze this stroller situation within that context:

• Defect: Stroller folds-up onto child while pushing stroller.
• Countermeasure: Create a Poka-Yoke design to prevent the child from being crushed.

How would you do it? What might be a simple way one could prevent a child from being hurt by this stroller? Is there a Poka-Yoke device you could come up with to fix this stroller – after all, it’s a free stroller?

	This post was written by Pete Abilla