Poka yoke is a lean manufacturing tool used to prevent defects by catching and eliminating mistakes at their source. It aims to mistake-proof processes through error prevention techniques. Some benefits of implementing poka yoke include higher quality output, solving problems immediately before they become bigger issues, and reduced rework time. Situations where poka yoke is particularly important include hand-off steps between workers, processes where early minor errors could cause major downstream problems, and situations with expensive or dangerous consequences of errors.