A3 Reports
A3 Reports
A3 Reports
NotJust6Sigma.com
A3Reports
WhatAreA3Reports?
Aprocessusedtodocumentandreportsolutionstoproblemsestablishedwithin anyareaoftheorganization organization.Thisdiffersfromothertypesofreportinthewaythat allinformationisdisclosedonanA3sheet. A3Thinking=RelentlessImprovement/EliminateWaste
A3Reports
Why Wh do d weneed dthem? th ?
A3Reportsofferasimpleandstructuredapproachtoreporting solutionstoproblems. A3Reportsareparticularlyeffectiveindemonstratingtothirdparties theproblemsolvingprocess A3Reportsrevealtheactionstaken,ortobetaken,inpreventing defects/eliminatingproblems. A3Reportsrequiresclear,concisethinkingandlogic,theA3(11x17) limitationreinforcessubstanceovervolume Essentially,A3Reportsguidetheidentification&eliminationof waste,inordertocontrolprocesses. A3Thinking=PermanentEliminationofProblem
A3Reports
F Follow ll PDCA(DMAIC) process
Plan=Define&Measure Do=Analyze Check=Improve Act=Control
A3Reports
A3CriticalThinking Onemore tooltodrivetowardsperfection
LeanSixSigma g & ContinuousImprovement
LeanSixSigma Alone
ContinuousImprovementAlone
A3Reports
11
17
A3Reports
Dont be b fooled f l dby b the h simplicity l of fthe h form f Theformisthebyproductofcriticalthinking
Focusingonthecriticalfewdrivers Ignorethenoise Gobeyondthesuperficial Digforthetruerootcause Developcorrectiveactionsthatnotonlyfixthecondition buteliminatethepotentialforittooccuragain
A3Reports
IthasbeensaidthatthetypicalU.S.firm,whenfacing avexingprobleminwhichithasoneyeartosolve, wouldspendthreemonthsplanning,threemonths implementing,andsixmonthstweakingandpickingup looseends.Toyota,facingasimilarsituation,would spendelevenmonthsplanningandonemonth implementing(withnolooseendstocleanup!). Durward K.Sobek II.;Art Smalley.UnderstandingA3 Thinking:ACriticalComponentofToyota's Toyota sPDCA ManagementSystem(p.5).KindleEdition.
A3Reports
PDCAaimstoimprovelongtermsystem performancenotjustsolvethecurrentcrisis
A3Reports
ExampleofA3thinking PlantAhasamachineproducingdefectsata rate t of f4.3% 4 3% Noreadilyapparentreason Whatwouldyoudo?
A3Reports
Example E l A3thinking hi ki Paretodefects Addresslargestdefect FishbonePotentialCauses DevelopCorrectiveActionto addresseachcause Trialeach Identifiesbreakthroughsolution
Toolingsupplierissue Changes Ch tooling li supplier li Defectdropfrom4.3%to0.3%
Didhedoagoodjob?
A3Reports
ExampleA3thinking Whatdidwemiss?
Whatdidthetoolingsupplierdo? Arethereany ychecksinp placetomonitorthetooling? g Whoisresponsibleforthetooling? Howshouldthetoolingbemanaged?
Scheduledmaintenanceandinspection? QCcheck?
Howdowepreventthisfromrecurring?
A3Reports
KeyTakeawayfromourlittleexample:
The Goal: Elimination of the problem not just correction How many times do we solve the same problem? bl ?
A3Reports
CreatingtheA3 TeamBasedActivity/Collaborative Requiresdirectobservation Iterativeinnature
Workinpencil Haveabigeraser
A3Reports
KeyElementsofA3Thinking 1. LogicalProblemSolvingProcess 2. Objectivity 3 Both 3. B thresult ltand dth the[problem [ bl solving] l i ]process areimportant 4 Beingabletodiscernthecriticalfew 4. 5. Collaboration 6. Coherent 7. SystemsView
A3Reports
TheProcess
Plan
Do
Check Act
A3Reports
Seektofullyunderstandthecurrentsituation
Wheredidtheproblemoccur? Whendidtheproblemoccur? Whatweretheexactconditions Ifpossibleseetheproblemfirsthand
Confront
Assumptions Bias Misconceptions
Preferencetodiagramsoverwords
IdentifytheRoot Cause
A3Reports
5WhyExample: xample:
A3Reports
Bobdrivesa7yearoldcar,helivesinWisconsin,andhiscar isnotgaraged.ItsJanuary. Lately, Lately whenhegets get sinhiscaritoccasionallydoesnotstart. start Hehastojumpitwiththeotherfamilycar,aoneyearold SUV.Afterthatheisabletodrivethe30minutestowork andthecarstartsthatnight g forthedrivehome.TheSUVis garaged. Bobwantstoknowwhattherootcauseis?
Task
UsePostIts Createa5Whytree B i t Brainstorm Whatquestionswouldyoulikeanswered?
A3Reports
5Whyexample:
Car wont start in the morning Battery is d d dead
Battery is old
Alternator is going
Something stays on
A3Reports
A3Example
Isthereapatterntowhatdaysthecardoesntstart?
Dayof fweek? k? Weather(temperature)thatnight? Whodrovethecarlast?
Doesitevernotstartonthewayhomefromwork? Doesiteversitovertheweekend?
Doesitstart?
Doyoueverparkitinthegarageovernight?
Doesitstartthen?
Dont stop at the obvious (many times this is not the true root cause but a symptom)
A3Report
DevelopCorrectiveActions
Think:
Simple,robust,preventionovercorrection
Gainorganizational g buy yn
Lookforpitfalls Avoidoverburdening Avoiddevelopingnewsystems
Useexistingsystems
A3Report
DevelopandImplementationPlan
Who What Why Wh Where When h How
A3Report
CreateaFollowUpPlan
Thisishowareyougoingtomeasureandensurethecorrective actionsworked?
Whatwastheplannedoutcome? Whatwastheactualoutcome? Isthereadifference? Why? Whatareyougoingtodoaboutit?
Reviewtheresultswiththegroup
Weretheresultsachieved?
Ifso,obtainfinalapprovals(jobdone)andconvertanyoutstanding itemsintostandardoperations
Updatequalityandworkprocedures Updatemaintenanceplans AuditsandVerifications
A3Report
TheA3Reportisntjustaform Itisamethodology h d l to:
Logicallyaddressissues Determinetruerootcause Developcorrectiveactions Implementcorrectiveactions Measureresultsagainstexpectations Standardize/InstitutionalizetheImprovements
A3Report
CompletingtheA3:Background
Demonstrateclearunderstandingoftheissue Makeitvisual Understandyouraudience Providethenecessarydata/factstoquantifytheissue
A3Report
CreatingtheA3:Background
Consider
Currentstate Keyfactorsoftheprocess QuantitativeData/FactsPresented
A3Report
CreatingtheA3:Goalstatement
Howwillweknowwhentheprojectiscomplete
A3Report
CreatingtheA3:RootCauseAnalysis
5Whys 7QualityControlTools
Checksheets ParetoCharts Histograms g CauseandEffect(Fishbone) Correlation ControlCharts Fl Ch Flow Charts t
Separatefactfromopinion Limitedspace
Summarize S i the th main i findings fi di
YouwilldoalotofworkoutsidetheA3
A3Report
CreatingtheA3:DevelopCorrectiveActions (Countermeasures)
Who What Why Where Wh When How
A3Report
CreatingtheA3:EffectConfirmation
Verifytheresults Howdoresultscomparevs.Goal
A3Report
CreatingtheA3:FollowUpActions
Doy youneedtotakeany yadditionalactionsbased onwhatyouhavelearned? Whatdoy youtodotosustainthegains? g Whoelseshouldknowaboutthis(transferof knowledge)
A3Report
AreassuitableforA3
Spoilage QualityIssues DesignImprovements/Changes Maintenance Logistics g Issues PlanningIssues WorkflowImprovement ChangeoverReduction
A3Report
TheA3isnotsomemagic The h A3inand dof fitself lfdoes d notsolve l the h problem
Helpguidetheproblemsolvingprocess Forcestheusertofocusonthemajorfewnotthe trivialmany
Rememberthegoal:
Dontjustcorrectthecurrentcondition Preventtheproblemfromrecurring