9 Steps for Efficient Problem Solving

We often have come across Problems where Engineers try to jump on conclusions, thereby providing a
quick fix solution without even understanding the problem correctly. This could be due to Lack of
Product / Process Knowledge, Lack of Process approach, Lack of Resources, while timing could also be
one of the most important reasons where Customers need solutions “NOW”. The Impact of these Quick
Fix or in Desi Language “Juggad” is then seen in forth coming days in terms of Impacting other
Performance areas, which Increase cost of product, heavy inventories, loss of efficiency as more time
spend in detail investigations, while to add Cherry on the Cake getting a blame from Customer of not
“Making First Time Right”.

First Time Right? Really!!! Is it Possible or is it a Wish which everyone has! I would encourage my
Readers to provide your Honest Opinion on to it.

We all would be using Many Problem-Solving Tools, though each one being used will have its own
advantage. Today my Focus point of discussion is to use A3 / A4 Tools for Problem Solving. This 9 Steps
for #Efficient Problem-solving approach helps in removing Subjectivity and giving a clear Objectivity to
problem there by identifying the most appropriate solution in the given limits / environment and Time.

TO brief you on A3 / A4 process, this got evolved from Dr. Deming’s Plan – Do – Check – Act often called
as PDCA Cycle and Kepner Tregoe Problem-Solving Decision-Making process i.e PSDM process. The
Purpose of all these tools is to identify appropriate Root Cause by following a set process and find the
Best Cost-effective Solution within the given Environment / Time. While the most important point is we
capture the Learnings and then can Share / Horizontally deploy to other Peers as to avoid repeating the
same mistake in other projects.

The Term A3 / A4 comes from the Paper sizes used to print / report i.e A3 represents the B- Size paper
and A4 represents the Letter Size paper. While question someone would have is, when do we use which
Format? Its simple, if we have less factors involved in the problem and the solutions are simple Straight
forward then we can go with A4 while if there are Several potential failure modes associated and wide
range of solutions, then we should go for A3 format. The approach used in both these Formats though
remains the same. Below as part of the A3 process I would like to brief you on the 9 Steps used for
#Effective Problem solving,

1) Problem Definition: This is the most Critical aspect of #Effective Problem-solving technique,
where the focus should be to mention clearly,
a. What is the problem → Here you should mention what is seen and define it in some
numeric value.
b. Where the problem has occurred—At Your premises or Customer / End user.
c. How many cycles it has occurred & how it failed – eg how many Kms /miles of Vehicle
run; How many times this problem is seen i.e frequency of the problem.

Visual images, Graphical representations adds value in understanding and should be used. Here it is
recommended to see ourselves the actual parts / problem.
2) Targets: This is the area which should be already available with you from Customer. However,
lot of challenges are seen where OEM’s do not specify this Objectively with Specific number.
Here we should focus on,
a. What is our Customer Defined Specifications / Target.
b. While if we do not have a Clear Customer defined Target then we should try to
Benchmark specifications from surrogate program, or lessons learned which are
repetitive in nature.
c. For assembly parts Targets could be spread across subcomponents too.

Having a Clear Objective Target in mind to Solve any problem would be one of the Most
important aspect as part of #Effective Problem-solving technique. If its in form of a dimension
than it should have a clear Tolerance which is reasonable as per Manufacturing processes. If its
failure in durability testing then it should have clear specifications for Number of Cycles the
product needs to minimum withstand.

3) Physics: This area focuses more on Analysis part. The Actual part which has problem should be
observed and analyzed. If you are not in position to get the actual failed parts then we should
try to simulate the problem.

While once the problem part is available and if its an assembly part then we should do Tier-
down activity step by step & note down our observations to compare each part against its
respective specifications. If any parts are out of specifications, then this could result in potential
failure and could be contributing some percentage to the failure seen. So, this issue could be
straight away managed by focusing first to have right parts to specifications and then repeating
the tests to demonstrate and see if the part qualifies the Customer defined Target / Internal
specifications.

Focus should be given to understand Relevant Hand Calculations / E- calculators, FEA

simulations, to check Loads coming on the system / subsystem. Studies like Load Vs deflection
can be conducted and represented graphically to have better understanding of the situation.

Tools often used for Root cause analysis are 5 Why Tools, Process capability tools, Design of
Experiments etc. One of the tools widely used is the Fishbone diagram as shown below,
 All potential failure modes / parameters could be listed in respective above tabs by asking
below questions,

a) Man / People: What could be potential contributing factors lead by Labour /

operator which could have resulted to this problem? eg, Skill, Fatigue, etc.
b) Measurement: What in Measurement System could have skipped resulting in this
failure?
c) Machine / Tools: What factors in Machine / Tools could go wrong in leading to this
problem?
d) Method: What Method/ Working condition changes could have led to this problem?
e) Environment: What Environmental factors could have resulted in this failure? It
could also be related to Packaging which should be listed.
f) Material: What material properties, Temperature conditions could result in
deterioration of material resulting this problem?

Thus, a Clear Understanding of Physics w.r.t above points would help Engineers / user to identify
the Cause of the Problem. While as part of #Effective Problem-solving users should not jump here to
conclusion and not start working on the actions but however stick to a systematic approach / process to
follow the next Steps.

4) Brainstorming Alternatives: In this step the CFT from different domains could come together to
brainstorm all possible solutions. A simple step could be each potential failure modes listed
above from Physics section could have an action defined. We should initiate a Benchmarking
exercise to understand how in other programs this problem, Specifications and solutions were
addressed. This data generation will help Team for a good understanding in all these areas
where the knowledge would be later captured to avoid repeat failures.
 Here we should also check all our best Engineering practices, guidelines to see if we are within
the recommendations set ahead by the experts.
This for #Effective Problem-solving all our 60 -70% efforts should be focused till this step in
having a clarity to proceed before the next steps.

5) Analyzing & Ranking Alternatives: Here the Alternatives listed by the CFT are all listed towards
left side of the Table and ranking analysis is carried by providing appropriate number w.r.t
below criteria,
Where, #0 represents Unacceptable condition
#1 represents Nearly Unacceptable condition
#2 represents Nearly Acceptable condition
#3 represents Acceptable condition
#4 represents Best Suitable condition

While below is the criteria against which each of the alternative solutions should be analyzed and
precisely ranked. The Final Total score should be out put collected by the summation of each criteria
score defined.

Based on this Analysis, the highest score seen should be marked as the best suitable alternative
while 2nd / 3rd best could also be noted and analyzed for the next steps.

6) Analyzing Impact in Other Areas: This is the area which is often missed by Engineers which
leads to further escalations in product quality, costs hence Analyzing Impact of proposed
solutions in other areas plays a very important role in #Effective Problem-solving.
The best suitable idea and the 2nd / 3rd best suited ideas are analyzed to see if it impacts other
areas like Aesthetics, durability issues in other components / assemblies i.e it could be treated
as updating the DFMEA & checking Potential failure modes due to these recommended changes.
Tools like Interface matrix used generally in DFMEA could be a useful tool to mitigate risks.
Thus, as an Engineer and to the CFT this tool would give confidence that the recommended
solution would work effectively. The out put of this would help #Effective Problem-solving and
defining the next steps to understand which CFT would be engaged in which activities to make
this proposed solution successful.
7) Generate a Double Ended Schedule: Here the Steps required to meet the proposed product
changes are defined clearly where all actions are noted & assigned to respective CFT members,
starting from Product drawing changes, change Management process, Timing for tooling
changes, assembly and validation and Implementation. Here each activity should have a clear
Start and End dates while activities which are not interdependent should be planned in Parallel.
During this step the Change Management Leader / Program Manager should lead these
activities and engage all respective CFT accordingly for #Effective Problem-solving, and
subsequent reviews should be set to track the program status closely.

8) Follow up and Confirm: In this Step of #Effective Problem-solving, the modified parts being
manufactured are tested at your premise and then send to customer to see if the product meets
the desired set Target Specifications. Here you should check the repeatability of the process and
any risks identified or any assumptions during this step should be revalidated followed by
repeating the PDCA cycle or repeating these above steps.
A confirmation from Test lab, Customer should be taken and documented

9) Reflect: This is the final step of our #Effective problem-solving. The Learnings undergone during
these reviews should be documented, updating of DFMEA should be for improvement seen via
reduced Occurrence and better Detection of this Failure mode. Any Design guideline or best
practices if any which needs to be updated should be discussed with the Subject matter expert
and demonstrated for improvement.
While to avoid any repeat issues the documented learnings should be shared to CFT internal or
external teams if any so that this type of problem is not repeated in any other projects.

Thus these 9 Steps of #Effective Problem-solving will help any Engineers / users to have clarity
on understanding of problem and finding up a most appropriate solution within the given limits
of Timing, cost, and other set criteria.
I would Encourage you all to try and use this tool as part of any improvement plan, we need for
any Department / Function. While why not try and use it for your Personal problems too?