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How to do an A3 Report
- 1. Wednesday Webinar Series “A3 Report” with Theresa Drulard, MEP Center Director The University of Utah Manufacturing Extension Partnership Center presents:
- 2. Manufacturing Extension Partnership National Network National network: • 51 centers in all states and Puerto Rico • Public-private partnership • Funding is determined by number of manufacturers
- 3. University of Utah Manufacturing Extension Partnership Center Mission: Provide services and consulting to increase global competitiveness for Utah manufacturers. Key pillars to our mission: o Grow jobs o Increase sales o Increase investment
- 4. About • 30 years’ manufacturing experience • Operational excellence • Operation management • Cross-functional leadership • Quality systems (ISO9001/ISO13485/GMP)
- 5. What we’ll learn today • What is an “A3” • How it is different from a standard report • How an “A3” builds problem-solving skills • Plan-Do-Check-Act process • Layout and information included on an “A3” • Templates
- 6. A3 Report, roadmap, storyboard… •What is an A3 Report? •Why? • Use standardized method • Build Problem Solving Skills • Create Shared Vision for Solution How to: • PDCA tool • Templates
- 7. A3 report defined • A Toyota-pioneered practice of getting the problem, the analysis, the corrective actions, and the action plan down on a single sheet of large (A3) paper, often with the use of graphics. • A3 paper is the international term for paper 297 millimeters wide and 420 millimeters long. • The closest U.S. paper size is the 11-by-17 inch tabloid sheet. Source: Lean Lexicon 5th Edition on https://www.lean.org
- 8. Problem-solving template Visual & Concise Tell a story Foster dialogue Develop problem solvers The A3 Problem Solving template lays out an entire plan, large or small, on one sheet of paper. It’s not the format, but the process and thinking behind it.
- 9. Why A3? Building problem-solving skills Question, Coach & Teach
- 10. Why A3? People as problem-solvers •Go to where the problems are •Understand the messy details •Document facts and data
- 11. “Having no problem is the biggest problem of all” -Taiichi Ohno
- 12. Why A3? Shared vision When the issue is described on a single sheet of paper, it enables everyone touching the issue to see through the same lens.
- 13. Owner/date: Title: Goal or problem statement: Current condition: Background: PLAN: DO: CHECK: ACT: Specific actions Owner Completion Date
- 14. A3 Questions: Building your A3: What’s, How’s, Who’s 1. What is the problem or issue? 2. Who owns the problem? 3. What is the root cause of the problem? 4. What are some possible countermeasures? 5. How will you decide which countermeasures to propose? 6. How will you get agreement from everyone concerned? 7. What is your implementation plan – who, what, when, where, how? 8. How will you know if your countermeasures work? 9. What follow up issues can you anticipate? What problems may occur during implementation? 10. How will you capture and feed back the learning?
- 16. Title: What are you talking about Name/Coach: Background Brief, one or two bullets Why are you talking about it? Current Conditions Summary: where do we stand? Problem Statement What’s the actual pain/condition? Just the facts. Analysis What is the root cause(s)? Goal Brief, one or two bullets Plan Visual Charts What is your proposed countermeasure(s) Do What activities will be required for implementation? Who will be responsible for what and when? Follow Up Criteria to Verify
- 17. What we learned today • Why it is called an “A3” • How it is different from a standard report • How an A3 builds problem solving skills • Layout and information included on an A3 • Plan-Do-Check-Act process • Templates
- 18. Additional “A3” resources •“Managing to Learn: Using the A3 management process” by John Shook •“Understanding A3 Thinking: A critical component of Toyota’s PDCA Management System” by Sobek & Smalley •lean.org •Google: “A3 examples” or “file type: PDF A3”
- 19. Q & A Questions
- 20. Contact Theresa Drulard, MEP Center Director theresa.drulard@mep.utah.edu 801-587-0713 www.mep.utah.edu Follow us on social media @ UofUMEP
Editor's Notes
- Hi and welcome to the University of Utah MEP Center webinar on A3 Reports. My name is Theresa Drulard and I’ll be walking you through the presentation today.
- By the end of this webinar, hopefully you’ll understand the items listed here and feel comfortable enough to try your own A3. We’ll review these items at the end of the webinar so you can monitor your own learning progress.
- Our topic today is all about discovering and learning to use an A3 Report. Some companies refer to this process as their Roadmap or Storyboard and it doesn’t matter to us what you call it, as long as you can do it. We’ll review what an A3 Report is, why you use it and how to build one.
- The formal definition used here comes from The Toyota Production System and includes each aspect of the report. Since all related information is on one sheet of paper, the use of graphics is particularly emphasized as a communication tool for representing data succinctly.
- You can think of the A3 as not just a report but a visual summary of the problem and solutions, a story about the problem, a method for fostering discussion and dialogue and a tool to support problem solving skills. There is less emphasis on the actual format of the report and more attention to the underlying thinking about the problem and solutions.
- A manager’s role is to use interactions during the A3 building process to develop problem solving skills. The manager (or project owner) should ask questions, coach to root cause analysis and teach problem solving skills. It has been said that a “problem well-stated is half-solved” and this is true in building the A3 Report. Instead of simply providing a one-way update ot the manager about an issue, the A3 fosters a dialogue about the process of problem solving.
- The people writing the A3 report will be the main problem solvers. They will need to go to where the problem lives to gather facts and data about the problem and begin to brainstorm possible countermeasures. A significant portion of the initial work on an A3 is focused on understanding the problem and defining what it is and what it is not.
- Taiichi Ohno said that “having no problem is the biggest problem of all” which is often taken to mean that if you can’t see the problem you will never be able to fix it. An example is a manufacturing facility experiencing a high scrap rate on the production floor. Once the A3 investigation begins, you may start to document the costs to the company in lost manufacturing product, but also missed deliveries to clients resulting in lost sales, expedite fees to order extra raw materials which were unplanned for, and higher labor hours. Having such a complete understanding of the problem and all it’s related costs and impact can help the company focus and commit appropriate resources to fix it. An A3 makes the problem visible to everyone.
- Once everyone understands the problem, it is easier to build support for improvements or potential changes. This buy-in will be important in avoiding push-back or other delays when it comes time to implement the changes that fix the problem.
- We’ve talked a lot about why you use an A3 and the benefits of using this tool. Let’s start looking at how to do it. Here’s a simple template. There are many examples available of different layouts but in general you will see these main topics. On this example the research and investigation are shown on the left side of the sheet and the final plan, actions and verification are shown on the right side of the sheet. Using a standardized format makes it easy for an organization to share information, both for those creating the report and for those reading it.
- It can be overwhelming to begin building the A3 from a blank sheet of paper, or even a blank template. We’ve provided a list of questions to get you started on building your A3. These questions address various areas of the A3 Report and are a good way to start the conversation with your team.
- The PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) Wheel is another great tool to standardize your approach while building the A3 Report. This information is typically captured on your A3 Report and can ensure you have a solid plan in place.
- Here’s another example of a template to use while building your A3 Report. Remember that the layout of the information is not as important as communicating the story, doing a strong root cause analysis and creating a clear plan for your solution. This is a living document that will be updated throughout your continuous improvement project so pick a style that makes sense for your organization and is easy to use.
- We’ve reached the end of this brief webinar and have covered all of the items listed here. Hopefully you feel comfortable enough to try your own A3. I would encourage you to select a small problem for practice and to utilize additional resources if you get stuck.
- Here are a few excellent resources. Both of the books listed are available to order online. The website lean.org is a resource from the Lean Enterprise Institute, founded by James Womack, co-author of “The Machine that Changed the World”. There are many free resources available on their website including examples and articles for A3 Reports. Finally, simply searching on the internet can provide many examples and information on A3 reports.
- Here are a few excellent resources. Both of the books listed are available to order online. The website lean.org is a resource from the Lean Enterprise Institute, founded by James Womack, co-author of “The Machine that Changed the World”. There are many free resources available on their website including examples and articles for A3 Reports. Finally, simply searching on the internet can provide many examples and information on A3 reports.
- Thank you for your time today. If you still have questions or comments, please contact us at 801.587.0713 or the email listed here. Good luck!