How can you use the A3 problem-solving method to improve manufacturing efficiency?

The A3 report is one of the many Lean management tools developed as part of the Toyota Production System (TPS). There isn’t a single inventor of the A3 reporting method. In fact, Isao Kato (former manager at Toyota) describes it as a hybrid between the PDCA cycle and Toyota’s philosophy to make things visible. There is also a legend that Taiichi Ohno often refused to read further than the first page of any written report. This is why the A3 is a one-page report. The name A3 comes from the European A3 paper size following ate the 7 steps used: 1)Background/Clarify the problem 2)Current situation 3)Set targets/goals 4)Root cause analysis 5)Countermeasures 6)Implementation 7)Effect confirmation/Follow-up

First, the A3 is a problem solving format, similar to the 8D problem solving process or 5P. Either formats can be used and your customer may specify one over the other. The format or process like the A3 is not the be all solution to a problem. You must utilize problem solving tools like cause and effect diagrams, DOEs, etc throughout the process to get to a root cause. In defining the problem, one word of caution- be certain to define the problem and not symptoms. Without a true definition of the problem, you will go down the wrong path for a solution.

We can use effective tools like ?????????????? and ?????? ???????????????? ???????? to generate solutions for our A3 Problem Solving Projects. ?????????????? (Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to other use, Eliminate, Rearrange) is a group brainstorming tool used to generate possible solutions for a Problem by encouraging you to ask seven different types of questions, which will help you to innovate and improve the product, service & problem, ideas. ?????? ???????????????? ???????? is a simple, effective parallel thinking process that helps teams be more productive and mindfully involved and focused on brainstorming. Each thinking role is separated into six functions and identified with a colored symbolic "???????????????? ??????"

O relatório de A3 partimos da defini??o de um escopo do projeto e objetivos, devemos reunir todos os interessados ao projeto para que possamos ter dados confiáveis. Na medi??o, onde devemos analisar o processo, identificar as oportunidades e os parametros do processo, fazer uso de ferramentas qualitativas como, espinha de peixe, 5pqs, matriz de esfor?o e impacto e etc. Para ferramentas quantitativas, estatísticas descritivas, pareto, histograma e etc. Em seguida devemos priorizar as solu??es levantadas e elaborar o plano de a??o. Na fase final devemos medir os resultados obtidos, criar ou revisar padr?es para garantir os resultados.

We start our journe-y to boost how well we make things with the- Background and Current State section. It provide-s a thorough look at how we currently do things, using data and important markers to show its e-ffect on how well we work. With this knowle-dge, we move to the- Develop Counterme-asures phase. Here- we create practical solutions that dire-ctly face the problems slowing us down. Each solution is made- with care, targeting specific issue-s in how we make things. After putting the-se solutions to work, we ente-r the Follow-Up and Monitoring stage. Here- we regularly check how we-ll our solutions are working. We have the- ability to tweak and fine-tune things as ne-eded, which helps us continually improve- how well we work.

The step root cause finding should be done by fish bone diagram and each of the root cause identified to have contributed to problem should be validated. It will ensure that we are working on right things. Also the corrective action should be generated for each aspect / step of root cause no matter how small the step in a process is.