A3 Problem Solving
How do you solve your production problems?
A wonderful method for solving problems systematically and sustainably are so-called A3 reports, which are an important part of the lean approach - developed by Toyota.
I regularly encourage teams to develop a system and a continuity so that they create an effective way of problem thinking. With the “A3 Problem Solving” you install a method that you may already know from the PDCA cycle:
Name the problem as precisely as possible - which problem do you want to solve? Name the first facts!
How can the current situation be described? Do we already know some background information that could become important? Try to find the common denominator.
Check which causes influence your defined problem and try to weight these causes so that you focus on the important causes. We often get lost in the large amount of information!
What could be some initial solutions that you need to observe? Record your first most important findings and continue to work on them together with your team.
Then try to find out which metrics and visualizations could help you to measure your success. Maybe you can even integrate these visualizations into your daily or weekly meeting routine - see my last post regarding "Leader Standard Work" 😉.
If you are sure about your solution approaches and have checked their effectiveness, then you should think about a new definition of the standard.
Please don't make it too complicated: keep it simple. Methods and routines should simplify your everyday working life and not make it more difficult!
By the way: the picture shows a simplified representation of an A3 sheet.
