Table Of ContentDU RWARD K. SOBEK II AN D ART SM
ALLEY
Foreword ........................................................................................................ ix
Endnotes ............................................................................................... xi
Acknowledgments ........................................................................................ xiii
Introduction .................................................................................................. xv
A Basis for M
anagerial Effectiveness ................................................. 1
PDCA: Heart of the Toyota Way ............................................................ 3
What Don't We Get? .............................................................................. 4
A System to Support PDCA M
anagement ..............................................7
Endnotes ................................................................................................. 8
2 A3 Thinking .................................................................................... 11
Seven Elements of A3 Thinking ............................................................ 12
Element 1: Logical Thinking Process ................................................ 12
Element 2: Objectivity ..................................................................... 13
Element 3: Results and Process ........................................................ 14
Element 4: Synthesis, Distillation, and V isualization ....................... 15
Element 5: Alignment ...................................................................... 16
Element 6: Coherency Within and Consistency Across .................... 17
Element 7: Systems V iewpoint .......................................................... 18
Practical Problem Solving ..................................................................... 19
Grasping the Current Situation ........................................................ 19
Identifying the Root Cause ..............................................................22
Devising Countermeasures and V isualizing the Future State ........... 23
Creating an Implementation Plan .................................................... 24
Creating a Follow-up Plan ................................................................ 25
Discussing with Affected Parties ...................................................... 25
Obtaining Approval ......................................................................... 26
Executing the Implementation and Follow-up Plans ........................26
Summary .............................................................................................. 27
End no to s ............................................................................................... 27
3 The Problem-Solving A3 Report ..................................................... 29
Storyline of the Problem-Solving A3 ..................................................... 30
Theme .............................................................................................. 32
Background ...................................................................................... 33
Current Condition and Problem Statement ...................................... 35
Goal Statement ................................................................................. 38
Root-Cause Analysis ........................................................................ 39
Countermeasures .............................................................................. 42
Check/Confirmation of Effect .......................................................... 43
Follow-up Actions ............................................................................ 45
Total Effect ......................................................................................46
Reviewing Problem-solving A3s ............................................................ 47
Y our Turn ............................................................................................. 51
Part 1: Write an A3 .......................................................................... 52
Part 2: Critique Y our A3 .................................................................. 56
Summary .............................................................................................. 56
End no to s ............................................................................................... 57
4 The Proposal A3 Report .................................................................. 59
Storyline of the Proposal A3 ................................................................. 61
Theme .............................................................................................. 62
Background ...................................................................................... 63
Current Condition ........................................................................... 64
Analysis and Proposal ....................................................................... 65
Plan Details ...................................................................................... 67
U nresolved Issues (Optional) ............................................................ 68
Implementation Schedule ................................................................. 68
Total Effect ...................................................................................... 70
Proposal A3 Example 1 ......................................................................... 70
Proposal A3 Example 2 ......................................................................... 76
Reviewing Proposal A3s ........................................................................ 80
Discuss with Peer Group or Advisor .................................................80
Discuss with Affected Parties ........................................................... 80
Obtain Approval .............................................................................. 82
Y our Turn ............................................................................................. 83
Part 1: Write a Proposal A3 .............................................................. 84
Part 2: Review Y our A3 .................................................................... 85
Summary .............................................................................................. 85
Endnotes ............................................................................................... 86
5 The Status A3 Report ....................................................................... 87
Storyline of the Status A3 ..................................................................... 89
Theme .............................................................................................. 89
Background ...................................................................................... 90
Current Condition ........................................................................... 91
Results .............................................................................................. 93
U nresolved Issues/Follow-up Actions ............................................... 94
Total Effect ...................................................................................... 95
Status A3 Example ................................................................................ 98
Discuss with a Peer Group or Advisor ................................................. 100
Y our Turn ........................................................................................... 101
Summary ............................................................................................ 102
En dno to s ............................................................................................. 102
6 N otes on Form and Style ............................................................... 103
Form ................................................................................................... 104
Style ....................................................................................................104
Graphics ............................................................................................. 107
U nderstand Y our Data ................................................................... 107
U se the Best Graph for the Data .................................................... 107
Label Properly ................................................................................ 107
U se as Little Ink as Possible ............................................................ 110
Let the Graphic Talk ...................................................................... 110
Tables .................................................................................................. 110
Summary ............................................................................................ 112
Endnotes ............................................................................................. 112
7 Supporting Structures ................................................................... 113
Standard Templates ............................................................................ 114
Where to Start .................................................................................... 116
Handwritten versus Computer-Generated A3s ................................... 117
Coaching ............................................................................................ 120
Approval ............................................................................................. 121
Storage and Retrieval .......................................................................... 123
Summary ............................................................................................ 124
Endnotes ............................................................................................. 125
8 Conclusion .................................................................................... 127
PDCA and M
anagerial Effectiveness .................................................. 128
A3 Thinking ....................................................................................... 130
Three M
ain Types ............................................................................... 131
Form and Style ................................................................................... 132
Final Advice ........................................................................................ 133
Endnotes ............................................................................................. 134
About the Authors .................................................................................. 135
Appendix
A
"Reducing
Bill
Drop
Time"
Problem-Solving
A3
Report
............................................................................................ 137
Appendix B "Practical Problem Solving" Proposal A3 Report ............. 149
Index ...................................................................................................... 159
Toyota may well be the most admired and copied company in the world at this moment.
A few bad quarters of profits could completely change the high level of interest, but
right now that does not seem to be in the cards. It would be hard to find a company that
has more consistently had profitable years and grown so steadily over decades. This
may from the outside appear to be due to some very clever J apanese tricks, such as just-
in-time (J IT) systems to keep inventory low and an overall production and logistics
system that continually delivers exceptional quality-but no one inside the company
would agree with that analysis. If you were to talk to executives inside the company,
you would hear the same theme repeatedly: that their competitive advantage comes
from engaging people throughout the enterprise in continuous improvement. Indeed,
these days around Toyota, the Toyota Production System (TPS) house has been replaced
by the "Toyota Way" house that was presented in The Toyota Way 2001 by then-
president Fujio Cho.
TPS is represented by two pillars-J IT and jidoka. J idoka refers to equipment with the
intelligence to stop itself. Within Toyota, both pillars have to do with problem solving.
J IT is a system with very little inventory; problems will shut down the line and cause a
sense of urgency to solve them. J idoka is about equipment and people shutting down
the line when there is a problem. Why would you want to shut down the line? The
answer is that Toyota leaders do not want to shut down the line as it is costly and can
lead to delays in customer shipments. They want to surface problems so that people
working in the process will solve those problems at the root cause, thereby making the
process stronger. Through this continual strengthening of processes throughout the
company all over the world, Toyota becomes a little better every day. Competitors can
imitate various tools and methods of J IT and jidoka, but unless they are getting a little
better every day for decades, they will not be able to compete with Toyota.
The Toyota way has two different pillars-respect for people and continuous
improvement. The TPS house highlighted technical systems, such as J IT, while this
newer version highlights people solving problems. In reality, from the time Taiichi
Ohno began developing it, TPS was always about people solving problems-but it was
not as explicit in that model. In addition to having more of an explicit focus on the
human side, this new model-the Toyota way-is also generic and can be applied to every
part of Toyota, not just manufacturing.
The problem-solving method taught to people throughout Toyota, which acts as the
toolkit for continuous improvement, is based on what Toyota learned from quality guru
W. Edwards Deming decades ago-Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA). It has become
engrained as an intimate part of the corporate culture. Also engrained in the culture is a
way to report on the results of PDCA and that is now becoming well known as the A3
report. The A3 is an 11 x 17-inch piece of paper and the rules of the game are to put the
whole report on one side of one sheet. Originally, as it was explained to me, this was the
biggest size paper that could fit in a fax machine. I also have witnessed Americans
working for Toyota who were struggling to fit their A3 report on A4-sized paper,
explaining that Toyota wants even shorter reports written on 81 x 11-inch paper.
It sort of makes sense that a company so passionate about streamlining its
manufacturing plants and squeezing out every drop of waste would strive for a
wastefree report. Actually, one of the reasons for such lean processes in J apan was the
lack of space and the lack of money when Toyota M
otor Company started up. There
was no room for extra inventory or the money for the huge pieces of equipment to build
large batches. One side of one piece of paper is not a lot of space and one cannot afford
non-value-added verbiage in such a small space. In fact, if a picture is worth a thousand
words, it makes sense to use pictures when possible on your A3.
I have had the experience more than once of getting a phone call something like the
following: "M
y boss wants to get lean in office operations. We did lean on the shop
floor with great success and to take it to the office we need a different tool. He heard
something about these A3 reports as a lean tool and ordered me to check it out. He
wants all reports to him in the future to be A3 reports." With this type of orientation,
there is certainly the risk of A3 reports becoming the office analogue to the kanban'
card in the factory. There used to be a fad of moving to kanban to eliminate inventory.
Print enough cards, make them colorful, seal them up, and you have a pull system just
like Toyota. M
ake kanban electronic and you have passed Toyota. N ow, the theory
goes, in the office you can write lots of A3 reports and be lean like Toyota.
U nfortunately it is not that simple.
This book is aptly entitled U nderstandingA3 Thinking: A Critical Component of
Toyota's PDCA M
anagement System. There is a lot hidden in this title. First, you have
to understand that A3 is more of a way of thinking than a report-writing methodology.
When Toyota went from A3-sized paper to A4-sized paper, they were not
fundamentally changing the process. In fact, if they were to suddenly decide you can
use both sides of the paper, it would not be an important change. What is important is
the underlying philosophy of the methodology.
Second, the philosophy is rooted in the PDCA way of thinking. PDCA is a practical
tool for continuous improvement. It is practical in that it provides a framework for
