SC QUALITY GUILDA3 problem-solving report
SCQUALITYGUILD.COM/TOOLS/A3-PROBLEM-SOLVING-REPORT.HTML
Tell the whole story of a problem on one page: background, current condition with a run chart, goal, root cause, countermeasures, plan and follow-up. Fill in the sections, and the A3 prints on one landscape sheet.
ON THE EXAM · CSSBB VI.D.2, CQPA II.A, CQE V.C.3 · FREE · NOTHING YOU TYPE LEAVES YOUR BROWSER
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What an A3 is
An A3 report is a one-page problem-solving storyboard, named after the A3 paper size (about 11 by 17 inches) it was written on. It comes from Toyota, where it is used to solve problems, to propose changes and to coach people. The page limit is the point: it forces the writer to understand the problem well enough to explain it briefly, and lets a reader take in the whole story at once.
The sections
The left side is the problem, the right side the response. Read in order, it follows plan-do-check-act.
- Background: why this problem, why now, and which business goal it affects.
- Current condition: what is actually happening, found by going to see. One measure with a baseline, and usually a sketch of the process.
- Goal: the condition wanted, with a number and a date.
- Root cause analysis: the analysis that connects the current condition to its causes: a Pareto chart, a fishbone, 5 whys.
- Countermeasures: each one answers a root cause. Toyota says countermeasure, not solution, because it is the best answer known now.
- Plan: what, who, when.
- Follow-up: how and when the result will be checked, what it showed, and what happens next: standardize, spread, or start again.
Reading the numbers
The run chart shows the measure before and after the countermeasures, with the baseline and the target. Two figures summarize it:
- Improvement on baseline = (baseline − mean after) ÷ baseline × 100 when lower is better, or (mean after − baseline) ÷ baseline × 100 when higher is better.
- Share of the gap closed = (mean after − baseline) ÷ (target − baseline) × 100. At 100% the target is met.
If no baseline is entered, the mean of the "Before" points is used. A few points after a change can show a shift, but not that it will hold; keep plotting.
Writing a good A3
The checks look for the usual weaknesses: a goal with no number, a goal that is really an action, countermeasures with no root cause behind them, actions with no owner, and no follow-up. They also warn when there is more text than will fit on one page. An A3 written in full sentences across the whole sheet is a report; an A3 written in facts, numbers and a picture is a tool.
For the analysis behind section 4, use the fishbone and 5 whys. For a short, team-based improvement, the kaizen and PDCA planner covers one cycle in more detail.
On the exam
CSSBB VI.D.2 names A3 among the tools used to find and resolve the root cause of chronic problems. Its structure follows plan-do-check-act, which CQPA II.A and CQE V.C.3 cover. Expect to recognize an A3 from its sections, and to place a given section in the PDCA cycle.