A3 PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND PROBLEM SOLVING THINKING

1. WHAT IS AN A3 PROJECT?

An activity that
(a) supports achievement of the continuous improvement objectives
(b) requires > 39 hours dedicated man-hours
(c) has an A3 worksheet

2. WHERE DO A3 PROJECTS COME FROM?

All functions & all personnel entitled to propose projects

Derived from e.g. continuous improvement objectives or VSM or other business critical
source e.g. compliance requirement or safety requirement
All projects pre-screened by snr managers prior to proposal for the master list

The master project list is maintained by the continuous improvement facilitator

3. A3 OBJECTIVE

To provide a one page (A3, 420mm x 297mm) summary of a programme, project or

problem, for the project team & relevant personnel within the organisation

4. WHY?

Encourages brevity & sharpness of thinking

Tells a logical story on one sheet for all viewers
Provides a common organisation-wide format for all programme, management, project
managment & problem solving activities

5. WHO?

Team leader of the programme or project, or process owner of the area under review

6. HOW?

Completion of the standard A3 Template. The template usually consistes of 7 to 9 boxes

with standard input requirements, that dfollow the six sigma DMAIC path. The template is
modified to suit individual projects.

Use photographs, drawings & graphs to tell the story

7. UPDATE FREQUENCY

The A3 is a living document and is updated as the team moves through the stages of the
project

8. REVIEW FREQUENCY

The A3 document is reviewed by the team and programme or project champion on an as-
required basis during the project lifespan. Review frequencies are determined at the start
of the project.

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DMAIC CHECKLIST
Define
1 Define the problem in terms of impact on the customer & stakeholders
2 Select the area/process & open A3 (i.e. the project charter)
3 Form the team (stakeholders)
4 Elect a leader
5 Determine the objectives
Objective format: Action verb + object of the action + from "current state" + to
"future state" by "date"
e.g Decrease average manufacturing lead time for product X from 10 days to 2
days by 31 Jaunary 2011"

6 Draft the project plan (Gantt chart) using DMAIC template

7 Train the team
8 Develop draft financial gains and get finance approval
9 Develop SIPOPC chart & map the process
Measure
9 Walkthrough: team ‘discovers’ the project area by taking a guided tour and a
10 walk through
Collect thedata
relevant current process
process
11 Validate measurement system
12 Draw relevant graphs & charts
Analyse
13 Root cause process problems
14 Identify areas for improvement
15 Prioritise issues
16 Identify and make ready all tools an equipment for change in advance of the of
the event
17 Draw up timetable of tasks and responsibilities for pilot trials and implementation

Improve
18 Convene team at the area & implement changes
19 Train personnel in new way of doing things
20 Standardise new processes, SOPs, visual management & SPC
21 Confirm the financial gains
Control
22 Conduct post implementation review - snag list & action items
23 Present to senior management
24 Recognise and reward team
25 Determine next improvement activities for team members

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 DMAIC Project A3
Project No. and Name Team members (name & role) Team photo Stakeholders (name & role) Organisation Strategic Objective
1. 1.
2. 2.
Team Leader (name & 'phone ext) 3. 3. Planned start date ( dd mth yyyy)
4. 4.
5. 5.
Team Sponsor (name &'phone ext) 6. Planned end date ( dd mth yyyy)

Define Measure Analyse Improve Control

Planned start date: Planned start date: Planned start date: Planned start date: Planned start date:

Planned finish date: Planned finish date: Planned finish date: Planned finish date: Planned finish date:
Problem Definition

The Goals
1
2
3
4

Financial Validation Total Lessons Learned & Next Steps

Planned savings $ 1.
2.
Finance sign off 3.
DMAIC Project A3
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Project No. and Name Team members (name & role)
001 Toast Making Process 1. John Giles, engineer
Team Leader (name & 'phone ext) 2. Orla O'Sullivan, maintenance
Mary Murphy xt 1234 3. Brendan Hughes, purchasing
Team Champion (name &'phone ext) 4. David Price, operator
Bernie Rushe +353-87-2837810 5 Sean Jones, operator
Team photo Stakeholders (name & role) Organisation Strategic Objective
1. Mary, Bruce's wife, customer Domestic harmony
2. Bruce, the toast maker
Planned start & end dates
20Sept20, 8am, 20Oct20, 4.30pm

Define Measure Analyse Improve Control

Actual start date: 20Sept20, 9am Actual start date: 20Sept20, 12noon Actual start date: 20Sept20, 2.30pm Actual start date: 19Sept20, 2.30pm Actual start date: 19Sept20, 3pm
Actual finish date: 20Sept20, 12noon Actual finish date: 20Sept20, 2.30pm Actual finish date: 19Sept20, 1pm Actual finish date: 19Sept20, 3pm Actual finish date: 20Oct20, 3pm

Problem Definition Spaghetti map Pareto charts Improvement Activities & Contribution to
Bruce's time and resources (bread, butter & 1 TRANSPORT Metrics
energy) are being wasted in the process of 2 INVENTORY 1 Ask the customer what she wants
making toast that fails to meet his wife's
requiremenst. As a result the process needs to 3 MOTION Correct inventory, no dumping, RFT 100%
be repeated. 4 WAITING
5 OVERPRODUCTION 2 Move toaster near plates & bread
The Goals - by 19th Sept 20, 4.30pm 6 OVERPROCESSING Distance: minus 12 metres
1 Improve customer RFT from 0% to 100% 7 DEFECTS Time: minus 1 min

2 Reduce the toast making process time from 3 Have spreadable butter ready
4mins 12 secs to 3 mins Distance: minus 6 metres
3 Reduce the distance travelled during toast Time: minus 20 seconds
making from 21.5 metres to 10 metres

Washing up is outside the scope as we

Spaghetti map reckon Bruce won't have time.

Fishbone analysis
Estimated results of improvement
activities

Time Conclusion
From: 4 mins 12 seconds
To: 2 mins 52 secs

Distance
From: 21.5 metres
To: 9.5 metres One goal met and two goals exceeded. Also
dishwasher stacked and turned on.

Financial Validation Total per annum Lessons Learned & Next Steps
Savings (bread, butter, shoe leather) €200 1. Lean is a different way of looking at things. Focus on the process, and WASTE in the process, not the individual carrying out the process
Productivity gain (dishwasher) €500 2. We need to immediately address the position of the toaster under the paper towel - safety hazard!!!
Soft benefit (domestic harmony) priceless 3. The fridge position needs to be raised to better ergonomic height and contents de cluttered
Finance sign off Bernie Rushe, 6th October 2020

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Project No. and Name Team members (name & role)
BBB054 Mortgage response time improvement 1. Jan Weir, Mortgages SBO
2. John Gough, Mortgages BO
Team Leader (name & 'phone ext) 3. Holly Brennan, Branch network SBO
Paddy Moriarty, Bank HQ, ext 4231 4. Tom Jones, Securities SBO
5. George Sluggery, ITD
Team Champion (name &'phone ext) 6. Tony Moffatt, Credit
Mary Murphy, Snr Director Mortgages, ext 7582
Team photo Stakeholders (name & role) Organisation Strategic Objective
1. Mortgage application customers Revenue growth
2. Mortgage division employees
3. Bank network mortgage employees Planned start date ( dd mth yyyy)
4. Budgetary division 1st March 2020
5. Credit check supervisor
Planned end date ( dd mth yyyy)
30th July 2020

Define Measure Analyse Improve Control

Actual start date: 1st Mar 2020 Actual start date: 14th Mar 2020 Actual start date: 1st April 2020 Actual start date: 5th April 2020 Actual start date: 10th July 2020
Actual finish date: 16th Mar 2020 Actual finish date: 30th Mar 2020 Actual finish date: 10th April 2020 Actual finish date: 4th August 2020 Actual finish date: 10th October 2020
Problem Definition
Bank resources (people, IS, paper) are being
wasted in assessing mortgage applications that 1Jan - 31Sept20
fail to meet the customer SLA of 24 hour
response time. As a result the bank is losing
customers and potential revenue.

The Goals
1 Improve performance to 24hour response
SLA from 56% to 75% by end June 2020
2 Improve form filling RFT from 70% to 90% Data collection sheet Fishbone analysis
by end June 2020
3 Increase revenue by > Euro 1M pa 20 Brainstorm improvement ideas
18
16 Run chart
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
#1 #2 #3 #4

Process map Pareto Chart

1 Form right first time Process Capability Analysis

2 Missing documentation 1 Atmosphere is punitive and people made to

feel small
3 Credit check cycle time
2 5
Managers do not understand the detaisl of Process Capability Analysis
the system Why'
s Project Achievements
1Jan - 31Mar20
3 They came from other departments and Cpk before = -0.11 (56% out of spec)
don't know mortgage process details
Cpk after = 0.17 (34% out of spec)
Action 1: Bring all mortgage managers through Process performance goal achieved
the GB project from problem definition to 5 Why
Gantt chart analysis, with the project team Reveunue increase projection Sept 20 - Aug 21 =
Euro 1.7M, which exceeds goal by 70%
Estimated savings: Euro 85,000.00
Action 2: Each mortgage managers to participate
Estimated revenue growth: Euro 1,583,465 Run chart in 3 planned Improve brainstorming sessions Improvement plan

Financial Validation Total Lessons Learned & Next Steps

Actual savings € 78,000 1. Problem understanding is only possible in cross functional teams, with a deep dive into process steps, using swimlane process mapping.
Additional revenue € (based on Oct 2020 projection) 1,694,111 2. Bank procedures would be greatly enhanced by being process rather than text based.
Finance sign off Bernie Rushe, 6th October 2020 3. The next GB project is on the credit check cycle, and be led by Tony Moffatt. Preliminary estimate of additional revenue = Euro 320,000

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 IS /IS NOT ANALYSIS
Used to develop a problem statement and define the scope of a project.

IS IS NOT
Description NOTES
(Observation): (Observation):

What is the defect?

What process/product?

Where in the
process/product ?

Who is affected?

When did it happen?

How frequently did it

happen?

Is there a pattern?

How much is it costing?

Problem Statement (compiled from the IS column):

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GUIDELINES FOR WRITING A CLEAR, RESULTS FOCUSED GOAL

Sequence Activity Example

Start with Action verb Increase
add object of the action The right first time on application forms
add from current state from average 2.5 defects on each form received
add to future state to average 0.5 defects on each form received
finish with destintion date by date by 31 October 2020

SMART Goals
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time bound

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CONTROL
Sam
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