A3 Management

Practice of getting the problem, the analysis, the corrective actions, action plans on a single side of single sheet (Size A3) often with use of visuals is termed as A3 Management in Lean lexicon. It standardizes summarizing of problem solving, status reporting and proposal management efficiently and visually that is understood by all without wasting their time.

A3 management begins one step before the Deming Cycle of PDCA. One needs to thoroughly understand the mission and scope of work, the background, and the current situation. Once you complete the ground work, then only you get ready for Deming Cycle steps of PDCA.

A3 is an integral part of problem solving and decision making. It is evolutionary in nature and keeps on evolving along with its lifecycle. During its life cycle it is shared among all related people so often that final decision making becomes more of ceremonial exercise and takes place in less than few minutes.

A3 clarifies the thought processes and keeps you thinking around the issue right from the start to end. It refines your knowledge around the subject. Keeping all matters on one page ensures iterative improvements and perfect correlation between various activities of PDCA and this enhances the learning process to an extent that you become real master of the given problem and situation.

The power of the A3 is very aptly narrated by Jeffrey K. Liker in his book Toyota Way:

ALAN CABITO, Group VP of sales administration, went to work for Toyota as his first job out of school, so he only knew the Toyota Way. But he was able to observe the difference in the way Toyota communicated when he started working with General Motor on the NUMMI plant in 1980s.

"Their (General Motor) solution to making decision was to write a memo. I haven't written a memo in I don't know how many years- may be 20. I walk over to someone and I sit down and we talk about the issue. And ultimately, I try to get them to buy in or make it their idea. But you never write a memo. A memo to me is like a directive, as opposed to an A3 –PDCA document that has in it an evaluation that everybody can see and understand. To me A3 is a learning process. A memo's not a learning process…. In GM world, at least to those people who came here, memos were a way of finding a direction, and then expecting everybody to follow it without any communication necessary."

Dhirendra Kumar Dubey
Lean Management Institute of India- www.leaninstitute.in

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