ABC's of Problem Solving

The ABC's of Problem Solving: A3
Approach, Basic Tools & Change
Management
Darren Dolcemascolo

Copyright © 2003-2020 EMS Consulting Group Inc. All Rights Reserved
Agenda
• Why is Problem Solving Critical to a Lean
Transformation
• What is Problem Solving?
• Problem Solving Methodologies
• Defining the Problem
• Basic Tools for Determining Root Cause
• Next Steps

Why is Problem Solving Important?
Six Critical Leadership Behaviors for Lean
Transformation
1. Respect for People
2. Creates Vision
3. Go and See (Gemba)
4. Lead by Example
5. Problem Solving
6. Relationship Builder
NOTE: Taken from Doctoral Thesis survey of Lean Experts entitled: “The critical success factors and leadership
behaviors required for successful deployment of Lean process improvement” by Rohan Reid, PhD (former
COO of Inland Empire Health Plan)

Why is Problem Solving Important?
 Culture needs to change from reactive to
proactive.
 Jumping to solution as the “normal” mode must
change to something else.
 A good problem-solving process must be the
“something else” referred to above.
 Everyone in the organization must have a
common language for problem solving.

What is a Problem and When Do We Need
Problem Solving?
 A problem is the gap between the current
condition and the target condition or standard.
 A problem-solving process aims to identify the
primary causes or obstacles preventing us from
reaching the target condition and then take
actions to eliminate the obstacles/causes and
reach the target condition.

Levels of “Problems”
Level Example of a Problem
Company Gap Between Planned Revenue $’s and
Target Revenue $’s in a Month; Overall
Customer Satisfaction Scores Below
Target for Q1
Functional
Area /
Department
Output not meeting daily target
(production, development, etc.)
Process /
Front Line
Purchased Component Has a Defect,
Product has failed Test

What is A3?
 A3 refers to an 11” x 17” sheet of paper. Toyota
chose this size originally because it was the largest
size paper that could fit into a fax machine.
 In the first decade of the 2000’s, the problem solving
process using an A3 came to be known as “A3
Problem Solving.”
 The key in understanding the process is that it is
based on a dialogue between the Team Leader
(Person charged with leading the problem solving
effort) and his/her Mentor/Coach (usually direct
manager).
 The interaction between the coach and problem
solver is how the problem solver hones his/her skills.
 On a larger scale, this is culture-changing.

Toyota Problem Solving Steps:
What we now call “A3 Problem Solving”
1. Define the problem.
2. Investigate: Break down the problem into
manageable pieces
3. Identify the root cause
4. Set a target for improvement
5. Select appropriate solution among alternatives
6. Implement the solution.
7. Check impact.
8. Adjust, standardize, and spread.

A3 Problem Solving Story
1. BACKGROUND
• What is the purpose, the business reason for choosing this issue? What specific performance
measure needs to be improved?
• What is the strategic, operational, historical, or organizational context of the situation?
2. CURRENT CONDITIONS
• What is the problem or need—the gap in performance?
• What is happening now versus what you want or needs to be happening? Have you been to
the gemba?
• What facts or data indicate there is a problem?
• What specific conditions indicate that you have a problem or need? Where and how much?
Can you break the problem into smaller pieces?
• Show facts and processes visually using charts, graphs, maps, etc.
3. GOAL
• What specific improvement(s) in performance do you need to achieve?
• Show visually how much, by when, and with what impact. Don’t state a countermeasure as a
goal!
4. ANALYSIS
• What do the specifics of the issues in work processes (location, patterns, trends, factors)
indicate about why the performance gap or need exists?
• What conditions or occurrences are preventing you from achieving the goals? Why do they
exist? What is (are) their cause(s)?
• Use the simplest problem-analysis tool that will suffice to show cause-and-effect down to root
cause. From 5 Whys to 7 QC tools (fishbones, analysis trees, Pareto charts) to more
sophisticated SPC, 6 Sigma, and other tools as needed.
• Test the cause-and-effect logic by asking “why?” downward and stating “therefore” upward.
5. PROPOSAL
• What are the options for addressing the gaps and improving performance in the
current situation?
• Always start with two or three alternatives to evaluate.
• How do they compare in effectiveness, feasibility, and potential disruption? What
are their relative costs and benefits?
• Which do you recommend and why?
• Show how your proposed actions will address the specific causes of the gaps or
constraints you identified in your analysis. The link should be clear and explicit!
6. PLAN
• What will be the main actions and outcomes in the implementation process and in
what sequence?
• What support and resources will be required?
• Who will be responsible for what, when, and how much? How will you measure
effectiveness?
• When will progress be reviewed and by whom?
• Use a Gantt chart (or similar diagram) to display actions, steps, outcomes, timelines,
and roles.
7. FOLLOW UP
• How and when will you know if plans have been followed and the actions have had
the impact planned and needed?
• How will you know if you meet your targets?
• How will you know if you reduced the gap in performance?
• What related issues or unintended consequences do you anticipate? What
contingencies can you anticipate?
• What processes will you use to enable, assure, and sustain success? How will you
share your learnings with other areas?

DMAIC Problem Solving Process
 Define the problem and what the customers
require
 Measure by observing and collecting data / facts
 Analyze the data and discover critical or root
causes of the problem.
 Improve the process with solution(s) that
address remove causes of the problem.
 Control the process to make sure the problem
doesn’t recur.

DMAIC A3: COMPASS

Defining the Problem: Problem
Statement
Information Needs
1. Actual Performance
2. Desired Performance
3. Gap/Magnitude of the Problem
– Difference between Actual
and Desired Performance
4. Characteristics of the Problem
“A picture is worth a
thousand words.”

Problem Statement
“The number of XYZ test failures
has exceeded the threshold of
2 units per week for 6 of the
last 7 weeks. The trend is
increasing.”
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
TestFailures
Weekly Test Failures

Problem Statement with
Goal/Target
“The packaging department has
failed to meet its planned
production during normal working
hours 70% of the time over the
past three months, resulting in
excessive overtime. The target
condition is to meet plan 95% of
the time and reduce overtime to
less than $1000 per month.”

Grasping the
Situation
 Provide the starting point for solving the
problem.
 Need to have “correct” problem
description in order to identify causes.
Need to use terms that are understood by
all.
 List all of the data and documents that
might help you to define the problem
more exactly
 Part Number(s)/ Process:
 Customer(s)/ Machine:
 Is there an action plan to collect
additional information?

Defining the Problem: Is/Is Not Analysis
Description
IS
(Observation):
IS NOT
(Observation):
NOTES
What is the defect? Amount incorrect on invoices
Other types of errors on
invoices
What processes? A/P Invoice Processing Processes outside of A/P
Where in the process ? Review and Approval of Invoices Other A/P functions
Who is affected?
All suppliers (potentially) who
send non-electronic invoices
Suppliers utilizing electronic
services
When did it happen? January - August 2020 Data Prior to Jan 2020
How frequently did it
happen?
271 incidences over 8 months
Is there a pattern?
More errors and invoices toward
the beginning of the month
Less at other parts of the month
How much is it
costing?
An average of 30 minutes of
rework/handling for each
occurrence

What Data do I need to better
understand the problem?
What do I know?
• The packaging department has failed
to meet its planned production
during normal working hours 70% of
the time over the past three months.
How do I know it?
What do I need to know?
• How much is this problem costing us?
• Is this problem affecting delivery to
customers?
• Are we not meeting plan for one or
more particular product lines or does
this problem apply to many/all
product lines?
How will I find out?
• Retrieve overtime data from payroll
• On-Time Delivery Data
• Review production data by product

Did We Choose the Right Level of
Problem?
“Our packaging machine is down
10% of the time.”
Starting
Point
We are unable to meet planned
production without overtime.
Therefore?
Next level of
problem –
perhaps this
is the right
one to solve. We should ask
“therefore”
first to
determine if
the right
problem to
solve.
Why?
Asking “why” takes us
toward the root cause,
but it is important to
start with the true
problem first!

Common Pitfalls
 Do not:
 State an opinion about what’s wrong-
“The new database is too hard to use.”
 Describe the cause of the problem.
 Assign blame or responsibility.
 Prescribe a solution- “The blade department is
understaffed” or “We have a lack of resources.”
 Combine several problems into one statement.

Problem Statement Examples
 What is wrong with these problem statements?
 “More people are needed in accounts payable.”
 “The ERP system is inadequate.”
 “More electronic testing stations are needed in the Test
department.”
 “The part needs to be redesigned.”

How important is it to define the
problem correctly?
A problem well stated is a
problem half-solved.
- Charles Kettering

Basic Root Cause Analysis Tools

Basic Tools &
Toolsets
 Five Why’s
 Cause and Effect Diagram
 Pareto Charts

The Five Why’s
 The Five Why’s is one of the tenets of
the Toyota Production System (TPS)
 It is one of the simplest problem
solving methods- and everyone at all
levels of an organization should know
and use it.
 The purpose is to get at the root cause
of a problem- or at least to “peel the
onion” as much as possible.

The Five Why’s
1. Write down the specific problem. Writing the issue
helps you formalize the problem and describe it
completely. It also helps a team to focus on the same
problem.
2. Ask why the problem happens and write the answer
down below the problem.
3. If the answer you just provided doesn't identify the
root cause of the problem that you wrote down in
step 1, ask “Why” again and write that answer down.
4. Loop back to step 3 until the team is in agreement
that the problem's root cause has been identified.
This may take fewer or more times than five why’s.

The Five Why’s
Level of Problem Corresponding Level of Countermeasure
There is a puddle of oil on the shop floor. Clean up the oil.
Because the machine is leaking oil. Fix the machine.
Because the gasket has deteriorated Replace the gasket
Because we bought gaskets made of inferior
material
Change gasket specifications
Because we got a good deal (price) on those
gaskets
Change purchasing policies
Because the purchasing agent gets
evaluated on short-term cost savings
Change the evaluation policy for purchasing
agents.
Source: Peter R. Schultz, The Leader’s Handbook, McGraw-Hill, 1998
Why?
Why?
Why?
Why?
Why?
TIP: Answer the “why” question with the immediate cause, do not jump down the causal
chain. To check on this, go up the chain with “therefore” and see if it makes sense.

Cause and Effect Diagrams
 The Fishbone or Cause and Effect Diagram
is used for identifying potential causes of
a problem or issue in an orderly way
 It will help you search for root causes,
identify areas where there may be
problems, and compare the importance of
different causes.
 You can use the 5 Why’s method while
brainstorming causes in a fishbone
diagram.

Cause and Effect Analysis
1. Briefly Name the Problem or Effect to be analyzed and write it
at the head of a fishbone diagram
2. Determine appropriate cause categories:
• Material
• Methods
• Machines
• Measurement
• Environment
• People

Cause and Effect Analysis
3. Brainstorm potential causes in each category. Use the
Five Why’s and write down causes of the causes as
branches.
4. Identify the cause and effect relationship between
factors in each category.
5. Construct the fishbone diagram
• Major causes become biggest bones on the diagram.
• Each cause and sub-cause are on smaller levels of
“bones”
6. Use data gathering, multivoting, or consensus to narrow
down the most likely or important causes for further
investigation.

Fishbone Diagrams: Example 1
FISHBONE DIAGRAM
Why aren't we meeting daily
production?
People Not Following Std Work
Untrained People
People Leaving Area
Packaging Machine Misfeed
Packaging Machine Changeover LongTest Failures
Lack of Standard Work
Technique for Inserting
Technique for Loading
Out of Material
Material Variability
Defective Material
PeopleMachineMeasurement
MethodMaterial
View Report
Edit Manually
Review Instructions
Return to Brainstorm
Generate Report
Return to Compass
Add Nested Fishbone
Show Initial Setup Form
Copy

Fishbone Diagrams: Example 2
FISHBONE DIAGRAM
Why are there errors in the data?
Data Not Known
Wrong Codes Used
Keypunch Errors
Wring Procedures
Codes Missing in System
Retroactive Changes / Tining
Data Owned by Multiple Depts
Poor Data Vallidation
Audits from Multiple Departments
MS Access and Diamond Do Not
Interface
No Way to Handle Retroactive
Changes
time to Update Prodcedures
PeopleProgramEnvironment
SystemPolicies/Procedures
View Report
Edit Manually
Review Instructions
Return to Brainstorm
Generate Report
Return to Compass
Add Nested Fishbone
Show Initial Setup Form
Copy

Pareto Charts
 Pareto Charts are one of the
simplest yet most useful
problem solving/analysis tools.
 Pareto Analysis is based on the
80/20 Rule, the purpose of
which is to make us focus on the
most important things.
 Pareto Charts help:
 Set Priorities
 Define
problems/opportunities
 Determine root causes
Causes of Overtime
64%
83%
92%
100%
0
50
100
150
200
Packaging
Machine Down
Test Failure Out of Material Other
#ofOccurrences
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%

Pareto Charts
1. Determine the process and types of problem or cause to be
measured.
2. Determine appropriate frequency (time-frame) and data
collection method.
3. Gather and compile data.
4. Total each category for the entire period to be analyzed.
5. Determine cumulative percent contribution for each category.
Causes of Overtime # of Incidences
Cumulative%
Contribution
Packaging Machine Down 154 64%
Test Failure 45 83%
Out of Material 22 92%
Other 20 100%
Total 241

Pareto Charts
6. Create a pareto chart in Microsoft Excel TMor your preferred
program of choice (such as COMPASS)
Causes of Overtime
64%
83%
92%
100%
0
50
100
150
200
Packaging
Machine Down
Test Failure Out of Material Other
#ofOccurrences
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%

After the Root Cause / Top
Contributing Causes Have Been
Found and Verified
 Re-focus team on innovation
 Brainstorm and develop potential solutions
 Systematically decide on a solution or set of
solutions
 Pilot test
 Implement full scale
 Put a Control Plan that includes Monitoring to
Sustain the Solution

Problem Solving Key Points
 Creating a “problem solving” mindset at all levels of the
organization is key to culture change.
 There are several excellent problem solving methodologies
including DMAIC, Toyota Business Practices, 8D, etc.
 A3 is a way of documenting the problem-solving process –
telling the “problem solving” story. All of the tools, graphs,
and wording described in today’s session can be incorporated
into an A3.
 The basic tools covered today for analyzing problems to
determine causes can be used on a wide range of problems.
 More complex problems require more advanced tools in
addition to these basics.

Finally….
 Contact us for:
 Training offers
 Tool of the Month Club
 COMPASS® information & demonstration
 info@creato.com
 darrend@emsstrategies.com
 Stand by for 5 minute COMPASS overview

ABC's of Problem Solving

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