DJO Global: The Fundamentals of Lean Product Development
LAMDA AND A3 PROBLEM SOLVING IN PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
A.visitor.to.DJO’s.R.&.D.labs.near.San.Diego,.California,.cannot.help.but.
notice.that.the.walls.are.covered.with.a.variety.of.A3.reports..At.some.
FIGURE 4.1
Tom.Bachinski.in.a.protostorming.session.at.DJO.Global.
DJO Global: The Fundamentals of Lean Product Development • 47 point,.the.company’s.engineers.even.developed.a.special.system.to.hang.
these.A3s.on.the.walls.so.that.they.could.be.taken.down.easily.to.update.
or.bring.into.a.meeting..These.A3s.support.a.PDP.that.is.built.around.
learning.cycles.
Problem-solving. A3s. support. good. systematic. problem. solving. by.
encouraging. collaboration. and. visualization.. The. problem. solving. A3.
captures. the. problem. solver’s. current. thinking. about. the. problem. and.
potential.solutions..It.is.meant.to.be.shared.as.soon.as.the.first.section,.
the.problem.statement,.gets.drafted..Sections.on.the.problem.solving.A3.
template.guide.the.problem.solver.to.make.observations.about.the.current.
state,.analyze.the.root.causes,.develop.multiple.alternative.solutions,.and.
get. constant. feedback. before. committing. to. a. recommendation.. At. the.
same.time,.the.problem.solving.template.is.not.a.straitjacket;.the.problem.
solver.can.add,.subtract,.rearrange,.and.resize.elements.of.the.A3.report.
to.fit.the.needs.of.a.specific.problem,.as.long.as.he.or.she.can.justify.the.
changes.with.a.good.A3.that.tells.the.story.of.the.problem.solving.process.
and.the.resolution.
A3 RePoRtS: WHAt AnD WHY
Many. of. the. companies. featured. in. this. book. have. incorporated.
A3. reports. into. their. Lean. Product. Development. programs.. The.
first.question.people.usually.ask.is,.“What.is.an.A3?”.An.A3.is.an.
especially. effective. communication. tool. for. supporting. the. sys-tematic.problem.solving.and.selectively.standardized.work.that.we.
encourage. in. a. Lean. environment.. Over. time,. A3. reports. replace.
PowerPoint®.slide.sets,.lengthy.text.documents,.and.e-mail.chains.as.
the.primary.means.for.communicating.knowledge.and.ideas.within.
a.Lean.organization.
The.A3.refers.to.the.paper.size:.11.×.17.inches.in.the.United.States.
and.297.×.420.mm.everywhere.else..It.turns.out.that.this.paper.size.
is.especially.conducive.to.developing.reports.that.are.concise.yet.rich.
in.content..The.next.smaller.size—A4.or.letter.size—is.simply.too.
small..Any.larger.paper.size.is.unwieldy..Any.report.that.is.double.
sided,.especially.two.pages.front.and.back,.hides.some.of.the.infor-mation.all.the.time.
tHe FiVe tYPeS oF A3 RePoRtS
The. original. research. into. Toyota’s. processes. classified. their. A3.
reports.into.three.types:.the.Problem.Solving.A3,.the.proposal.A3,.
and.the.Status.Reporting.A3..I.have.found.that.there.are.five.different.
kinds.that.Lean.organizations.primarily.use..I’ve.listed.them.from.
the.most.free.form.to.most.standardized.in.format:
•. Knowledge capture A3s,.sometimes.called.knowledge.briefs.
or. K-Briefs,. are. reports. about. some. area. of. knowledge. that.
the.author.wishes.to.share..I.have.seen.excellent.examples.of.
Knowledge.Briefs.written.about.test.procedures,.market.fore-casting. methods,. platform. architecture. models,. and. many.
others..To.make.a.good.Knowledge.Brief,.the.author.needs.the.
flexibility.to.use.the.space.on.the.page.in.whatever.way.will.best.
suit.the.subject.matter.
•. Problem solving A3s. document. systematic. problem. solving.
and. support. LAMDA/PDCA. cycles.. Good. Problem. Solving.
A3s. tell. a. story. about. the. problem,. the. analysis,. and. the.
recommendations.
•. Proposal A3s.resemble.Problem.Solving.A3s.in.the.sense.that.
they.document.the.solution.to.a.problem,.and.many.proposal.
A3s.began.as.Problem.Solving.A3s..But.the.purpose.of.a.pro- posal.A3.is.to.get.a.specific.decision.to.implement.a.specific.rec-ommendation..The.focus.shifts.from.analyzing.the.problem.to.
executing.the.solution..The.Proposal.A3.contains.information.
about.risks,.resources.required,.and.an.implementation.plan.
•. Documentation Replacement A3s. replace. standard. reports.
with.a.streamlined.report.that.fits.on.an.A3..The.purpose.of.the.
Documentation.Replacement.A3.is.to.communicate.precisely.
what. the. readers. of. the. report. need. to. know,. with. nothing.
extra.. Examples. of. documentation. replacement. A3s. include.
product.and.technology.road.maps,.product.portfolios,.prod-uct.program.charters,.technical.specifications.(usually.a.series.
of.A3s.grouped.by.topic),.market.forecasts,.business.case.anal-yses,.team.resource.allocations,.validation.plans,.localization.
plans,.customer.visit.reports,.etc..Documentation.Replacement.
A3s.usually.have.standard.templates.
DJO Global: The Fundamentals of Lean Product Development • 49
As.DJO’s.Lean.Product.Development.practices.have.matured,.they.have.
placed.more.emphasis.on.the.importance.of.solving.technical.challenges.
systematically.and.capturing.the.knowledge.created.immediately.so.that.
others.in.the.company.can.benefit.from.it..Unlike.most.of.the.documenta-tion.in.a.typical.product.development.process,.A3.reports.are.meant.to.be.
shared.as.works.in.progress,.which.ensures.that.developers.get.feedback.
before.they.have.gone.too.far.down.a.path.that.won’t.work..Some.of.the.
best.A3.reports.I’ve.seen.over.the.years.have.been.handwritten.with.crude.
sketches..The.finished.A3.only.needs.minimal.work.to.be.stored.as.a.piece.
of.reusable.knowledge.for.future.product.development.teams.
In. addition. to. the. standard. problem. solving. A3. and. the. SKU. A3.
mentioned.previously,.DJO’s.product.development.process.has.a.num-ber.of.A3s.that.serve.as.replacements.for.the.complex.documentation.
that.other.product.development.organizations.require.their.engineers.
to.write:
•. Status Report A3s. reduce. project. management. overhead. by.
streamlining. status. reports.. Unlike. the. other. A3. forms,. the.
Status. Report. A3. benefits. from. as. much. standardization. as.
possible..People.who.must.review.multiple.status.reports.from.
many. different. people. and/or. teams. benefit. from. having. the.
same.information.in.exactly.the.same.place.
PRoBLeM titLe AnD AUHoR
CURRENT.STATE DATA.AND.ANALYSIS
ROOT.CAUSE.ANALYSIS RECOMMENDATIONS
EXPERIMENTAL.METHODS NEXT.STEPS
. . Problem-solving.A3.report..
•. technology Road maps.outlines.the.key.areas.of.development.for.
DJO’s.core.technology.areas.for.the.next.several.years.
•. new concept Definitions. defines. the. customer. need,. market.
opportunity,. and. technical. challenges. for. a. concept. that. is. under.
investigation.
•. Project Status Reports. summarizes. the. key. status. information.
about.a.project.
•. Vender Background and capabilities.Reports.share.the.outcome.
of.an.investigation.into.a.new.vendor’s.ability.to.meet.DJO’s.needs.
•. Kaizen event objectives and Plans.define.the.goals,.purpose,.tar-gets,.core.parameters,.and.team.for.a.kaizen.blitz.
•. Knowledge capture Reports.captures.knowledge.in.reusable.form.
DJO’s.PDP.model.incorporates.the.A3s.right.into.the.process.(Figure 4.2)..
These.A3s.work.together.to.keep.documentation.and.approvals.at.a.mini- mum,.keep.the.most.important.information.about.R.&.D.activities.vis-ible. to. everyone. at. all. times,. and. facilitate. more. productive. meetings..
Problems.can.lurk.undiscovered.in.project.documentation.that.is.overly.
complicated.and.lengthy.and.that.contains.a.lot.of.boilerplate.language..
On.an.A3,.problems.have.no.place.to.hide.
FIGURE 4.2
DJO.Global’s.PDP.model.
DJO Global: The Fundamentals of Lean Product Development • 51
METRICS TO DRIVE A LEAN PRODUCT