Good question. And certainly for people on the American side of the ocean, the word A3 doesn’t necessarily ring a bell. The answer is very simple, but brilliant in its simplicity. So the question is: why is an A3 Problem Solving Report, called an A3?
The answer:
A3 just stands for the size of the paper it’s supposed to be printed on. An A3 is twice the size of an A4 and half the size of an A2. These sizes are part of the ISO 216 standard for paper sizes. In parts of Europe this standard is also known as DIN 476, actually preceding the ISO standard.
So why the A3 for Problem Solving?
There are good reasons why the size of the Problem Solving Report (PSR) matters. The A3 as a format was chosen on purpose. The main benefits:
- The A3 format is not huge, there’s not a lot of content you can put on while making sure it remains legible. You have limited space to summarize the problem, root causes, proposed countermeasures, and sustaining results. This forces teams to focus on the most critical information without unnecessary details. Stick to what matters.
- When you can make it on an A3 in a legible format, it’s supposed to be posted at genba. Because that is where you do problem solving. When posted at genba, your A3 problem solving report becomes part of the visual management. So, there it’s easy to read, easy to understand and should roughly meet the 3-second rule. Within 3 seconds, someone should be able to get a sense on what’s going.
- By having a standardised and structured format for your A3 Problem Solving Report, you make it easy for all to understand. Also the consistency when applied across the organisation makes it easy for everyone to understand the problem at hand, the root causes and the counter measures. Anyone walking in on a place of work, should ideally understand the problem without having deep knowledge of the value stream involved.
Example A3 Problem Solving Report Template
An example of a structured A3 Problem Solving Report Template can be found below. This is a free PDF version. If you’d like the Excel-version to populate, they can be made available after personal contact.