Understanding A3 Thinking: A Critical Component of Toyota's PDCA Management System

You need to read the book! The sections from page 30 on are examples showing different ways to use the concept, but the first twenty-nine pages are the crux of the biscuit. If you read and understand those pages you will reap huge benefits.Understanding that everything created as part of the TPS, including the A3, was designed to solve a problem is really important to understand and the authors are clear on that point. The A3 problem solving method was not handed down from an engineering deity and it's not a patented method. It's also not a DMAIC since DMAIC is a construct invented by Motorola to support Six Sigma in response to PDCA or PDSA, and Toyota does not apply Six Sigma.The most important components I find out of reading this are:1) Focus on defining the problem, and don't continue until the problem is truly defined and understood2) Keep things simple, a single page is much more effective in communication than an eighty page dissertation3) Use graphics to make your point, a picture is worth a thousand wordsThe only thing I found I didn't like in the book were the various ways of configuring an A3 to approach different problem types (page 30 and on). I think it was excellent to show that the tool is really a single paper that communicates the project plan and progress, but so many folk in manufacturing will lean on the types as gospel and force their people to use them. The authors make it clear early in the book that this is NOT the way to use the tool, but once they included different formats they provide the ability for the ignorant to force the uninitiated to follow a practice that isn't understood.This book would make an EXCELLENT text for a course in production level problem solving.

Pro:+ Very, very good summary of PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act)+ Good use of references using solid, reliable sources+ Explains misconceptions of western interpreation of the word, "standard"+ Solid summary chapter at the end+ A3 building exercises for the reader is a novel approach, thumbs up+ Practical advice+ Good examples of A3s+ Appreciated the honesty glimpses of the realities of Toyota as a global, multinational company, even if they were small or only hinted at+ A decent section on the "digital" vs. "paper" debate+ Describes some elements of good or proper visuals (e.g. Tufte section on proper display of analytics)+ Changes the way I will forever ask (and give) updates on projectsCon:- By far the largest issue is the repetitious nature of the material. Chapters 3, 4, 5 could have perhaps been best presented as one with notes describing key differences. As is, I think the repetition has a tendency to hide and demphasize differences and key points.- Fig 6.2 and related description seems to have some serious issues, whether it is message, erroneous, or other I cannot yet say- Some jargon (e.g. "spinning your wheels") that will not translate easily if you are not AmericanNeutral:> 5 Whys was not deeply described and maybe borders in my opinion on an incorrect description, although in fairness to the authors this is not the focus of the book> Heavy use of "at Toyota" (which is on the cover) so if this is a turnoff, please note that "Toyota" shows up in here quite a bitBottom line: Recommended for everyone. Despite cons, easily in my top 5 lean/excellence books.

I am a software architect, and for a long time I've been exposed to classical literature in this area.When I worked at SAP AG, a member of SEI (Software Engineering Institute) we were trained to document architecture with views, such as described in Documenting Software Architectures: Views and Beyond (2nd Edition).What I've found out during the years, is that having a sophisticated, academic-degree documentation for a software architecture is excellent for a thoughtful (academic level) discussion amongst architects, but managers, product managers and most importantly - developers rarely benefit from this heavyweight documentation.The software architecture book mentioned above is 580 pages-long (each page contains more text) vs. the 160 pages-long A3 thinking book. That's the whole point.This book is concise and useful. It will teach you to get to a higher degree of minimalism than you got before, such as the advice to visualize things you haven't thought of making sense of visualizing before. It will remind you that visualization is more concise and easier to consume.I did make advices from this book into practice and found it useful right away when dealing in the domain of software engineering. I'm confident that almost any other domain can benefit as much.I gave this book 4 stars out of 5 since some parts of it were (at least to me) obvious and repetitive.I think the authors could have created a 120-pages long book without compromising their message. This may sound a bit of a petty - but after all this books is about being as minimal as possible.This book is also focus on production (such as Toyota's car manufacturing) - so you will have to transform some of the advices into your domain - but this is not that hard either.Overall, a very good book that can be realized into everyday improvement right away.

Livro indispensável para qualquer empresa que queira implementar a gestão Lean.

Quality is my happier..n ..it is improved by A3 thinking

This book is a must for those who wants to understand how to generate an A3. The underlying kaizen philosophy is well explained too. That is a very good companion to a book like "managing to learn".Everyone involved in problem solving in a lean environment should read it.

I was able to understand that the simple is best to understand.However, I had to think more deeply.

Dieses Buch ist sehr gut geschrieben und beschreibt hervorragend die Philosophie und die Erstellung von A3s.Die Beipiele sind gut aufbereitet.Von meinen Kollegen bekam es auch ein gutes Feedback.