Enna’s A3 Quick Study Guide walks you through the why and how of filling out an A3 report, as well as providing insight into the PDCA, or Plan-Do-Check-Act, cycle.

Take your problem solving to the next level by using A3 in your efforts. By combining these concepts and methods together, you will be able to more effectively and efficiently uncover the root cause of workplace issues, train everyone in problem solving, and move your organization toward a less wasteful and more thoughtful way of working.

Dean H. Stamatis, Ph.D., ASQC-Fellow, CQE, CMfgE, MSSBB, ISO 9000 Lead Assessor (graduate), is the president of Contemporary Consultants Co. in Southgate, Michigan. He is a specialist in Management Consulting, Organizational Development and Quality Science. He has taught Project Management, Operations Management, Logistics, Mathematical Modeling, and Statistics for both graduate and undergraduate levels at Central Michigan University, University of Michigan, and Florida Institute of Technology.

With over 30 years of experience in management, quality training, and consulting, Dr. Stamatis has served numerous private sector industries including: Steel, automotive, general manufacturing, tooling, electronics, plastics, food, navy, department of defense, phannaceutical, chemical, printing, healthcare and medical device. He has consulted for such companies as Ford Motor Co., Federal Mogul, GKN, Siemens, Bosch, SunMicrosystems, Hewlett-Packard, GM-Hydromatic, Motorola, IBM, Dell, Texas Instrument, Sandoz, Dawn Foods, Dow Corning Wright, BP Petroleum, Bronx North Central Hospital, Mill Print, SI. Claire Hospital, Tokheim, JabiIJ, Koyoto, SONY, ICM/Krebsoge, Progressive Insurance, B. F. Goodrich, ORMET, to name just a few.

Dr. Stamatis has created, presented and implemented quality programs with a focus on Total Quality Management, Statistical Process Control (both nonnal and short lUn), Design of Experiments (both classical and Taguchi), Six Sigma (DMAIC and DFSS), Quality Function Deployment, Failure Mode and Effects Analysis, Value Engineering, Supplier certification, Audits, Reliability & Maintainability, Cost of quality, Quality planning, ISO 9000, QS-9000, ISO/TS 16949, and TE 9000 series.

Also he has created, presented and implemented programs on Project management, Strategic planning, Teams, Self directed teams, Facilitator, Leadership, Benchmarking, and Customer service. He is certified Quality Engineer through the American Society of Quality Control, certified Manufacturing Engineer through the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, certified Master Black Belt through IABLS, Inc. and he is a graduate of BSI's ISO 9000 Lead Assessor training program.

Dr. Stamatis has written over 70 articles, presented many speeches and has participated in both national and international conferences on quality. He is a contributing author on several books and the sole author of twenty five books. His consulting extends across the United States, South East Asia, Japan, China, India and Europe. In addition, he has perfonned over 100 automotive related audits, 25 pre-assessment ISO 9000 audits and he has helped several companies attain certification, including: Rockwell International - Switching Division (ISO 9001), Transamerica Leasing (ISO 9002) and Detroit Electro Plate (QS-9000).

Dr. Stamatis received his BS/BA degree in Marketing from Wayne State University, his Master's degree from Central Michigan University, and his Ph.D. from Wayne State University in Instructional Technology and Business/Statistics. He is an active member of the Detroit Engineering Society, American Society for Training and Development, Executive member ofthe American Marketing Association, member of the American Research Association, and a Fellow of the American Society for Quality Control.