AI tool demo

A3 Problem Solving

AI drafts the problem statement and 5 Whys straight from meeting transcripts; the team reviews, edits, and owns the plan - one page, Toyota-style, built for operations leads running root-cause reviews.

A3 report

Drafted by AI from 2 meeting transcripts · validated by problem owner · last updated Jul 15, 2026
A3 number
#014
Problem owner
Renata Kovacs (Ops Lead)
Date opened
Jul 8, 2026
Status
In progress
Priority
High
Generated from transcript excerpts (handoff review, Jul 7) and (client debrief call, Jul 8). Not yet reviewed by the problem owner.
Reviewed and edited by Renata Kovacs on Jul 9. Wording tightened, one root cause reordered after team discussion.
1 Problem

Anchorpoint Media Group did not renew after their second campaign. Exit interview cited "we never knew where our project actually stood." Second-campaign non-renewal rate is 35% over the last two quarters.

Estimated lost annual value from Anchorpoint: $18,000-22,000 at their prior order cadence.

2 Background

Driftmark Animation Studio delivers both campaigns on time and within the approved scope. No formal quality complaint was filed on either project.

Anchorpoint Media Group is a mid-size agency client, 3 active brands, previously flagged as a strong candidate for a retainer.

3 Current condition

Work passes through four internal handoffs between brief intake and final delivery. Status updates to the client happen only at handoff completion, not during.

Brief → Storyboard
1.5d
Storyboard → Animation
4.0d
Animation → Review
1.2d
Review → Delivery
3.4d
Average idle time per handoff, last 6 projects. Highlighted bars exceed the 2-day internal target.
4 Root-cause analysis - 5 Whys
  1. Why did Anchorpoint not renew?
    They felt uninformed during the project and assumed the team had gone quiet, even though work was on schedule.
  2. Why did they feel uninformed?
    No update was sent between handoffs - the storyboard-to-animation stage alone ran 4 days with no client-facing message.
  3. Why is there no update between handoffs?
    Status communication is tied to the project management tool's "stage complete" trigger, not to elapsed time.
  4. Why is it tied only to stage completion?
    The workflow was designed around internal production milestones, not around what the client can see.
  5. Why was client visibility not designed in?
    Root cause: the handoff process was built to move work between teams efficiently, but was never redesigned once client-facing visibility became a retention factor.
5 Target condition

Goal: second-campaign retention above 80% (currently 65%)

Every client receives, without asking:

  • A status note at each handoff, not just at completion
  • A named point of contact visible throughout the project
  • A check-in call within 5 days of delivery
6 Countermeasures
#ActionOwnerDeadlineStatus
1 Add a time-based status ping at 48 hours if a handoff has not moved - short automated note plus one line from the producer. Renata Kovacs Jul 22, 2026 In progress
2 Assign one named point of contact per client project, visible in the kickoff email and every status update. Oskar Dahl Jul 25, 2026 Scheduled
3 Recovery call with Anchorpoint Media Group: acknowledge the visibility gap, offer a trial retainer month with the new update cadence. Nadia Farrow Jul 20, 2026 Scheduled
7 Follow-up / results
Jul 22, 2026
48-hour status ping live? First project run through the new cadence?
Pending
Jul 29, 2026
Named contact assigned on all active projects? Anchorpoint responded to recovery call?
Scheduled
Aug 26, 2026
Second-campaign retention for July cohort - improvement vs. 65% baseline?
Scheduled
Sep 30, 2026
Target: retention above 80%. If achieved - close A3. If not - open a new analysis cycle.
Scheduled
How it works

From transcript to a validated plan

01
Transcripts
Meeting and call transcripts feed in automatically - no manual note-taking required.
02
AI draft
AI drafts the problem statement, current condition, and a first pass at the 5 Whys.
03
Validation
The problem owner reviews, edits root causes, and assigns countermeasures with real owners and dates.
04
Follow-up
The team sees one page with the plan and the verification dates - the A3 stays open until the target is hit.