Trace invoice corrections to a new intake path
Build an A3 that separates observation from solution, tests causal mechanisms and defines follow-up and balancing measures.
30 minutes
Scenario
A shared-service team sees supplier invoice corrections rise after a new digital intake route launches. Leaders propose retraining all processors, while manual rework hides the channel pattern.
- Your role
- Improvement owner responsible for payment quality and supplier experience
- Method
- A3 Problem Solving
Evidence pack
Baseline
Correction rate rose from 6% to 14%; denominators are submitted invoices per week.
Channel split
Eighty-one percent of corrected invoices entered through the new portal, which carries 39% of volume.
Observation
The portal maps two supplier reference fields into one purchase-order field; processors then infer the intended value.
Knowledge check
Experienced and new processors show similar correction rates for the portal; legacy-channel rates remain stable.
Impact
Late-payment risk increased and suppliers spend a median 11 extra minutes per corrected invoice.
Guardrail
A test cannot bypass duplicate-payment controls or expose supplier banking data.
Constraints
- Contain payment and data risk first.
- Do not treat processors as the cause without evidence.
- Preserve channel denominators and the original hypothesis.
- Monitor supplier burden and late payment as balancing effects.
Case steps
Work through each prompt using the evidence pack. These guided cases support self-directed practice; server-scored attempts are not available yet.
Define the background, current condition and guarded target using the evidence.
State causal hypotheses and link countermeasures to confirming and disconfirming evidence.
Design a bounded test with outcome, process, balancing and learning measures.