A simulation using charts and documents to help participants understand the demands of the production process and the reasons for them.

The players take the role of managers required to allocate eight different types of work between three different machines.  All three machines have different constraints.

The exercise is designed for groups of 1-4 members and comes complete with enough materials for six groups.  It will last between 2-3 hours including discussion time.

Objective

The exercise will help players understand the choices involved in managing a production process, and the reasons for them. It will:

• make them better able to judge the importance of competing demands and the consequences that will follow from agreeing to them;
• increase their ability to explain the reasons for their decisions and so win cooperation from those around them.

How it works

The tutor introduces the exercise and distributes the player's instructions and working documents.  The main planning document is a bar chart which allows players to show the hour by hour allocation of three machines between the eight products that the company makes.  All machines can make all products, but they have to be 'set-up', and (once set-up) produce at different rates.

Players are given details of existing orders and must allocate them to machines.  Once decisions have been made for 'Day one', the tutor reveals in-coming orders for the next day.  Players must then decide whether to keep their machines running on the products for which they are currently set up or whether to re-allocate them in the light of the new situation.

The cycle continues for several days.  The players have to balance the changing requirements of the situation - such as the need for economic production (long runs), the need for value of throughput (making profitable articles), and the need to satisfy customers (making orders in turn). Once sufficient rounds have been completed the players can be asked to analyse their performance against a variety of suggested measures. For example time lost to set-ups or orders completed.

What participants will be doing

Studying the rules and then making judgments about the priority to be given to various orders placed by customers.  Showing their decisions by marking off time slots on a machine allocation chart.

For what levels is it appropriate?

Supervisors; Junior and Middle managers; Students of business and management.

Included

Tutor manual; Player's instructions; Post exercise questionnaire and all supporting documentation costs.