The Lego Game

Student Handout

Purpose
The purpose of this simulation is to illustrate manufacturing operations, continuous process
improvement, and JIT concepts in a way that involves participants not only in learning
through participation, but also in decision-making. As a result of playing the game,
participants should understand a number of manufacturing and operations JIT techniques,
the interaction among these techniques, and issues concerning the sequence of steps in JIT
implementation. Concepts from this exercise may be applied in manufacturing and service
operations.
Outline
The game is a manufacturing simulation where participants will build Lego products, known
as ichibutsu 1 , in an operations setting. There are three production processes, plus an
inspection station and a warehouse. The production flow follows only one route and all
products are made on a first in, first out (FIFO) basis.
There are three standard products: red, blue, and yellow. These are made from Lego and
Duplo blocks with the color of the Duplo base establishing the product color. Refer to the
Process Sheet for the specification.
The production team should make a few practice pieces before starting the first round.
Make sufficient finished goods (FG) to build up the initial inventory in the Warehouse.
In each round, the game starts from the same initial conditions. That is, there is no work in
process (WIP) and there are 4 reds, 2 blues, and 2 yellows in the Warehouse. The customer
demand in known exactly. It is 2:1:1 for Red:Blue:Yellow. However, the sequence of
demand is unknown. The customer shuffles the demand cards at the start of the game and
maintains the initial sequence in subsequent rounds.

Japanese for thing or item

The Bothell Operations Game. Adapted from the Buckingham JIT Game by John Bicheno, PICSIE Books, 1991 to 1996

Participants
CEOs: Direct the strategic operations of the organization in order to ensure profitability.
Director of Operations: Help CEO direct the strategic operations of the organization in order to
ensure profitability. Also manage the process improvement initiatives in your firm.
Customer: This person reads from a stack of order cards and demands an ichibutsu color every
15 seconds. If product is received immediately, it is considered on-time. If a product is
delivered any time later, it is considered late. This person records orders on-time, late, or not
met on the order recording worksheet. The customer is neutral and does not belong to any
team.
Warehouse Manager: Stores finished goods and delivers product to the customer when
demanded (or late, as the case may be).
Machine Operator: Obtains Duplo blocks from the Store. Obtains dies from the Die Store.
Measure Duplos in the die for fit. Adds colored Lego marker block. Places measured
Duplos in bin for transport by the Material Handler to the next station. Transfer batch size
is six in Round 1 of the game.
Die Storeperson: Is as unhelpful as possible in giving the Machine Operators their colored dies.
Demands all die pieces be removed and stacked before accepting a return.
Assembler: Assembles the ichibutsu according to the Process Sheet. When finished with an
ichibutsu, this person places the assembled ichibutsu in a bin for transport by the Material
Handler. The bin can only be moved after the prescribed batch size has been built.
Heat Treatment Operator: Fills ovens with ichibutsu. After completely filling an oven, this
person starts the oven and leaves the products inside for 70 seconds. In the first round, the
heat treat oven processes in batches of eight. (In later rounds, the team may decide to pay
for smaller ovens.) After ichibutsu are removed from the oven, this person places the
products in their completed bin for transport by the Material Handler.
Quality Inspector: This person inspects the quality of the ichibutsu. He or she will look for
proper assembly and for defective parts, and conduct the drop test to see if any parts fall
off. If an item does not pass inspection or the test, the entire batch goes back to assembly
and must also go through heat treat again. The inspector is not a member of the team whose
performance he or she is evaluating. Inspectors will be from OTHER teams.
Material Handler: Moves ichibutsu from one station to another in bins. The material handler is
the only person who is allowed to move objects among stations. In the first round, all
transfer batches will be in quantities of six. No more, no less.
Duplo Salesperson. The Duplo sales person serves all competing teams from a central position
in the room. He or she keeps all Duplos until they are purchased and records transactions
for each team. Again, a neutral member who does not serve any particular team.

The Bothell Operations Game. Adapted from the Buckingham JIT Game by John Bicheno, PICSIE Books, 1991 to 1996

Metrics Specialist: Metrics specialists are responsible for keeping track of key measures for the
team, including throughput time, value-added and other vital analysis.
Corporate Spys: Observes a competitors team to ensure that rules are followed and to gain
vital knowledge about technological advancements of competitors.
Audit Specialists: Performs periodic inventory audits of a competitors finished goods and
work in process inventories.

The Bothell Operations Game. Adapted from the Buckingham JIT Game by John Bicheno, PICSIE Books, 1991 to 1996

Profit
Teams will compete on the basis of who can achieve the highest profit levels. Profit is a
function of several variables:

Revenues: Earnings for selling finished ichibutsu to the customer. Each on-time
ichibutsu is worth $6,000 and each late ichibutsu is worth $4500. Revenues will be
recorded by the Customer, but each teams Warehouse Manager will also keep record
for internal use and for verification purposes.
Factory overhead costs: The number of tables rented. Each table costs $10,000.
Labor costs: The number of employees on payroll. Each employee costs $7,500.
Equipment costs: The number of ovens rented. Each oven costs $4,000, regardless of
size.
Purchased materials costs: How many Duplo blocks are purchased and in what quantity.
A Duplo block costs $2,000. The price decreases by $25 for every quantity increase
of 1 Duplo. The maximum purchase amount is 10 Duplo blocks at one time. So, the
lowest possible price is ($2,000-(25*9))= $1,775. However, each Duplo in raw
materials inventory will be counted during inventory audits, and there are costs
associated with holding inventory.
Finished goods inventory (FGI) costs: Charges for having too much FGI during an audit.
Work in process (WIP) and finished goods (FG) inventory costs: Based on the
number of ichibutsu in WIP and FG, as counted at 1, 5, 9, and 13 minutes during
each round of the game. For each audit, costs will be zero for any quantity under
9 units. The cost for 9 WIP or FG will be $250, with costs increasing by 20% for
each unit count above 9. So, for example, the cost for 4 units FG and 15 units
WIP inventory during an audit is $0 + $746.50, as provided by the FG & WIP
Holding Cost Worksheet. See FG & WIP Holding Cost Worksheet for more
information

The Bothell Operations Game. Adapted from the Buckingham JIT Game by John Bicheno, PICSIE Books, 1991 to 1996

Original Game Layout

Heat
Treatment
3

Machine
Center
1

Inspection

Assembly

Customer

Warehouse
5

The Bothell Operations Game. Adapted from the Buckingham JIT Game by John Bicheno, PICSIE Books, 1991 to 1996

Process Sheet

Red

Blue

1 large red Lego

1 large red Lego

1 large yellow Lego

1 large white Lego

1 small yellow Lego

1 small white Lego

2 small red Legos

2 small blue Legos

1 large red Duplo

1 large blue Duplo

Yellow
1 large white Lego
1 large blue Lego
1 small white Lego
1 small blue Lego
1 small yellow Lego
1 large red Duplo

The Bothell Operations Game. Adapted from the Buckingham JIT Game by John Bicheno, PICSIE Books, 1991 to 1996

Ichibutsu Build Process (Round 1)

Machine Center Process:
1. Acquire Duplos from Duplo
Store (material handler may
help with this)
2. Acquire colored dies from
Die Store, changing color to
correspond to each batch.
3. Set up die on green
cutting board.
4. Measure and cut Duplos one
at a time.
5. Add colored Lego marker
block to top of Duplo. Block
color corresponds to product
color.
6. Place completed ichibutsu
WIP into bins for material
handlers

Material
Handlers
move WIP in
batches of 6.

Assembly Process
1. Add designated Lego
pieces.
2. Place completed pieces in
transfer bins.
3. Call for material handlers
when bin has 6 ichibutsu
WIP items

Material
Handlers
move WIP in
batches of 6.

Duplo
materials store
sells Duplos
Die store exchanges dies each time
a color change is made. Die store
manager is slow and grumpy. Insists
on receiving previously used die in
exchange.

Heat Treatment Process

1. Be sure to wear safety
equipment: gloves and
goggles
2. Receive batches of
ichibutsu from
assembler.
3. Place ichibutsu in heat
treat oven.
4. Begin heat treat
timing when oven is
filled (8 in first round)
5. Remove treated
ichibutsu from oven and
call material handler to
move them to the
warehouse.

Direct delivery:
No material handler

Quality Control Process:

1. Inspect each completed
ichibutsu to make sure it
meets design
Warehouse Process:
specifications.
1.Receive finished goods in
Material
Material
2. Conduct drop test on
batches of 6.
Handlers
Handlers
each ichibutsu.
2. Transfer products to
move FG in
move FG in
3. If any item in the batch
customer, as designated by
batches of 6.
fails inspection or the drop batches of 6.
customer orders.
test, the entire batch goes
3. Record on-time,
back to assembly for
backorder, and late
and
alsoJITgo
in worksheet.
The Bothell Operations Game. rework
Adapted from
the must
Buckingham
Game by John Bicheno, PICSIE Books, 1991 deliveries
to 1996
through heat treat again.

Customer Process:
1. Shuffle order cards to
ensure randomness.
2. Turn over an order
card every 15 seconds
(TAKT) and state color.
3. Receive goods and
record on-time,
backorder, late.