Using an Online Factory Simulator
in OM Courses:
Experiences in the CSU System
Samuel C. Wood
Responsive Learning Technologies
CSU-POM 2005 Annual Meeting
Outline
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Overview
Tracing One Team at Cal State Northridge
Aggregate Data from the Same Game
Student Feedback from SFSU
Assignment Summary
Student teams manage a simulated factory by buying and selling equipment
and changing operating parameters. Each student team manages their own
factory which runs 24 hours a day / 7 days a week. The factory is accessed
from a web site. The objective is to maximize cash position. At any time
during the assignment, students can check their cash position compared to all
the other teams’.
Students get:
• A 5-page note describing the simulator
• One or two assignments providing additional details.
Students are graded on:
• A memo after each assignment describing what the team did, why, and what
they should have done.
The Factory
Plot raw materials; set
order point and quantity
Plot job arrivals and
jobs waiting for
materials; set contract
Plot Utilization;
Buy machines
Plot completed
job count, lead
time, revenue
per job
Plot queue lengths
Pedagogical Objectives
Provide a context for lessons in class
• Every student has managed a queuing network
• Every student has managed a stock replenishment system
Motivate learning
• Ranking data provides constant assessment of student performance
• Competition fuels interest in course subject material
Develop a set of target skills
• Capacity and lead time management, forecasting, inventory control, etc.
• Diagnosis and management of complex networks with queuing, capacity
constraints, and stock replenishment
• Relate operational performance to financial performance
Recent History: Number of students using LT
in the previous five academic years
5000
28 schools in
10 countries
4000
25 schools in
7 countries
Number of
Students
3000
16 schools in
4 countries
2000
1000
0
7 schools in
2 countries
5 schools in
2 countries
1998-99
1999-2000
2000-01
2001-02
2002-03
Littlefield Technologies in the CSU System
San Francisco State University:
• MBA OM Course in Spring 2004: 40 students
• Undergrad OM Course in Fall 2004: 130 students
• Both courses this term
California State University at Northridge:
• OM Course in Fall 2004: 18 students
• Undergrad OM course Jan 2005: 30 students
Example from January 2005:
An undergrad OM Course
at Cal State Northridge
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Second of two assignments – 1 week long
Reduce queueing to meet most lucrative contract
Capacity must be added
Reorder point must be increased
Second-order effect: EOQ
Manage end-of-life inventory
Team “greenhoppers”
Greenhoppers: Initial Analysis
Day 50: Game begins
Day 64: Spend 5
minutes checking
utilizations, queues,
and inventory
Day 85: 20
minutes of
downloading
and analysis
Days 90 and 91:
Login a couple times
over 90 minutes. More
downloading and
analysis, equipment
purchases, contract
change, inventory
parameter changes but
not enough to avoid
stockouts
Greenhoppers:
A Learning Event!
Days 91 to 125: Another
half-dozen logins, each
around 10 minutes,
checking the factory,
adding one more
machine, and fiddling
with inventory parameters
Days 125 – 126: After 15
minutes of checking other
plots, a huge stockout is
detected. Inventory data
is downloaded and soon
afterwards reorder point
is changed 6 times over 5
minutes, eventually
settling on an appropriate
safety stock. Over the
next hour they check
back a couple times to
view the damage, but do
not make further
interventions, which is
correct
Greenhoppers:
The Rest of the Game
Days 130 to 218: Over the
next 4 days, the team logs in
about 80 times. The logins
are typically less than 5
minutes, plotting a few key
parameters like lead time
and inventory, and checking
standing. Order quantity is
increased somewhat, to
about half the EOQ.
Greenhopper’s Login Activity
100
90
Cumulative logins
80
70
60
50
40
Virtually all decisions
made during this interval
30
20
10
0
0
1
2
3
4
Real Day of Exercise
5
6
7
All 11 Teams:
Activity Level During the Week
45
plots per team per day
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
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All 11 Teams: Data Downloads
downloads during the week per team
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Does Activity Translate To Performance?
Total Logins versus Final Rank
160
total logins versus final ranking
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
10th
11th
Formal Student Feedback:
Undergrad OM Course at SFSU*
Question posed to student.
1= Strong Disagree; 5 = Strongly Agree; N=67
Average
These games contributed to my understanding of capacity
management and inventory management.
4.1
In these games, I frequently found myself actively thinking
about the simulation game and what decisions I should make.
4.2
As a result of these simulation games, my interest and curiosity
about operations management has increased.
3.9
The students were also given the opportunity to write comments. Most comments were positive
about their experience with the simulations. Some of the students use the word “fun” to describe
their experience with the game. A few students criticized the $20 cost of the game.
* Courtesy of Professor Julia Miyaoka
The Adoption Process
• Faculty requests packet and free trial account from
info@responsive.net for evaluation
• Approximate dates, student counts and billing address
e-mailed to receive course account
• Pricing is per student
• Price typically passed on to students through course reader
or directly through bookstore
Summary
• Littlefield Technologies is a web-based competitive
simulator
• Competition, made possible by being online, is apparently
important
• Learning is apparently taking place: “Ah Ha” events mixed
with long-run skill acquisition and refinement
• Students value the experience