Lean games and tools

SCM Game

2008-01-17T13:20:00.000-08:00

To follow up on the great success with the current lean games on our shop, we are currently in the process of developing two new games.
A VSM game and a Supply Chain Game.

The Supply Chain Game will be another LEGO game which simulates an assembly plant where common challenges as fluctuating customer demands, product changes and truck loads are addressed.

This new game will be launched in October 2008.

2007-09-12T12:57:00.000-07:00

We have finally released our first Lean tool on the shop.
It is a 5S training and implementation kit.
Read more about the 5S kit here

A new web-site

2007-07-27T04:14:00.000-07:00

I have earlier talked about the relationship between lean principles and performance management.
Today we have launced a web-site for our performance management product.
It as a balanced scorecard software tool.
You are welcome to visit us and read more about our balanced scorecard software.

Two different approaches to a lean game

2007-03-05T12:08:00.000-08:00

Today I'm going to explain the difference between the two lean games on our web-shop.

Both games (FlowCar and FlowBoat) illustrates the power of these lean tools; cell-layout, KANBAN planning, single-piece flow and load balancing.

The Lean Game FlowCar is a game where an automotive assembly plant is simulated.
For "manufacturing" a complete set of LEGO bricks are used to assemble fire trucks.
The use of LEGO is very good to get the sense of a real production, the downside is that it takes more time to disassemble the fire trucks once they are completed, and of course that the customer needs to wait for the package with LEGO bricks and instructions to arrive.

The eLean Game FlowBoat is simulating the process of building ships. The same lean learnings apply, but in this case, plain paper in different colours is used for production.
This makes it possible to downlod the entire game, with instructions, video and the performance monitor in Excel.
With this game you can get started instantly, and you don't have to wait for the package to arrive.

Hope this clarified the difference of the two products.

Performance management & Lean

2007-02-20T01:13:00.000-08:00

So, this is one of my favourite topics.
Why is Performance management and lean such great companions?
In a way it's quite obvious. Lean is about creating a culture where the process of continous improvements is a natural behaviour.
But to be able to improve, we need to know our current state, and we need to define new targets and describe our actions to get there.
This is, to a large extent the essence of performance management and the reason why I see it so closely related to Lean manufacturing.

In the near future we will publish more on this topic and also make some of our performance management tools available on the lean shop.

Known on 3 continents..

2007-02-15T04:32:00.000-08:00

So, the shop is being seen on 3 continents now.
Primarily due to PPC campaigns, but we are now on page 3 on google and hopefully rising further in the next couple of weeks.

We have processed our first sales of lean games on the web-shop and it seems to work fine.

The web-site is up.. a great day

2007-02-12T09:47:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

I'm Jesper R. Hansen, co-manager and co-founder of a Lean consultancy company.

We are based in Denmark, but have decided to make some of our tools available on a web-site, so that everyone can have the chance to benefit from it.

Today, was a great day, after a few months of preparing the first products, we opened the shop.

Initially we provide two great Lean games, that can be used to teach and motivate any organization on the Lean principles.

One of them is pretty unique, since you can download everything you will ned to get started. The package includes a comprehensive instructor's guide, video clips and even an Excel workbook to display performance during the game.

For the game play itself you only need plain paper in 3 different colours!

We are quite excited about the whole thing and we hope that a lot of people will benefit from these games being available, they are great instruments to teach the Lean fundamentals in an inspiring way.

Today will however not be the day of the first sale, because we already shipped one last week to a customer that just couldn't wait for the payment system to come on-line, but we take that as a good sign, that our products are valuable.

I will try to update the blog continously, with some tips and tricks on how to teach the Lean principles but also a few comments on the experiences in the e-commerce world.

I hope you will enjoy.