The Factory Manager Experience
The Factory Manager Experience is a single-player operations simulation that places participants in the role of Operations Director at Titan Manufacturing — a factory running five machines in series and producing up to two products. Across three progressive stages of 10 rounds each, participants manage production flow under finite machine capacities, setup times, demand variability, and multi-product complexity. Stage 1 focuses on basic production flow for a single product, emphasising raw material release and buffer sizing. Stage 2 introduces setup times and batch sizes, surfacing classic Theory of Constraints trade-offs between setup frequency, batch size, and flow. Stage 3 adds a second product with different processing times, prices, and demand distributions, requiring participants to prioritise production based on throughput per constraint minute and profit contribution.
Performance is evaluated through a comprehensive Performance Index spanning four dimensions — Financial Performance, Operational Efficiency, Decision Quality, and Learning Progression — using self-benchmarking logic that rewards consistent improvement and principle-aligned decisions across all 30 rounds, not just absolute profit ranking.
- Identify bottlenecks via WIP patterns
- Apply DBR to stabilise production flow
- Use TOC steps to manage constraints
- Balance batch size vs setup efficiency
- Prioritise products by constraint throughput
- Three progressive stages — single product without setup times, single product with setup times and batch decisions, and two-product management — each building on the decisions and insights of the previous
- Five-machine serial production line with configurable processing times, setup times, and batch sizes, generating realistic WIP dynamics and bottleneck behaviour
- Comprehensive Performance Index (0–100) across four dimensions: Financial Performance (40%), Operational Efficiency (30%), Decision Quality (20%), and Learning Progression (10%)
- Self-benchmarked scoring logic that rewards consistent improvement across stages, not just absolute profit — every participant can achieve a high score through principled decision-making
- Downloadable performance report with a radar chart across all four dimensions and a 30-round profit trajectory for facilitator submission and debrief use
- Ability to identify bottlenecks in a serial production line using WIP patterns and flow data, and understand that system throughput is governed by the constraint
- Proficiency in applying Drum-Buffer-Rope by calibrating raw material release and buffer sizes to protect and exploit the constraint
- Capacity to analyse the impact of setup times and batch sizes on throughput, lead time, and net profit using the underlying financial formulas
- Skill to prioritise production across multiple products based on throughput per constraint minute and contribution to total profit
- A lasting mindset shift: from maximising individual machine utilisation to managing the bottleneck as the primary driver of system-level profitability
