Industrial engineers gather knowledge during their bachelor studies through lectures and
practical classes. The goal of practical class might be an extension of knowledge and/or a
consolidation and application of already gathered knowledge. It is observed that there exists
a gap between theory learnt during lectures and practical classes. If practical classes require
holistic approach and solving complex tasks (problems), students strive with understanding
relations and connections between parts of knowledge. The aim of this article is to show an
example of a simple practical assignment that can serve as a bridge between lectures and
practical classes through discussion of interactions and relations between parts of theoretical
knowledge. It is an example of in-class simulating of a line and cellular layout considering
discussion of elements impacting and impacted by the type of layout (e.g. learning curve,
changeovers, etc.). In-class verification of the presented approach confirmed its usability for
teaching industrial engineers and bridging the gap between theory delivered through lectures
and more advanced practical classes.
This paper introduces the Lean School, a Learning Factory, along with a “game” of physical
simulation that is developed in it. All this is focused on teaching-learning, both of students
and professionals, of the potential advantages offered by the implementation of the Lean
Production in the organizations.
The participants gain a practical experience, based on experimental learning, which gives
them a better understanding of the principles and tools of Lean philosophy.
This physical environment is not limited to theoretical teaching, but goes beyond and implements
a production system near a real one. It starts from a configuration of a production
plant with an unbalanced system and throughout the different iterations, called productions,
introduces and implement the Lean principles, which makes its participants acquire
not only knowledge but also the skills needed to implement an efficient production in their
organizations.
All the constituent elements of the system will be described briefly: the product, the variations
thereof, the initial design with its layout, as well as the subsequent productions, and
the results of learning of each one.