Paper Airplane Exercise

Provided to NWLEAN by Tim Leach of Northrup Grumman, May ‘98

 Paper Airplane Exercise (50 minutes)

3 Simulations
• 6pc Batch (Push)
• 3pc Batch (Push)
• Single Piece Flow (Pull)

Measure
• Completed Units
• Throughput (Regular and “Hot” Production)
• Work-In-Process
• Observations (Worker Environment)
2
 Materials Required
• 200 Sheets of Paper (Approx.)
– To make Paper Airplanes
• 50 Paper Clips
– To Use as “Carts” for Transporting W.I.P. & Planes
• Masking Tape
– To Mark-Off Queue Boxes and Work Areas for
Exercise
• Dry Erase Markers
– For White Board or Flip Chart Tracking of Exercise
Activities
– One or More of: White Board / Chalk Board / Flip
Chart
• “Paper Airplane Mfg., Co.” Tracking Sheet
– To Record Exercise Results and Participants
• Stop Watch or Watch with a Second Hand
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 Simulation Physical Layout
• Eight Participants
- Material Identification - Wing Fold
- Fuselage Fold - Shipping
- Nose Fold #1 - Customer (Boeing)
- Nose Fold #2 - Material Handler
– Clearly identify “Queue” boxes between each station
– Work in designated work area
– No work to be done within “Queue” boxes
– Only Material Handler moves material in 6pc & 3 pc
simulations
• Everyone Else Observes
• 6 Minutes per Simulation -- Stop ALL Activity at 6 Minutes
• Introduce “Hot” Plane at 2 - 3 - 4 Minute Marks
• Record Measurables and Observations After Each 6 Minute
Simulation
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 Simulation Physical Layout

Raw Nose #1 Nose #2

Material Fuselage Fuselage Nose Fold
Material Fold Fold
Identification “Queue” Fold #1
Queue “Queue” “Queue”

Material Handler: 6pc & 3pc Simulations Nose Fold

PAPER AIRPLANE, CO. (Moves all Material) #2

6 3 1
Facilitator
QTY PROD

UNITS / MIN Wing

Fold
“Queue”
W.I.P.

“HOT”

Observations
Customer Shipping Wing
6: Customer Receiving Shipping “Queue” Fold
3:
1:

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 Pre-Exercise Preparation
• Visual Aids
– The Exercise Will have 5 Stations Requiring Visual
Aids
• See Work Station Examples
• Tape Off “Queue” Boxes With the Masking Tape
– (Re: Simulation Physical Layout)
– Write on the Taped “Queue” Box What “Queue”
Box It Represents
– Make Sure to Spread the Seats Apart for Clear
Separation of “Work” Stations Between the
“Queue” Boxes
• Identify Work Areas With One Strip of Tape and Label
Them
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 Pre-Exercise Preparation
• Line Primed or System Filled
– If the Exercise is Produced With the Line Primed (a
Batch Set in Each “Queue” Box Prior to Starting
Each Simulation), the Facilitator Will Need to Have
These Ready Prior to the Exercise (This Saves
Time During the Exercise)
– Line Empty
– If the Exercise is Produced With the Line Empty
(No Parts in the Line at the Start of Each
Simulation), then No Pre-Folding of Planes is
Required
– The Exercise can be Produced Either Way -
However all Three Simulations in the Exercise Must
be Produced the Same Way (Primed or Empty)
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 Work Station Examples
MATERIAL IDENTIFICATION NOSE FOLD #2
Paper Clip
“Cart”

04/10/98 Lot #1 04/10/98 Lot #1

04/10/98 Lot #1
04/10/98 Lot #1
04/10/98 Lot #1 04/10/98
04/10/98 Lot
Lot #1
#1
04/10/98 Lot #1 04/10/98
04/10/98 Lot
Lot #1
#1
04/10/98 Lot #1 04/10/98
04/10/98 Lot#1
Lot #1

FUSELAGE FOLD WING FOLD

04/10/98 Lot #1

NOSE FOLD #1 Notes

This exhibits the 6pc Batch
The same would done for the 3pc Batch
04/10/98 Lot #1 No Paper Clips Required for 1pc Flow
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 Facilitator Instructions
• Recruit Eight (8) Participants
– Material Identification: To Identify Material Batches and
Place them on “Carts” (Paper Clip them Together, 6
each for the 6pc Batch Simulation and 3 each for
the 3pc Simulation. Leave the “Cart” in the Work Area
for the Material Handler to Transport)
– Batches will be identified by Date & Lot: Lot #1, Lot #2,
Lot #3, Lot #4, etc...
– Fuselage Fold: See Work Station Examples
– Nose Fold #1: See Work Station Examples
– Nose Fold #2: See Work Station Examples
– Wing Fold: See Work Station Instructions
– Material Handler: Only Person to Move Material
Batches from Work Areas to Next Customer’s “Queue”
Box
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 Facilitator Instructions (Continued)
• Recruit One of the Observers as a Time Keeper
– The Time Keeper will start and stop the simulations
– In addition, the Time Keeper will alert the Facilitator at 2
- 3 - & 4 minutes
• This is so the Facilitator can introduce a “Hot” Plane
to the process
• Give a Minimum of Instruction to each Participant as to
Their Required Activity for the 6pc Batch simulation
– This allows their true experiences with Batch
Production to be exhibited
– Tell the participants that they are being evaluated by
their individual output
• Quality is not a critical element here - Use your
discretion
– You may give more detailed instructions/training for the
3pc Batch Simulation
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 Facilitator Instructions (Continued)

• Start the Time Keeper and Introduce a “Hot” Plane at 2 - 3

- & 4 Minutes
– Mark the next sheet the Material Identification operator
will process with a large “X” on each side of the sheet
– Take your time. Remember this role is as a person who
only cares that he /she identified the “Hot” material.
This person does not care about output
– A “Hot” Plane is a new style or engineering change. It
must travel with the Batch in which it was identified. All
the “old” style planes have been ordered by the
customer so they must be built as the customer order
states. Think of this as flushing the system of the “old”
style.
– DO NOT EXPEDITE THE “HOT” PLANES

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 Facilitator Instructions (Continued)

• Stop the Simulations at 6 Minutes

– Record the data listed on the Paper Airplane Mfg., Co.
tracking sheet
• The Facilitator needs to report this information on a
white board or flip chart for the group to see and talk
to during the simulations
• The information needs to be recorded directly on
tracking sheet after the exercise for the and
continuous improvement purposes

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 Facilitator Instructions (Continued)

• Calculate Cash Flow as Follows

– $2 Million per Plane shipped to the customer (+)
– $1 Million per every piece of W.I.P. (-)
• This is an excellent tool to exhibit the financial
burden on a company for carrying excessive
inventories
(Results Sharing & Continuous Improvement Drain)
• Conduct the 3pc Batch Simulation the Same as the 6pc
Batch Simulation
– Explain that there will be no changes to the processes.
Clearer instructions/training can be given addressing
how to perform a specific job and to clarify quality
expectations

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 Facilitator Instructions (Continued)

• 1pc Flow
– The paper clips will no longer be used
– The participants must completely understand that they
can perform work ONLY when their Customer “Queue”
box is empty - Giving them their VISUAL TRIGGER to
produce another product to replenish their Customer’s
DEMAND (the Cradle of Takt Time)
• To make this point clear: If the Customer’s “Queue”
box has a part in it, that operator CANNOT be
working on a new part ....... Period

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 Facilitator Instructions (Continued)

• Make it very clear that the Customer pulling a ship-

set out of their Receiving Area is the TRIGGER for
Shipping to ship another ship-set
• Shipping then pulls a ship-set out of their “Queue”
box from Wing Fold - This then Triggers wing Fold to
replenish this ship-set
• And on down the line
• The facilitator has to pay very close attention during
the 1pc simulation to maintain the integrity of the
Customer’s Visual Trigger to produce - Whether the
customer is outside the organization or within the
organization
• Q & A Session for 1pc and Entire Exercise

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