THE DYNAMIC MANUFACTURING COMPANY Developments In Business Simulation & Experiential Exercises, Volume 20, 1993 150 THE DYNAMIC MANUFACTURING COMPANY Steven Cavaleri Ph.D., Central Connecticut State University Stephen J. Russo M.S., Senior Industrial Engineer, Pratt & Whitney ABSTRACT The Dynamic Manufacturing Company is a management simulation that enables participants to better understand the dynamics of traditional manufacturing. The goal is to sensitize participants to the decisions and problems that managers must make daily to assure the manufacturing goals of any company are achieved. The Dynamic Manufacturing Company manufactures two subassemblies that are later assembled by the end user. The products are in high demand and the wholesalers have stated that they are willing to purchase all of the product that TDMC is able to produce, given they are in balanced quantities. This balance is required due to the fact that customers must use both types of units in tandem. The wholesaler has stipulated that they will accept an imbalance of +1- 1 piece per week. Units in excess of the imbalance will not be purchased by the wholesaler and can not be stored for use in subsequent weeks. The role of management in the simulation is to maintain equilibrium of the product mix by implementing various managerial strategies. The environment in which TDMC operates is somewhat turbulent and as a result the company may experience unexpected events. Systemic problems, such as randomness of the quality of raw materials received from the vendor or a lack of qualified labor, are not unusual. However, the participants are not at the mercy of these random events. There are a number of managerial strategies that can be implemented. Management may decide to purchase additional machines, add overtime, purchase buffers or acquire slack resources. The internal operating environment of TDMC is characterized by high interdependence between subsystems in the cycle. The conditions in the operating environment are such that the elements in the production system are “tightly coupled”. The manufacturing process is best described as sequentially linked and is structured around five workstations. Each workstation is equipped with one machine that adds value to each unit. The next workstation pulls Work-In-Process from the previous workstation, adds value and so on. Workstation output is determined by the roll of a die. A low roll simulates a day plagued with machine breakdowns or high absenteeism, while a high roll represents a day when everything is running as planned. The Simulation starts with each of the five workstations loaded with four units of W.I.P. and four units in a W.I.P. queue between each workstation (two of each color). There is also a two-week delay of raw material from the vendors (initially eight units). Therefore, 44 pieces of W.I.P. are in the system at the onset of the simulation. It is the responsibility of management to ensure that at the end of the five-week exercise W.I.P. has not increased past the initial 44 units. In the event that excess W.I.P. exists, a per piece penalty will be imposed. Defective material has been predetermined to occur at random and will be identified by the facilitator. Some defective material may be repaired in the “Repair Department”. Defective materials are returned to the workstation at variable but predetermined times. Also, some materials are defective beyond repair, they are considered “Scrap” and are a loss to TDMC. There may be occasions when a workstation may have units on backorder. Unfilled orders must be filled on the subsequent day or ASAP. Backorders will be carried over from week to week. It is important that management assure that all backorders are filled by the end of the fifth week as any unfilled backorders represent loss of sales, which will therefore be charged back against total sales. TDMC also provides an environment where participants can differentiate between operational and managerial decisions and then experience the consequences of their decisions and their impact on the entire system. Table of Contents Volume 20, 1993 Dominant Personality Types and Total Enterprise Simulation Performance Shelf Wars: A Grocery Channel Simulation Shared Cultural Perspectives: An Experiential Exercise Utilizing International Students to Globalize the Classroom An Instrument for Investigating the Effectiveness of Teaching Methods in the Business Policy and Strategy Formulation Course Providing Better Trained Graduates for Accounting Employers The Ambition Gradient Approach to Evaluation of Computer Simulation Game Team Performance Alphatec: A Negotiation Exercise with Logrolling and Bridging Potential Using the Ideafisher Idea Generation System as a Decision Support System in Marketing Strategy Courses A Dynamic Market Share Allocation Model For Computerized Business Simulations Multi-Cultural Adaptability Using Experiential Learning in a Graduate Course Development of Experiential Applications in HRM: Practicing What Preach and Preaching for Practice Linking Students and Business Leaders Through Portfolios Debriefing International Experiential Learning Exercises: Road Signs for Effectiveness Sales Manager: A Simulation Modeling Interactive Effects in Mathematical Functions for Business Simulations: A Critique of Goosen's Interpolation Reducing the Complexity of Interactive Variable Modeling in Business Simulations Through Interpolation Antecedent Biases of Experiential Learners: Trainee Occupation and Subgroup Diversity Pax in Terra Sancta: Simulating the Middle East Peace Negotiations A Multiple Regression Case In Experiential Learning Changes in Ethnocentric/Geocentric Orientation by Business Students after Exposure to a One Summer Course in International Marketing's A Systematic Approach to the Development and Evaluation of Experiential Exercises Entrepreneurs Evaluate Experiential Education A Linear Programming Approach to Open System Total Enterprise Simulations Reflecting Leader Behavior from the Looking Glass, Inc. Simulation Linking Cognitive Styles, Teaching Methods, Educational Objectives and Assessment: A Decision Tree Approach Restructuring Management Education in Post-Communist Countries: How Western Experts Can Help Managerial and Cultural Pre-Conditions for Superior Performance in a Global Setting: An Experimental Study with the Aid of Business Games Multiple Industries in Computerized Business Gaming Simulations Content or Process? - Content and Process! Some Observations and Reflections About Management Education in Central Europe Out-of-Class Experiences to Promote Volunteerism Enacting the Linguistic Consciousness of the Modern Managerial Mind: Post-Modernism and Experiential Learning Intergrating Experiential Exercises into the College Curriculum: The Case of Internationalizing the Business Curriculum Simulation Marketing Oversights Incorporating Advertising Creative Strategy into Computer-Based Business Simulations The Dynamics of a Partnership Between Business and Education Collaborative Education Done Globally Experiential Systems Analysis CADPLAN: A Simulation for Comparative Advertising A Doctoral Symposium: Preparing Students for Conference Behavior Comparing the Simulation with the Case Approach: Again! Total Quality Management: A Model for Continuous Quality Improvement The Quality Audit: An Experiential Exercise for Business Students Extending the Reach of Simulations: DECIDE Heads for the Inner City Lessons Learned from a Customized Management Development Simulation The Foreign Exchange Spot Trading Simulation Using Lotus 1-2-3 to complete a Triple Play in a Simulated Competition International Business Education: Is Enough Being Done? Matching of Student-Teacher Cognitive Style as a Factor in Student Success in an Introduction to Information Systems Course Breathing (More) Life into the Case Approach Lord of the Flies: A Live Case Approach to Leadership Cooperative Case Studies: Experiential Tools for Teaching Business Problem Solving Tools Strategy Simulations in Context: An Evaluation of Key Dimensions The Distribution Channel Game Evaluation of a Simulation Game as an Education Tool for Utility Professionals The Relationship Between Total Enterprise Simulation Performance and Learning Total Quality Management does not Happen by Magic, but it can be Taught Using a Pedagogical Methodology that Utilizes Magic Effectively Preparing Students for Careers in a Global Environment by Integrating Total Quality Management Thoughout the Business Curriculum An Empirical Investigation of Cognitive and Performance Consistency in a Marketing Simulation Game Environment Using MARSGAP with LAPTOP: (A Marketing Simulation Game Analysis Program) with LAPTOP: A Marketing Simulation Adapting TQM Implementation to Organizational Level An MBA Business Simulation: Executive Interaction Experiential Exercises and Pedagogy Track Workshop: Experiencing Cultural Diversity in the Classroom (and the Hotel Meeting Room) Closing the Gap between Corporate and National Culture The Dynamic Manufacturing Company The Use of Experiential Techniques in Corporate Training The State of Simulation Gaming in Easter European Countries- Principally Russia An Experiential Exercise in Cross-Cultural Training Valuing Differences: A Conceptual Framework Demonstration of an Experiential Exercise Effectively Using Experiential Learning to Impart TQM Concepts in a High Technology Environment The Older Worker Questionnaire: An Exercise Concerning Older Worker Stereotypes and Behaviors The Crime Fighting Task Force: An Exercise in Organizational Politics Welcome to the Party! An Expression of Vocational Preference Experiential Exercise for Imparting Cross-Cultural Appreciation Six Swift Simulations on Globalization Overview of BASF Delegate Program