Parcel sorting centre lean game
Introduction
"Adding Speed to your Deliveries"
The parcel sorting centre lean game is all about delivering packages as soon as possible. Because who does not want to have his package at home the minute after it has been bought. A minute is maybe too fast, but we promise at our parcel sorting centres that we add speed to your deliveries.
At the parcel sorting centre the parcels are sorted into different batches for delivery. the parcels are then sent to other parcel sorting centres or local post office. There, they're sorted again or distributed to the customer.
Our parcel sorting centre is situated in New York, USA. We are the main hub in the USA. We will sort the parcel for the different states and locally for New York. according to the postal code (10000 to 14999).
Different people work together in order to let the parcel pass as quickly as possible through the sorting centre. But, unfortunately customers are not happy and complaining that they receive their parcel to late.
Can you help them?
Roles
Let's look at the different roles within the parcel sorting centre.
A logistic employee receives the bags with the parcels at the unloading dock. The receiver transports the bags to the working floor.
An operator scans the different parcels before the actually sorting starts. By scanning the parcels the customer can track the status. In this case they will receive the message: "your package has arrived at our sorting center in New York".
Then the actual sorting begins. The parcels are sorted per state and for New York per postal code.
Once the parcels are sorted, an operator scans the different parcels again. This makes it possible to send a message to the customer as soon as the parcel is picked up. The operator also counts the number of parcels per batch.
In the next step, an operator puts the scanned parcel in a bag and labels it. The label contains the name of the state or the NY postal code. It also contains the number of parcels in the bag.
Finally, the logistics employee takes the bag and brings it to the loading dock. As soon as the bag is picked-up by the truck the customer gets the message ""your package has left our sorting centre in New York".
Prerequisites
- Address cards. You can print out the pdf in letter or A4 size and cut out the address cards. (4 per page)
- State overview card (1 per sorter + 1 extra)
- 10 bags (these can be plastic bags or cotton drawstring bags) or big envelopes
- 200 transparent plastic paper holders or 200 small bags (e.g. 1 litre kitchen bags) or 200 envelopes
- different colours of duct tape
- different colours of pens
- post-its
Set-up
The set-up will depend on the size of your meeting room and tables. But the picture hereunder gives a general idea.
Place the unloading/loading dock as far away as possible from the other tables. Foresee a table for yourself. This is the moderator table. You can place the sorting tables in a double row as illustrated on the picture. This will make it hard for them to reach the cells at the end. Alternatively you can place the sorting tables in one big row. This will make that the will have to run more.
You will need to create 104 cells. The parcels should have half an inch (or 1 cm) space all around them when placed in the cell.
Each cell has to be labelled with the name of the state (eg. ALABAMA) or the range of the postal code for parcels from New York (eg. 10000-10099). You can find all the labels you have to create here.
group size and roles
The roles depend on the size of the group. The game can be played starting from 6 players. The following table gives you an overview. If your group has more than 11 people, you can have two or more sorting centres.
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The roles are described in more detail below, please note that this description only applies for the first round. It is logical that the content of roles will change when we have to improve.
Logistic employee (LOG)
- The logistic employee brings the bags with parcels from the unloading dock to the "scan in".
- The logistic employee also takes the sorted "bags" from the sealing and dispatch table to the loading dock if there is no dispatch.
Scan in
- Opens the bag
- Set a red cross at the left side in one of the free boxes
- Transport the "scanned" cards to the sorting operators
Sorting
- Sorts the cards per State (696 Summit Drive, Gainesville, VA 20155 goes to the cell "Virginia".
- Sorts the cards for New York per postal code (844 Water Street, Endicott, NY 13760 goes to the cell "13700-13799")
Scan out
- Collects every minute the available packages at the sorting area.
- Sets a red cross at the right side in one of the free boxes
- Counts the number of parcels per batch
- Puts a post-it with the number of cards per batch on top of the stack
- Brings the different batches to the sealing & dispatch area
Sealing & dispatch
- Places the stack of card in a transparent plastic paper holders or a small plastic bags or envelope
- Places the label on top of the bag. The label contains the name of the state or the NY postal code. It also contains the number of parcels in the bag.
Dispatch
- If there is a separate dispatcher the dispatcher takes the sorted "bags" from the sealing and dispatch table to the loading dock.
Reusing the cards
This game can use quite some paper. And remember, we want to reduce waste not increase it! This is also the reason why there are 5 fields at each side of the card. This allows us to use the card multiple times.
Alternatively you could decide to plasticize the cards and work with an erasable marker. Personally I do not like this solutions because it makes quite a mess when the cards are moved around.
rounds
round 1
target: reference round, establish a baseline for the performance
roles: roles as described above
batches:
- 50 cards per delivered bag if there are 2 sorters
- 75 cards per delivered bag if there are 3 sorters
- 100 cards per delivered bag if there are 4 sorters
timing:
- 1 bag is delivered per minute
- 10 minutes per round
Goal:
- to deliver as many as card back to the loading dock.
- They should be sorted alright!
note: do a dry run of a few cards to make certain that everyone understands the process.
round 2 and further
target: improve your score (see scoring further below)
roles: roles can be changed after the group discuss, but all value added steps have to be done (scan in/out, sorting, sealing, label)
batches:
- 50 cards per delivered bag if there are 2 sorters
- 75 cards per delivered bag if there are 3 sorters
- 100 cards per delivered bag if there are 4 sorters
timing:
- 1 bag is delivered per minute
- 10 minutes per round
Goal:
- to deliver as many as card back to the loading dock.
- They should be sorted alright!
discussion: general topics that can be discussed: value vs non-added value, 7+1 waste, 5S, SOP, fishbone / 5Why (root cause analysis), 5 lean principles, VSM, pull/push, one-piece flow, kanban, theory of constraints (bottleneck), tack time, cycle time, line balancing. Do not let them change to much at once. Do several rounds where they can use the PDCA cycle to improve.
note: some roles could be changed/eliminated, but never the person. Continuous improvement is not about reducing people. If you do not need any more a role the person can assist in other roles.
scoring
after each round, a score is made based on the following rules
- For every card which is sorted right and is delivered within the 10 minutes the team gets 1 points.
- The moderator could do some spot checks if the cards are sorted right. For each card which is not sorted right the team losses 3 points. ( = cost of poor quality)
License
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Have fun!
