Airplane Exercise

1
Airplane Exercise
Purpose To help demonstrate the Lean
Principles Time 2 7 minute rounds _at_ 30
minutes per round
2
Airplane Materials

• 1 Ream of White paper
• 1 Ream of Colored paper
• 1 Box of Manilla colored folders
• 4 packages of Post-It note pads
• 2 Stopwatches
• 1 Calculator
• Box of small paper clips (optional)

3
Airplane Instructions Round 1

• 7 minute Round
• Assign positions and show participants folds
• Batch Size 3 pieces of paper per Manilla folder
• Each folder should be numbered in sequential
  order by Operator 1 by placing a Post-It note on
  each manila folder
• Everyone should work First In - First Out (ie.
  lowest number first)
• At 2 minutes, communicate to the 1st operator to
  start using colored sheets of paper to indicate
  Defects. Only Operator 4 can see the colored
  paper to indicate to Operator 1 to Stop making
  bad parts. At that time, Operator 1 returns to
  using white colored sheets.
• The Key to the airplane exercise is to have 1
  person that has more folds than the others, thus
  creating a bottleneck. Potentially - 2 if
  necessary.
• Optional activities to add
• Quality Control person that adds paper clip and
  tests planes
• A person who writes an OCSS logo on the wing(s)
• Industrial Engineer who tracks lead-time
• Calculate Lead-time by timing the first folder
  from beginning (operation 1 to finished goods)

4
Airplane Instructions Round 2

• 7 minute Round
• Balance operations to eliminate bottlenecks and
  Non-Value Added activities
• Improve layout to have operators in a straight
  row
• Have visual aids for participants to reference
• Batch Size 1
• Eliminate the use of folders and Post-It notes
• Use operator 1 as a Value-Added operator
• Everyone should work First In - First Out (ie.
  lowest number first)
• At 2 minutes, communicate to the 1st operator to
  start using colored sheets of paper to indicate
  Defects. Only Operator 4 can see the colored
  paper to indicate to Operator 1 to Stop making
  bad parts. At that time Operator 1 returns to
  using white colored sheets.
• Calculate Lead-time by timing the first folder
  from beginning (operation 1 to finished goods)

5
Airplane Instructions Round 1 2

• Metrics
• of completed airplanes
• Identify number of Good Rework
• Lead-time
• WIP (Work in Process)
• Identify number of Good Rework
• Productivity ( of completed airplanes / of
  people)

6
Setup for Airplane Exercise
7
Airplane Exercise

• First Step
• Insert 3 Sheets of Paper in the Folder (Trial A)
• For Trial B - guide the team to realize you do
  not need the folders but still need lot
  traceability
• Label for Folder
• FIFO
• Insert a colored sheet as the 9th sheet to help
  alert to the first operator to start making bad
  parts.-2min

• Second Step
• Fold all sheets of paper in half (per example)

8
Airplane Exercise

• Third Step
• Fold one corner to the center to create a
  triangle. Fold other side to create triangle

• Fourth Step
• Fold paper side to center of paper

9
Airplane Exercise

• Fifth Step
• Fold corner to center

• Sixth Step
• Fold other corner to center

10
Airplane Exercise

• Seventh Step
• Make a dog ear fold

• Eighth Step
• Fold airplane in half

11
Airplane Exercise

• Ninth Tenth Step
• Fold wings (make tip of are plane side are flush)

• Tenth Step
• Fold other side of wing
• Eleventh Step
• Record Good Pieces and Rework Pieces

12
Airplane Results Table
13
Airplane Improvements