The Paper Plane Factory (Lean)

The Paper Plane Factory is an in-person Lean simulation where each team becomes a paper plane production line. Participants take on specialised roles, with one fold per station, followed by quality control and a customer who only accepts compliant planes. The first round is played with batch push production, then the team improves its organisation between rounds. The game gives a concrete experience of the effects of work-in-progress, lead time, rejects, one-piece flow, pull flow, balancing, and quality at source.

Walkthrough

1. 1

   Set up the factory and clarify the objective

   5 à 10 min

   The facilitator divides participants into production teams and explains: “Your goal is to deliver as many compliant planes to the customer as possible, not just to produce a lot.” Each team sets up in a line, with successive folding stations, a quality control, and a final customer. The plane model, expected flight distance, and correct folding criteria are clearly shown before starting. The facilitator specifies that results will be measured: planes delivered, work-in-progress, rejects, and lead time for the first plane.

   Tip — Demonstrate both a compliant and a non-compliant plane slowly before any production: this prevents later debates about the interpretation of quality.

2. 2

   Assign roles and specialised stations

   5 min

   The facilitator assigns roles within each team: production stations, quality control, customer, and if possible an observer responsible for measurements. The rule of specialisation is announced: “Each station only performs its fold, then passes the plane to the next station.” The quality controller checks correct folding before delivery, and the customer tests or validates according to the required compliance, especially the flight over the given distance. Participants do not try to optimise yet: they follow the initial organisation to provide a baseline for comparison.

   Tip — Explicitly name the customer as the sole decision-maker for final acceptance: this makes the difference between producing, checking, and delivering value visible.

3. 3

   Round 1: produce in batch push mode

   10 à 15 min

   The facilitator starts the first round with batch push production: planes move from one station to the next in batches, for example batches of 5. The instruction is: “You must wait until the batch is complete before passing it to the next station; each station pushes its batch as soon as it’s ready.” During the round, teams produce without reorganising the system. The observer or facilitator measures planes delivered to the customer, work-in-progress in the line, rejects, and the lead time for the first plane from the first operation to customer acceptance.

   Tip — Resist the urge to correct too soon: let queues, errors, and blockages appear, as these will fuel Lean learning.

4. 4

   Measure and make performance visible

   5 à 10 min

   At the end of the round, the facilitator clearly stops production and freezes the line. Each team is asked to report four indicators: number of planes delivered and accepted by the customer, number of work-in-progress still in the system, number of rejects, and lead time for the first plane. The figures are written on the board to compare teams and prepare for the next steps. The facilitator reminds: “A plane started but not accepted by the customer is not yet a delivery.”

   Tip — Physically count the work-in-progress, station by station, in front of the team: this visualisation often creates a stronger realisation than a theoretical comment.

5. 5

   Improve the system between rounds

   10 à 15 min

   The facilitator opens a short improvement period: “You can change your organisation, but not the objective: deliver compliant planes to the customer.” Teams are invited to explore Lean principles: one-piece flow, station balancing, pull flow, and quality at source. Participants decide how to reduce waiting, avoid work-in-progress build-up, and detect defects earlier. The facilitator prompts without imposing: “Where is work waiting? Where are defects created? Who is pulling production?”

   Tip — Ask teams to choose only a few visible changes before the next round; too many ideas at once make it harder to link learning to results.

6. 6

   Round 2: test the new organisation

   10 à 15 min

   The facilitator starts another round with the same customer acceptance criteria and the same measurement indicators. Teams apply their new organisation, for example by moving planes one by one, limiting work-in-progress, rebalancing stations, or checking quality earlier. The customer continues to reject any non-compliant plane, even if the pace seems better. The facilitator observes behaviours, waiting times, correction loops, and moments when the flow is interrupted.

   Tip — During this round, note observable facts rather than judgements: “three planes are waiting at station 2” will be more useful in the debrief than “the team is badly organised”.

7. 7

   Compare rounds and anchor learning

   10 à 20 min

   The facilitator has each team compare their indicators between round 1 and the next round: planes delivered, work-in-progress, rejects, and lead time for the first plane. The question is asked: “What changed in your way of working, and what effect do you see on the results?” Participants link observed improvements to the principles experienced: flow, pull, balancing, and quality at source. The aim is to bring out cause-and-effect links, not to declare a winning team.

   Tip — Start with the data before feelings: the numbers create common ground, then participants explain what they experienced behind those numbers.

Variants

• Add a short third round after the interim debrief to allow teams to test a more targeted improvement, such as a work-in-progress limit or an explicit pull rule.
• Rotate roles between rounds so that participants experience production, quality control, and the customer position in turn.
• Compare two teams with different strategies: one mainly optimises local throughput, the other focuses first on overall flow and quality at source.
• Guided learning variant: require batch push production in round 1, then in round 2, nothing may be produced without a signal from the next station or the customer.