Aserrado y despiece

A 90-minute, 4-round basic Express simulation for Spanish vocational training (Formacion Profesional), module 1638 Aserrado y despiece de la madera of the Tecnico en Procesado y transformacion de la madera (Real Decreto 838/2020).

The learner is Iker Barcones, a newly qualified wood-processing technician who plans the cutting of a fictional family pine sawmill in the Soria pine belt through 2027: 42,000 cubic metres of log a year bought at forest auctions, one band head saw, an edger, a resaw and a trimmer, and buyers that range from builders and carpenters to a pallet maker.

Four situations set the year's course: the winter logs, and which cutting pattern each log gets (a pattern for each diameter class and its defects, not the pattern of the most cubic metres) and how the yard feeds the head saw (the logs sorted by class); the building season, and how the saws are kept (sharpened by hours, the metal detector, the first-level maintenance with the line stopped) and how the cutting programme is built (from the order book, not everything to one buyer); the summer heat, and how the timber is dried and treated (stickers and the anti-stain dip the same day) and what is done with the by-products (sorted and sold by contract); and the autumn, and how the timber is graded and sold (structural timber graded and declared) and how the year is accounted (an account by log class with the pattern table).

One critical error caps the round: stamping timber as C24 structural without grading it. Some mistakes look fine on the day they are made and come back later through the stock: the pattern of the most cubic metres, all the output to the pallet maker, the timber stacked tight without stickers.

KPIs: value recovered from the logs, controllable cost, timber lost or downgraded per 1,000 cubic metres of log and order lines served late. Lesson: the value of a log depends on how it is cut, not only on its volume. Spanish primary, English parity. Fictional company, brand and people; real curriculum and rules cited.

An introductory simulation that assumes no prior knowledge of the subject, designed for undergraduate courses. It also works in vocational and high-school programmes and in onboarding sessions.