Línea de baldosas

A 90-minute, 4-round basic Express simulation for Spanish vocational training (Formacion Profesional), Vidrio y Ceramica family: module 0420 Procesos de fabricacion de productos ceramicos (Tecnico en Fabricacion de Productos Ceramicos, Real Decreto 454/2010) and module 0308 Control de procesos de fabricacion de productos ceramicos (Tecnico Superior en Desarrollo y Fabricacion de Productos Ceramicos, Real Decreto 1797/2008).

The learner is a newly qualified line technician given line 2 of a fictional tile plant in a fictional town of the province of Castellon the week its first quality has fallen: glazed porcelain tile that comes out of the kiln curved, broken or in the wrong tone.

Eight decisions over four rounds: where the search starts, what is done at the press, how the dryer is run, how the glaze is controlled, what is done with the firing curve, what is done when a burner group trips, how the tiles are sorted and what is written down for the next week.

Scored on first quality, energy per square metre of first quality, product lost and hours of line stopped; two tempting choices hide their cost until the tiles are fired and sorted, and two critical errors (the punches cleaned by hand with the press in automatic, the flame detector of a burner group bridged) cap the round. Lesson: the defect shows at the kiln but is usually born earlier. Training level only.

Spanish primary, English parity. All companies, towns and people are fictional.

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.