The Maker Shop

A 90-minute, 4-round basic Express simulation on running a two-machine custom-parts job shop from an owner-operator's seat: choosing CNC machining or 3D printing job by job by tolerance, material, quantity and cost, quoting from setup time, run time, material and margin, scheduling two kinds of machine to promised dates, refusing to copy a patented and trademarked part (35 U.S.C. 271(a); 15 U.S.C.

1114(1)(a)), keeping the mill guarded and the helper signed off (29 CFR 1910.212), first-part inspection, pricing from job-cost records and owning a failed part, for high-school Career and Technical Education in machining and advanced manufacturing, makerspaces, pre-apprenticeship programs and courses preparing NIMS Machining Level I and the MSSC Certified Production Technician.

Keisha Dorsey, 18, the fictional owner of Dorsey Custom Parts, runs a small CNC mill and two 3D printers on a rented bench at Ironbridge Makerspace in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, through the fall 2027 semester with one part-time helper.

Round by round you decide how to choose the process and how to quote, how to promise dates and what to do with a request to copy a branded part, what to do when the mill guard breaks before a rush job and how to check parts, and how to price the next semester and answer a customer whose part failed; at each decision point the semester is projected again with the decisions taken so far.

Each round is scored on jobs delivered right, days late, the redo rate, the semester profit and the customer rating, with open violations shown alongside; copying a patented, branded part or running the mill with its guard defeated caps the score. English with Spanish.

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.