The Production Cell

A 90-minute, 4-round basic Express simulation on running one production cell from the floor, for high-school Career and Technical Education in production, machining and manufacturing technology, pre-apprenticeship and youth apprenticeship programs and courses preparing the MSSC Certified Production Technician credential.

Marisol Dunaway, 18, the fictional new lead of a five-station machining cell at Palmetto Ridge Precision, a Tier 2 auto supplier in Greenville, South Carolina, has four weeks of February 2027 to ship 2,250 steering-column bushings a week, at a 60-second takt, with the people and machines she has.

Round by round you choose how the cell is paced and how the work is split across the stations, the rule for parts between stations and how the mill changes over, what the cell does about 5S and about a door interlock that keeps tripping, and how the cell starts each day and covers a short week with extra demand; at each decision point the month is projected again with the decisions taken so far.

Each round is scored on on-time delivery, first-pass yield, lead time, cost per good part and the crew's safety and engagement; running a machine with its guard bypassed (29 CFR 1910.212) or putting a 17-year-old on a punch press (FLSA Hazardous Occupations Order 8, 29 CFR 570.59) 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.