Product details

Recent research in Operations Management has shown that local manufacturing can be competitive against offshoring when lead-time's impact on supply and demand mismatch is correctly valued. However, these research outputs are counterintuitive, and it is challenging to change the deeply rooted and myopic focus on unit costs minimization of students and practitioners alike. This article presents the Lead-Time Manager, a simulation-game developed at the University of Lausanne to leverage the teaching and communication benefits of this booming type of active learning tools, and help transmit research insights. The paper describes the features of the simulation-game, its different use cases, target audiences, expected learning benefits and its integration in our Operations Management course. As the tool is freely available, we also provide a template to help any interested faculty member integrate it into their own courses. This case study has been peer reviewed by the editorial board of the Operations Management Education Review (OMER).