Mid-State Brick Factory
“A system is a network of interdependent components that work together to try to accomplish the aim of the system. A system
must have an aim. Without the aim, there is no system.”
~ W. Edwards Deming
must have an aim. Without the aim, there is no system.”
~ W. Edwards Deming
Copyright (c) 1997 Jim Imboden
Mid-State Brick Factory is a simulation program created to help students practice utilizing Improvement Tools and Methods to create the
perfect “Gorillium” brick. Students are introduced to employees, machines, suppliers, machine settings, and data collection. They
manage employees through training, schedules, and disciplinary action as if Mid-State Brick
Factory were their own business. Students learn more about the machines, problems, possible causes, and suggested solutions as
they talk to employees. With decisions come consequences, and Mid-State Brick Factory simulates realistic consequences.
Mid-State Brick Factory is a great learning environment to generate realistic data for attribute and variable control charts, cause & effect
diagrams, flow charts, and design experiments in a dynamic environment. As in the real world, Mid-State Brick Factory introduces
special causes (sometimes in the most inconvenient times) and it is up to the student to identify and learn from them. Use of the “Study
It” software is recommended for designing and interpreting experiments using graphic tools. VectorMaker (an Excel add-in program)
may be used for generating control charts, although students generally find manual generation of the appropriate control chart forms
(using available tri-fold paper forms) is easier and avoids switching programs on the computer.
A person can take many classes for improvement and design of experiments, but taking this new knowledge and applying it to the real
world is difficult. While the student has learned the structure and methods they are not prepared for the real world. It seems that life
does not remain static like the environment they were taught in. Mid-State Brick Factory helps the student understand how to apply their
knowledge to the real world successfully.
Mid-State Brick Factory is a simulation program created to help students practice utilizing Improvement Tools and Methods to create the
perfect “Gorillium” brick. Students are introduced to employees, machines, suppliers, machine settings, and data collection. They
manage employees through training, schedules, and disciplinary action as if Mid-State Brick
Factory were their own business. Students learn more about the machines, problems, possible causes, and suggested solutions as
they talk to employees. With decisions come consequences, and Mid-State Brick Factory simulates realistic consequences.
Mid-State Brick Factory is a great learning environment to generate realistic data for attribute and variable control charts, cause & effect
diagrams, flow charts, and design experiments in a dynamic environment. As in the real world, Mid-State Brick Factory introduces
special causes (sometimes in the most inconvenient times) and it is up to the student to identify and learn from them. Use of the “Study
It” software is recommended for designing and interpreting experiments using graphic tools. VectorMaker (an Excel add-in program)
may be used for generating control charts, although students generally find manual generation of the appropriate control chart forms
(using available tri-fold paper forms) is easier and avoids switching programs on the computer.
A person can take many classes for improvement and design of experiments, but taking this new knowledge and applying it to the real
world is difficult. While the student has learned the structure and methods they are not prepared for the real world. It seems that life
does not remain static like the environment they were taught in. Mid-State Brick Factory helps the student understand how to apply their
knowledge to the real world successfully.
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