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Moving Lego bricks around

Serious Gaming is used at BUas to provide an insight into logistics processes. In the propaedeutic phase, logistics students are given seven weeks to work on this game. Finances, planning, everything they have learned is dealt with in the game.

‘Okay, every group has its own factory. Based on customer orders, you build towers of different colours of Lego bricks. But your factory only has one colour in stock. This means that you have to purchase the colours you need.’ 

Serious Gaming is used at BUas to provide an insight into logistics processes. In the propaedeutic phase (first year), logistics students are given seven weeks to work on this game. Finances, planning, everything they have learned is dealt with in the game. It is played throughout the entire building. 

‘Renting a truck is expensive, so you definitely don’t want it to drive empty. And yet you have to start driving, otherwise you won’t be able to handle your orders properly. Driving an empty truck will get you four penalty points. Driving a loaded truck will set you back only one penalty point. Because after all, the driver will have to be paid and there is the depreciation of your vehicle fleet to be considered. Completing one tower will earn you two points. But towers and bricks have to be transported in different trucks.’  

You might think that the first-year students would be dazzled by the amount of information they are presented with, but fortunately, they are used to that. 

‘So what do you need to do? Keep the number of movements to a minimum and process your orders effectively and in time. You will have five minutes to come up with a strategy.’ 

So, it’s kind of like a real-life game of Stratego. Because in the end, it’s all about choosing the right strategy. And that is great fun to watch. There are the doers, who drive off with an empty truck straight away. That’s obviously not the way to go, and it gives them four penalty points. And there are the thinkers. ‘Is it okay if we work together?’ ‘Well now, if that’s was the line of thinking of the entire logistics sector in the Netherlands, you wouldn’t have so many half-empty trucks driving around. But apparently there’s no crisis going on in the Netherlands, because strangely enough, loads being combined to remove duplicate truck journeys is hardly the order of the day. 

Effectively organising information flows and logistics processes is what it’s all about.

‘Hey, a co-driver is walking along over there. It’s always convenient to have someone next to you reminding you what needs to be done, because communication is very important in logistics.’ 

‘Over here they are doing some serious mental arithmetic. Don’t you have an iPhone? Yes, you are allowed to take different colour bricks, of course.’

‘Do you really have to build according to the instructions, and nothing else?’ ‘Oh, sure you can, it’s just that the customer didn’t ask for it!’

Pros and cons are being weighed – should we turn left or should we turn right? Waiting for someone else to bring some bricks to you is also an option. The group which was so intent on working together has changed its strategy, coaxing the others to come to them and sneakily not giving back any bricks. ‘Your propaedeutic certificate will be in your pocket before you know it, congratulations guys!’  

But it is precisely this working together that is so important. And that is something you will learn all about here in the propaedeutic phase. ‘As a matter of fact, you will do everything together. Well, except for your work placement. And …. oh yeah, another thing you will do by yourself are your exams.’