Industrial engineers gather knowledge during their bachelor studies through lectures and

practical classes. The goal of practical class might be an extension of knowledge and/or a

consolidation and application of already gathered knowledge. It is observed that there exists

a gap between theory learnt during lectures and practical classes. If practical classes require

holistic approach and solving complex tasks (problems), students strive with understanding

relations and connections between parts of knowledge. The aim of this article is to show an

example of a simple practical assignment that can serve as a bridge between lectures and

practical classes through discussion of interactions and relations between parts of theoretical

knowledge. It is an example of in-class simulating of a line and cellular layout considering

discussion of elements impacting and impacted by the type of layout (e.g. learning curve,

changeovers, etc.). In-class verification of the presented approach confirmed its usability for

teaching industrial engineers and bridging the gap between theory delivered through lectures

and more advanced practical classes.

This paper introduces the Lean School, a Learning Factory, along with a “game” of physical

simulation that is developed in it. All this is focused on teaching-learning, both of students

and professionals, of the potential advantages offered by the implementation of the Lean

Production in the organizations.

The participants gain a practical experience, based on experimental learning, which gives

them a better understanding of the principles and tools of Lean philosophy.

This physical environment is not limited to theoretical teaching, but goes beyond and implements

a production system near a real one. It starts from a configuration of a production

plant with an unbalanced system and throughout the different iterations, called productions,

introduces and implement the Lean principles, which makes its participants acquire

not only knowledge but also the skills needed to implement an efficient production in their

organizations.

All the constituent elements of the system will be described briefly: the product, the variations

thereof, the initial design with its layout, as well as the subsequent productions, and

the results of learning of each one.