Littlefield Technologies & Littlefield Laboratories Simulation Game

Littlefield Technologies and Littlefield Laboratories are two versions of a simulation game developed by Responsive Learning Technologies. Our operations research tutors provide live online private tutoring for the Littlefield Technologies and Littlefield Laboratories simulation game.

Littlefield Technologies

Introduction to Littlefield Simulation Game for Operations Management

The Littlefield Technologies and Littlefield Laboratories simulation game models a factory or lab whose process has four steps on three workstations. Each student manages their factory for the duration of the simulation. They manage their factories by making decisions on increasing or decreasing manufacturing capacity, modifying scheduling instructions, managing inventory by increasing or decreasing the inventory order quantity and reorder point, and deciding on lead times. These operations management decisions are made based on operating data from the factory simulation, such as lead times, inventory levels, queue lengths, cash flows, utilization, etc.

Littlefield Technologies and Littlefield laboratories are often used in various courses, including inventory management, operations management, industrial engineering, manufacturing operations, etc. The Responsive Learning Technologies website lists the various business schools that use this simulation game model to teach operations research courses. 

This simulation game can also be used by individuals or corporate training programs to teach the various operations research concepts outlined above. GraduateTutor.com is proud to provide trainers and executives who can teach the operations concepts taught in the Littlefield Technologies and Littlefield Laboratories simulation game or be a team member or coach to executives learning these concepts individually. (quick links)

Operations Concepts Tested in the Littlefield Simulation Game

Professors can modify the simulation game to teach different operations management concepts to varying difficulty levels by choosing which rules or parameters students modify in the simulation game. This means that operations professors can choose to tutor on specific operations topics like inventory management or to tutor a variety of operations management concepts listed below.

Topics that this simulation model can introduce students to include 

  • Demand forecasting;
  • Capacity management;
  • Inventory management;
  • Queue management;
  • Process analysis;
  • Lead time management;
  • Queue arrangements;
  • Batch/Lot sizing;
  • Optimal order quantity or Economic Order Quantity (EOQ);
  • Safety Stock; 
  • Reorder points;
  • Cashflow management and
  • Financing /Borrowing (for working capital vs. capital equipment).

(quick links)

Operations Decisions Needed in the Littlefield Simulation Strategy Game

The Littlefield simulation game allows students to make the following operations management decisions:

  • Reorder point 
  • Reorder quantity
  • Contracts types (pricing & lead time)
  • Investing in (purchasing) machines
  • Order Priority (FIFO/LIFO)
  • Debt/Financing (working capital & investment)
  • Batch size

Remember that Professors can choose which operations concepts are covered in each operations management course. So, they modify the simulation game to focus on these concepts. You may not have to make all these decisions. So, ensure you read and understand the operating decisions you must make in your Littlefield simulation game. (quick links)

Cracking the Littlefield Simulation Strategy

The best way to succeed in the Littlefield simulation is to understand the operations concepts taught in your operations management courses. You will apply these concepts in your simulation game.

Topics include queuing theory, process control, layout design, inventory management, Little’s Law, computing utilization and capacity constraints, process controls, identifying process bottlenecks, forecasting, inventory management, etc. To perform well in the Littlefield simulation game, you should focus on several key areas:

  • Understanding Operations Management Concepts: Littlefield simulates various aspects of operations management, including inventory management, production planning, capacity management, and supply chain dynamics. Familiarize yourself with these concepts to make informed decisions during the simulation.
  • Data Analysis: The simulation provides data on key performance indicators (KPIs) such as lead time, cycle time, inventory levels, and throughput. Learn how to analyze this data to identify patterns, trends, and areas for improvement.
  • Forecasting Demand: Effective forecasting is crucial for planning production and inventory levels in the simulation. Learn different forecasting methods and how to apply them to predict demand accurately.
  • Inventory Management: Balancing inventory levels to meet demand while minimizing holding costs is essential. Understand inventory control policies such as just-in-time (JIT) and reorder point (ROP) to optimize inventory levels.
  • Production Planning and Scheduling: Develop strategies for efficient production planning and scheduling to meet customer demand while minimizing idle time and setup costs.
  • Capacity Management: Optimize capacity utilization to maximize throughput and minimize bottlenecks. Learn how to identify and address capacity constraints effectively.
  • Supply Chain Management: Consider the impact of supply chain dynamics on your operations, including lead times, supplier reliability, and transportation costs.
  • Risk Management: Anticipate and mitigate risks that may affect your operations, such as machine breakdowns, unexpected demand fluctuations, or supply disruptions.
  • Decision Making: Make data-driven decisions based on analysis and insights gained from the simulation. Consider the trade-offs between different strategies and prioritize actions that align with your objectives.
  • Continuous Improvement: Continuously monitor performance and experiment with different strategies to improve your results. Reflect on your decisions and learn from both successes and failures. (quick links)

Preparing for the Littlefield Simulation Game: Data Analysis

Read your professor’s Littlefield instructions. Operations professors can choose to tutor on specific operations topics like operations capacity or to tutor a variety of operations management concepts listed above/below. Understand what you need to work on. 

Students usually start the simulation game around a few days into the operations. Decision-making and setting the optimal strategy to crack the Littlefield Simulation game is best done with some data analysis. Data analysis on the Littlefield Simulation game that you can do before you start include:

  • Capacity of each station
  • Waiting time at each station
  • Inventory queues at each station
  • Demand analysis
  • Analysis of the Jobs completed and delays on jobs completed

Operations Metrics to Monitor during the Littlefield Simulation Game

Once you have started the Littlefield simulation game, you and your team must monitor the following operations performance metrics.

  • Station Queues
  • Station Utilization
  • Inventory
  • Order queues
  • Completed Jobs
  • Completed Jobs Lead Time & Delay
  • Cash available

Common Mistakes Made in Cracking the Littlefield Simulation Strategy

Here are some of the common mistakes we have seen students make in the Littlefield simulation game. Avoid these to move up the ranking.

  • Communication between team members: Make sure the team knows who is monitoring, meeting, reviewing, discussing and updating the model.
  • Mixing up variability: Variability applies to processing, waiting, demand, and lead times. Make sure you know what you need for different operating decisions.
  • Mixing up units: The Littlefield case has units and batches. Information is presented in units and batches. For example, costs may be mentioned in dollars per unit, whereas orders are taken in batches.
  • Mixing up Lead Times: Lead times apply for customers and suppliers/vendors. Make sure you know the difference and use it appropriately. 
  • Wrongly ordering machines: You are asked for the total number of machines you would like at this station. Thus, if you have 2 and want to add 1 machine, enter 3 to bring your total up to 3.  
  • Ignoring the End Game: You may not be able to change decisions for the last few days. Ensure you don’t have too much or too little of key inputs such as orders (demand), capacity, and inventory.
  • Forgetting to hit the Update Button: To update the factory status otherwise, you must click on the update button on the bottom of the web page.  
  • Ignoring the overall standing: Serves as good feedback. Your overall standing will indicate if you are doing well or doing poorly. You can check your team’s overall standing using the overall standing button.

Two war room experiences from student’s who played the Littlefield simulation game can be found here and here. (this page’s quick links)

Creators of Littlefield Simulation Game for Teaching Operations

Sunil Kumar and Samuel Wood, who taught an operations research course in the late 1990s at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, formed Responsive Learning Technologies, which is based in Los Altos, to develop and promote various simulator games. In addition to the Littlefield Technologies and Littlefield Laboratories simulation games, Responsive Learning Technologies has also developed other simulation games, including the Supply Chain Game, Electronic Beer Game, and Venture Capital Games. 

A simulation game tries to mimic a real-life situation so that the players can see, experience, and learn about the process, events, decisions, and results of their decisions. These models are examples of goal-based scenarios. Shank, Fano, and Jona describe in their paper “The design of goal-based scenarios” (The Journal of Learning Science. 3(4) 1994) that goal-based scenarios should have a “clear, concrete goal to be achieved, a set of target skills to be learned and practiced in the service of this goal, and a task environment in which to work.” This simulation game has these components. When this simulation game is played in teams, it also adds a competition dynamic to the class, which spurs the competitive spirits of students, making them more involved in the class. (quick links)

Operations Research Tutoring

Our operations research tutors can assist you with tutoring for the Littlefield Technologies case and/or Littlefield Laboratories simulation game. Other topics we can assist you include optimization using R, queuing theory and waiting lines, decision trees, linear programing using Microsoft Excel’s Solver, newsvendor models, batch processing, Feel free to call or email if we can be of assistance with live one on one tutoring.

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