SimCar

SimCar is a complex learning environment designed for students in industrial engineering and logistics to experience and manage realistic production systems. The SimCar factory produces three car models – racing car, quad, and go-kart – resulting in a total of 327 possible product variants.

The production system includes a main assembly line with five workstations and two pre-assembly areas, each with four workstations. One pre-assembly area is dedicated to producing a single Just-in-Sequence (JIS) module, while the other is flexibly configurable and can produce any other module. A warehouse stores SKUs and supplies materials to the workstations, serving as the backbone of internal logistics. Separate from the SimCar fab both logically and spatially, a supplier provides components by disassembling products previously shipped by SimCar, enabling closed-loop material flows.

Task Assignment You are a project team responsible for planning SimCar operations, configuring the production system, designing intralogistics processes, and integrating the supplier with the SimCar fab. The SimCar system must be launched within one semester. At the end of the project, the team must demonstrate that the fab is fully operational and runs stably. The management board expects the SimCar fab to maximize production output and product quality while minimizing staffing and inventory costs, and to operate in accordance with relevant industrial standards. The project team reports progress to the management board in weekly review meetings.

Task Assignment You are a project team responsible for planning SimCar operations, configuring the production system, designing intralogistics processes, and integrating the supplier with the SimCar fab. The SimCar system must be launched within one semester. At the end of the project, the team must demonstrate that the fab is fully operational and runs stably. The management board expects the SimCar fab to maximize production output and product quality while minimizing staffing and inventory costs, and to operate in accordance with relevant industrial standards. The project team reports progress to the management board in weekly review meetings.

User Story As a… student in logistics or industrial engineering working on a project team I want to… design, implement, and operate a balanced multi-model final assembly line with integrated JIT/JIS pre-assembly processes, So that I can… learn how real industrial production systems are planned and optimized, understand the impact of variability on material flow and capacity, and achieve defined performance targets such as maximum output, minimum inventory, and efficient staffing.

User Story As a… student in logistics or industrial engineering working on a project team I want to… design, implement, and operate a balanced multi-model final assembly line with integrated JIT/JIS pre-assembly processes, So that I can… learn how real industrial production systems are planned and optimized, understand the impact of variability on material flow and capacity, and achieve defined performance targets such as maximum output, minimum inventory, and efficient staffing.