Volvo Designs Computer Game for Training at Work

A joint venture between the public and private sector led to a project that aimed to show companies how they can go greener using IT. The development group involved in the ‘Green IT’ project included Volvo IT, Volvo Technology, Gothia Science Park Projektarena and Ludosity.

So the Swedish Group has developed a computer game to help teach the principles of lean production in order to increase the efficiency of working processes. In this game, the players can see how different changes in the process can influence efficiency and profitability. The results indicate that computer games really make you more efficient at work...

The project invited a number of employees from various Volvo Group companies around the world to evaluate the game. Players could switch from scheduled production to customer order-steered production, test different layouts, invest in new equipment and immediately see how this affected efficiency and profitability. One of the players who excelled at the game was Tracy Liu, Planning Supervisor at Volvo Construction Equipment in Linyi in China.

“I was really captivated by the game and was quickly able to see how various actions affected efficiency,” she said. “The game taught me to think in new ways and it was a real challenge trying different ways to improve production. When everything worked, I managed to deliver to customers on time and with the right quality.”

Now don’t hurry up and tell your boss about it... yet. We don’t want to get you fired. There is still a part that you don’t know. It seems that digitally based games provide an opportunity to log what the players do and the effect this has, which then provides feedback for the instructors.