Synergizing ChatGPT and experiential learning: unravelling TOC based production planning and control variants through the dice game

Abstract

Amidst debates around the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies like ChatGPT in education, our study explores their role in enhancing the ‘theory of experiential learning’, particularly in Production and Operations Management (POM). We demonstrate how Goldratt’s Dice Game, as an experiential learning aid, allows undergraduate students in a senior-level production planning and control (PPC) course to apply knowledge and skills in a dynamic, interactive setting. This study presents how these students, supported by ChatGPT's insights, gain a deeper understanding of the DBR system, focusing on buffer management, internal (i.e. a dominant capacity constraint), external (i.e. market demand constraint), and interactive decision-making processes. We detail manual and Excel-based simulation models for Drum-Buffer-Rope (DBR) variants, reflecting on experiential learning outcomes. Concluding with managerial implications, our research advocates for the synergy of ChatGPT-aided theoretical learning with experiential models, presenting a comprehensive approach for understanding POM fundamentals such as Production Planning & Control (PPC) systems.

Sustainable Development Goals:

• SDG 4: Quality education

KEYWORDS:

• Production planning
• simulation
• theory of constraints
• experiential games

Data availability

On request.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethics approval

This article contains no studies with human participants or animals conducted by any of the authors.

Additional information

Funding

None.

Notes on contributors

Mahesh Gupta

Mahesh Gupta is a professor in the Department of Management, University of Louisville. He obtained his M.Com. from the University of Jammu, India, M. Sc. from the University of Manitoba, Canada, and PhD from the University of Louisville, USA. Dr. Gupta’s areas of expertise and interest include evaluation and improving the organisational performance by using management philosophies (e.g. Just-in-Time, Activity Based Management, Theory of Constraints, Quality Management, Market Orientation). Dr. Gupta has worked extensively with local companies and published his work in numerous journals including Journal of Operations Management, Decision Sciences Journal, International Journal of Operations and Production Management, International Journal of Production Research, and European Journal of Operational Research, Journal of Operational Research Society, and Journal of Cost Management.

Ajay Gupta

Ajay Gupta is currently working as an Associate Professor in the Department of Industrial and Production Engineering, and Head of the Centre for Training and Placements at Dr. B.R Ambedkar, National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, India. He obtained his B.Tech (Industrial Engineering) with Gold Medal from NIT, Jalandhar (erstwhile REC, Jalandhar) in 1993 and M.Tech (Industrial Engineering) with Gold medal from NIT, Jalandhar in 2006. He did his Ph.D. from NIT, Jalandhar in 2012. His areas of research are operations management, theory of constraints, data analytics, materials management, lean manufacturing, statistics, and operations research. He has coordinated many short-term courses and workshops. He has around twenty-eight years of experience in teaching and research. He has published more than fifty research papers in various reputed journals and conferences (national and international) and eight book chapters with reputed publishers. He has guided five doctoral and thirty-five PG students in multifaceted fields of Industrial and Production Engineering.

Fernando Bernardi de Souza

Fernando Bernardi De Souza is an Associate Professor at the Production Engineering Department in the UNESP Engineering School at Bauru, São Paulo State University. He has received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of São Paulo (USP). His research focuses on the themes of production planning and control and supply chain management. He is an expert in Theory of Constraints (TOC), with a Certification for Practitioners in the TOC Fundamentals Exam and the TOC Supply Chain Logistics by the TOC International Certification Organization (TOCICO) and uses TOC intensively in his undergraduate and postgraduate courses. He has published in journals including International Journal of Production Research, Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, International Journal of Managing Projects in Business, International Journal of Systems Science: Operations & Logistics, Journal of Industrial and Production Engineering, Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management, and Supply Chain Management: An International Journal.

Lucas Martins Ikeziri

Lucas Martins Ikeziri is an Assistant Professor of Production Engineering at Centro Universitário Sagrado Coração – UNISAGRADO. He holds a Postgraduate Degree in Business Logistics, an M.Sc. and a PhD in Production Engineering from the São Paulo State University (UNESP), and a Bachelor's Degree in Mechanical Production Engineering from Paulista University. His research areas include Simulation, Operations Management, Production Planning and Control, Supply Chain Management, and the Theory of Constraints. Dr. Ikeziri has published his work in journals such as the International Journal of Production Research, Journal of Industrial and Production Engineering, International Journal of Systems Science: Operations & Logistics, Production, and International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management.

Mohit Datt

Mohit Datt is a research scholar in the Department of Industrial and Production Engineering, Dr. B R Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar, India, and working in the field of Operations Management, Theory of Constraints, and Healthcare Management. He obtained his B.Tech (Mechanical Engineering) with HONS in 2012 and M.Tech (Mechanical Engineering) in 2014 from Punjab Technical University, Jalandhar. He has around 9 years of teaching and research experience. He has published his research in reputed journals and conferences.