The coronavirus pandemic led PepsiCo to an inventive strategy in how they handle Lean Six Sigma training. In an unusual move, but one that proved successful, the company turned to video training based on the popular online game Minecraft to teach the methodology.
Employees felt the impact companywide. PepsiCo is currently involved in a large-scale effort to teach Lean Six Sigma across the organization in departments ranging from front-line workers and sales representatives to the legal staff and claims processors.
The company now uses Minecraft to build a simulation of a warehouse that provides a visual way of demonstrating that when you are not working productively, you produce a lot of waste. And waste, of course, is the archenemy of Lean Six Sigma.
The idea for this approach to Lean Six Sigma training came from the fact that the person who leads Lean Six Sigma training for PepsiCo plays a lot of Minecraft with his son.
An 11-Year-Old Provided the Plan’s Inspiration
In a video posted on Facebook, Marco Rodriguez Tapia, the Master Black Belt of PepsiCo’s Lean Six Sigma training program for Europe, said the pandemic created a problem for training. The former face-to-face teaching sessions were now no longer possible.
Other solutions hadn’t really worked. Tapia tried teaching Lean Six Sigma using PowerPoint decks and Zoom classes, but satisfaction rates dropped and many trainees did not pass the classes, according to Chief Learning Officer.
Then, Tapia’s 11-year-old son made a suggestion: Why not use Minecraft to teach Lean Six Sigma skills? He was onto something. Minecraft uses three-dimensional worlds and a first-person perspective that allows players to solve challenges. It’s also a proven platform, with 126 million users worldwide.
Tapia and his son didn’t have to do research on Minecraft, because they play it together often.
As with many great ideas, Tapia said his son’s suggestion is “obvious” in retrospect. And it’s worked. “PepsiCo and this Minecraft simulation show that you can work efficiently but also have fun,” Tapia told Chief Learning Officer.
How Minecraft Teaches Lean Six Sigma
The original prototype was built by Tapia’s son. It simulates a PepsiCo plant where trainees practice problem-solving and complete productivity challenges. They do so while building pallets using virtual bricks. Design studio BlockWorks built the program based on the original design from Tapia’s son.
The result provided the company a way to deal with “Zoom fatigue,” which has quickly become an issue since the pandemic started. Robert Half recently released a survey showing that about 38% of workers already are experiencing Zoom fatigue.
Minecraft gave Tapia a way to make get around Zoom and make learning fun. Trainees first go through a short training exercise (built for those who have never used Minecraft) and then enter the simulated factory floor that mimics a distribution company with pallets of different products. The goal is to ship the products to a warehouse and get them distributed to customers in the most efficient way possible.
Groups of eight to 12 players work in teams to solve the challenges, which involved a variety of products and escalating difficulties (broken machines, missing parts, etc.) After 45 minutes in the game, the group meets to discuss what happened and how they did or did not overcome the game’s challenges.
Since making the change, satisfaction scores for the training have increased and more people are passing the final test.
Employees are “excited and curious to do the training, which was not always the case with a five-day online course,” Tapia told Chief Learning Officer. “This change of attitude and positive energy allows our teaching to be more effective and helps PepsiCo’s productivity and morale.”
