Question 1

What exactly is The Builders Game?

Accepted Answer

The Builders Game is a two-day, hands-on Lean workshop delivered on-site at your location by Luke Davies (FutureBuilder) and Michael Bonney (Productivity Improvers).
Day 1 covers Lean fundamentals through real construction examples.

Day 2 is the simulation — your team builds and optimises a physical production line through multiple rounds of improvement.

Each round introduces a new Lean principle. It’s competitive, engaging, and the lessons stick because your team discovers them through experience, not lecture.

This is the same methodology that transformed Toyota’s production system — adapted specifically for Australian residential builders.

Question 2

What will my team actually learn?

Accepted Answer

Your team will learn to identify and eliminate the 9 wastes in construction using the I SWORE OUT framework: Inventory, Space, Waiting, Over-processing, Rework, Excessive Motion, Over-producing, Unused Creativity, and Transport. These are the hidden costs bleeding profit from every project.

Beyond waste identification, your team will learn: visual management systems (shadow boards, CI boards, checklists), 5S workplace organisation (‘put stuff back better than you found it’), continuous improvement culture (daily 15-minute toolbox meetings, weekly improvement reviews), spaghetti mapping to identify non-value movement on site, standard work to reduce rework and catch problems early, and communication frameworks that transform team coordination.

Most importantly, your whole team — from the apprentice to the site manager — will walk away speaking the same language about efficiency. When someone says “that’s excessive motion waste,” everyone knows what it means and how to fix it.

Question 3

What does it cost?

Accepted Answer

Pricing depends on your location, team size, and whether you want the optional follow-up coaching session. Enquire using the form on this page and we’ll send you a custom quote within 24 hours.
What we can tell you: most builders say the training pays for itself within the first project after attending. When your team starts seeing the rework, the unnecessary walks, the double-handling, and the waiting time that’s been bleeding your margins for years — the return on investment is immediate.

Question 4

Do you travel to us?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Luke and Michael fly to your location anywhere in Australia or New Zealand. You provide the venue — a conference room, community hall, or your office works fine. We need tables and enough space for teams to work around. We bring all simulation materials, equipment, and printed resources.

Question 5

How many people can attend?

Accepted Answer

The simulation requires a minimum of 17 participants to run properly. The sweet spot is 17– 20 people. This works best when it’s your core team — site managers, leading hands, carpenters, apprentices, and even admin and office staff. The more of your team who speak the same language afterward, the faster things change on site.
If you have a smaller team, we can combine your workshop with another builder in your area. Get in touch and we’ll work it out.

Question 6

Is this just for builders?

Accepted Answer

We’ve designed The Builders Game specifically for residential construction — custom homes, renovations, and design-and-build projects. Every example, every exercise, and every application throughout the two days is construction-specific. No generic corporate training.
If you’re in a related trade running your own business — plumbing, electrical, carpentry, landscaping — the principles absolutely apply. Lean works in any environment where you’re managing people, materials, and processes.

Question 7

What if my team is resistant to training?

Accepted Answer

That’s exactly why we built it this way. The Builders Game doesn’t feel like a training course — it feels like a challenge. The simulation is competitive and hands-on. Even the most resistant blokes in the room get competitive by the second round. By the end of Day 2, they’re the ones suggesting improvements and calling out waste.
We’ve seen this hundreds of times over 12+ years of delivery. The format works because people learn by doing, not by sitting through slides.

Question 8

What’s included in the two days?

Accepted Answer

Everything you need. Specifically: two full days of on-site training delivered by Luke Davies and Michael Bonney. Day 1 covers Lean fundamentals — the 9 wastes, visual management, 5S, continuous improvement, communication, culture and leadership. Day 2 is the hands-on Builders Game simulation. All simulation materials, equipment, and printed resources are provided. Your team finishes with a post-workshop action plan — specific improvements they commit to implementing immediately.
Optional: a follow-up virtual coaching session 4 weeks post-training to review implementation progress and troubleshoot any roadblocks.

Question 9

What are the 9 wastes in construction?

Accepted Answer

The 9 wastes use the acronym I SWORE OUT. Each one is a type of non-value activity bleeding profit from your projects:
Inventory — ordering too much ‘just in case’. Materials sitting on site, tying up cash, risking damage, warranty ticking before installation.
Space — needing bigger sheds and containers to store materials you ‘might use on the next job.’
Waiting — your team waiting on council, consultants, clients, materials, or instructions. Pre-construction that should take 12 weeks stretching to 12–18 months.
Over-processing — checking the checker who’s checking the checker. Triple-reviewing because you don’t trust the process.
Rework — the triple cost: money to do it, money to undo it, money to redo it. A wrong colour door. A missed spec. A handover that fell through the cracks.
Excessive Motion — every walk to the trailer for a forgotten tool costs $2–3 per minute of zero value. Map your team’s movements — it’ll look like a bowl of spaghetti.
Over-producing — starting work before you have all the information, then reworking when plans change.
Unused Creativity — your team has ideas you’re not capturing. That’s free improvement you’re leaving on the table. Worse — it kills engagement.
Transport — moving materials twice. Driving to Bunnings when a delivery would’ve saved two hours of a $100/hour carpenter’s time.
During The Builders Game, your team learns to see all 9 wastes using real examples from their own projects — then practises eliminating them in the simulation.

Question 10

What is spaghetti mapping?

Accepted Answer

Spaghetti mapping is one of the simplest and most powerful Lean tools. You draw lines on a site plan every time someone moves. By the end of the day, it looks like a bowl of spaghetti — revealing all the non-value movement your team does without realising.
Every one of those walks costs $2–3 per minute and adds zero value to the build. The fix isn’t complicated: set up tool stations at the work face, think about which tools you’ll need before you start, use shadow boards so everything has a home. The walks drop, the output goes up, and nobody works harder — they just walk less.

Question 11

What is 5S and how does it apply to building?

Accepted Answer

5S is a workplace organisation system from Lean manufacturing: Sort, Set in Order, Shine, Standardise, Sustain. On a building site, it translates to two simple mantras: ‘put stuff back better than you found it’ and ‘be tool ready every day.’
In practice, this means: every tool has a designated home (shadow boards). Your team sets up dedicated tool stations each morning — same tools, same layout, every job. Materials are staged in the right spot before work starts. The site stays clean and organised, which reduces movement waste, prevents damage, and improves safety. For office-based staff, we look at how many clicks in a filing system it take to find a file, and how multiple systems and apps can create wasted time.

Question 12

What’s the difference between Lean tools and Lean culture?

Accepted Answer

This is one of the most important concepts your team will learn. Lean has two sides — like a coin. Side one is the tools: SOPs, checklists, 5S, standard work, visual management. These are simple to teach and implement. Side two is the culture: respect, psychological safety, active listening, the willingness to raise problems without fear.
Most builders only focus on the tools. They buy the software, write the procedures, then wonder why nobody follows them. Tools without culture is just compliance. Culture without tools is chaos. You need both. The Builders Game teaches both sides.

Question 13

Who is behind Productivity Improvers?

Accepted Answer

Productivity Improvers is led by Michael Bonney, a Lean methodology specialist with 12+ years delivering hands-on training across manufacturing, construction, healthcare, education, and government organisations throughout Australia and internationally. Michael developed his expertise at Caterpillar Underground Mining in Tasmania, where he was part of the team that transformed the entire operation using Lean principles — moving from stall-build to production lines and dramatically increasing efficiency. He brings the simulation, the methodology, and over a decade of facilitation experience.

Question 14

Who is FutureBuilder?

Accepted Answer

Future Builder is a business development platform for residential construction companies, co-founded by Luke Davies. Luke is a practising builder in Tasmania who runs Davies Construction — a custom home and renovation business that operates on the Lean systems he teaches. His mission is to help 10,000 builders become healthy, wealthy, and wise. Future Builder brings the construction lens, the builder network, and the real-world application to The Builders Game.

Question 15

What happens after the two days?

Accepted Answer

Your team leaves with a written action plan — specific improvements they’ve committed to implementing on their next project. This isn’t a folder of theory. It’s practical changes: setting up a CI board, running daily 15-minute toolbox meetings, implementing 5S on site, mapping one process for waste.
Optionally, we offer a follow-up virtual coaching session 4 weeks after the workshop. This is a check-in to review what’s been implemented, troubleshoot any roadblocks, and keep the momentum going. The businesses that see the biggest long-term results are the ones that embed continuous improvement as a weekly habit, not a one-off event.

Question 16

Where has this methodology been used?

Accepted Answer

Lean methodology originated in Toyota’s production system and has been adopted across virtually every industry worldwide — manufacturing, healthcare (NHS, SpaceX), aerospace, logistics, and construction. Productivity Improvers have delivered Lean training for 12+ years across Australian organisations. FutureBuilder has adapted the principles specifically for residential construction, grounding every tool and framework in the realities of building houses in Australia.

Question 17

Is this the same as the ‘Car Game’?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The simulation at the heart of the workshop is widely known in Lean circles as the ‘Car Game’ — a proven training tool used by Productivity Improvers for over a decade. We’ve rebranded it as The Builders Game to reflect the construction-specific context and application we deliver. Same proven simulation, same methodology, same results — wrapped in a format built specifically for builders.

FutureBuilder x Productivity Improvers

The Builders Game

Lean for Builders: See the Waste. Fix the Flow.

THE PROBLEM

30–40% of productive time is lost to waste most builders can’t even see.

WHAT IT IS

Day 1 — Learn the System

The Lean Production System taught through real construction examples.

Day 2 — Play The Builders Game

Your team builds and optimises a production line from scratch.

Walk Away With:

Your team builds and optimises a production line from scratch.

Proven Results from Builders Like You

WHO DELIVERS IT

Luke Davies

Michael Bonney

Stop losing profit to waste your team can’t see.

We deliver The Builders Game at your location — anywhere in Australia or New Zealand.

Frequently Asked Questions

What exactly is The Builders Game?

What will my team actually learn?

What does it cost?

Do you travel to us?

How many people can attend?

Is this just for builders?

What if my team is resistant to training?

What’s included in the two days?

What are the 9 wastes in construction?

What is spaghetti mapping?

What is 5S and how does it apply to building?

What’s the difference between Lean tools and Lean culture?

Who is behind Productivity Improvers?

Who is FutureBuilder?

What happens after the two days?

Where has this methodology been used?

Is this the same as the ‘Car Game’?

Your team is already building every day. The question is whether they’re building efficiently.

Two days. Your whole team. A permanent shift in how you build.

FutureBuilder x Productivity Improvers

The Builders Game

Lean for Builders: See the Waste. Fix the Flow.

THE PROBLEM

30–40% of productive time is lost to waste most builders can’t even see.

WHAT IT IS

Day 1 — Learn the System

The Lean Production System taught through real construction examples.

Day 2 — Play The Builders Game

Your team builds and optimises a production line from scratch.

Walk Away With:

Your team builds and optimises a production line from scratch.

Proven Results from Builders Like You

WHO DELIVERS IT

Luke Davies

Michael Bonney

Stop losing profit to waste your team can’t see. We deliver The Builders Game at your location — anywhere in Australia or New Zealand.

Frequently Asked Questions

What exactly is The Builders Game?

What will my team actually learn?

What does it cost?

Do you travel to us?

How many people can attend?

Is this just for builders?

What if my team is resistant to training?

What’s included in the two days?

What are the 9 wastes in construction?

What is spaghetti mapping?

What is 5S and how does it apply to building?

What’s the difference between Lean tools and Lean culture?

Who is behind Productivity Improvers?

Who is FutureBuilder?

What happens after the two days?

Where has this methodology been used?

Is this the same as the ‘Car Game’?

Your team is already building every day. The question is whether they’re building efficiently.

Two days. Your whole team. A permanent shift in how you build.

Stop losing profit to waste your team can’t see.

We deliver The Builders Game at your location — anywhere in Australia or New Zealand.