Current fast development requires continuous improvement of employees’ skills and knowledge.
Therefore, companies are looking for the best way for improving the employees’ qualifications
and understanding of new concepts and tools which have to be implemented in
manufacturing areas. One method employs gamification for this purpose. The aim of this
paper is to present how gamification can increase the acquisition of knowledge concerning
lean manufacturing concept implementation. Gamification is an active learning approach for
people who will understand the subject easier by ‘feeling’ and ‘touching’ personally the analysed
problems. The research utilized a questionnaire which assessed the game participants’
engagement level. The assessment focused specifically on the participants’ motivation, cognitive
processing and social aspects. The participants were also examined before and after the
game in order to assess the increase of their understanding of different lean manufacturing
topics and tools. Five different games with different groups of participants were played. The
results confirmed the hypothesis that gamification has a positive impact on the knowledge
acquisition as well as on motivation, cognitive processing and social aspects. Finally, various
insights on how to better design, conduct and utilize gamification in the similar technical
context are presented.