Beer Game Paper
1- What are the benefits of communication: (20 points)
• between levels (/retailer/OEM/warehouse/factory)?
Students, playing the Beer Game for the first time, are typically enthusiastic about feeling the effects of insufficient coordination so drastically.
• within levels (logistics/planner) in the supply chain?
Different players who all know the demand distribution, manage the different stages of the channel. The interface was designed to help us visualize the material and information flows. The game shows effects of missing information exchange and of delays in transferring materials and information.
• specifically with the factory?
The factory have to decide how much they order; the order size is communicated only to the supplier and not to other entities. Furthermore, ordering information is transferred with delays and the lead-time in operations also results in delays.
2- If you could change the structure of the network, assuming the rules on ordering, communication, and lead times are the same, how would you do it? Justify your answers. (10 points)
In each period, the channel members must decide how much, if any, to order from their respective suppliers and the factory must decide how much, if any, to produce.
3- Suppose you were faced with a competitor who
a) Offered better lead times and your customers began defecting. How would you change the network rules, communications, etc., to respond given the continuing need to balance inventory and customer service? (20 points)
There are transportation lead times in shipping the material from one location to another, and there is a production lead time at the factory. While material flows from upstream to downstream, information flows in the opposite direction through order placements. There is an order processing delay, or information lead time, between when an order is placed and when the order is received by the supplier. The players share a common objective to optimize the system-wide
• between levels (/retailer/OEM/warehouse/factory)?
Students, playing the Beer Game for the first time, are typically enthusiastic about feeling the effects of insufficient coordination so drastically.
• within levels (logistics/planner) in the supply chain?
Different players who all know the demand distribution, manage the different stages of the channel. The interface was designed to help us visualize the material and information flows. The game shows effects of missing information exchange and of delays in transferring materials and information.
• specifically with the factory?
The factory have to decide how much they order; the order size is communicated only to the supplier and not to other entities. Furthermore, ordering information is transferred with delays and the lead-time in operations also results in delays.
2- If you could change the structure of the network, assuming the rules on ordering, communication, and lead times are the same, how would you do it? Justify your answers. (10 points)
In each period, the channel members must decide how much, if any, to order from their respective suppliers and the factory must decide how much, if any, to produce.
3- Suppose you were faced with a competitor who
a) Offered better lead times and your customers began defecting. How would you change the network rules, communications, etc., to respond given the continuing need to balance inventory and customer service? (20 points)
There are transportation lead times in shipping the material from one location to another, and there is a production lead time at the factory. While material flows from upstream to downstream, information flows in the opposite direction through order placements. There is an order processing delay, or information lead time, between when an order is placed and when the order is received by the supplier. The players share a common objective to optimize the system-wide