| Overview | Sample 1 | Sample 2 | Sample 3 | Sample 4 | Sample 5 | Sample 6 | About the Author |
...For this single-player Beer Game simulation, you will be the Distributor in the following supply chain:
Your job is to order beer from the Factory and fill orders you receive from a Wholesaler...
...Each week, the values in the "Current Status" area will update. Your "Initial Inventory" box will show a positive number if you have beer in stock, and a negative number if you are in a stockout situation and have a backlog of unfilled customer orders. If a partial shipment is possible, that will happen, and a partial backorder will be recorded. If you are totally out of stock, the entire customer order will be backordered. Beer Game rules typically state that the weekly cost of a backorder is twice as high as the cost of holding inventory. You should keep this in mind when making ordering decisions; remember, the goal of the simulation is to maintain low "Current Inventory" without stocking out.
Go ahead and play some rounds (the simulation ends at 30 weeks); make sure to do them quickly, taking no more than 30 seconds to decide on your quantity to order from the Factory. After you have played up to at least week 17, press the "Make Chart" button to view your results.
(Disabled for preview)
| Current Status for Week: | Enter Order Below: | ||
| Processed this morning: | |||
| Initial Inventory: (backlog if negative) |
Customer Order: |
Current Inventory: (backlog if negative) |
 |
| When you reach at least week 17: | |||
| © 2001 - 2008 Supply Chain Online, LLC |
...charts from the simulation you just played, all graphed with the same scale, are shown below:
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SCM102 Specifications
Rating:
(1456 ratings)Total Reading Time: Approx. 1 - 2 hours (for average readers)
Word Count: Approx. 9,000 words
Author: Dr. Warren H. Hausman
Professor of Management Science & Engineering, Stanford University
Certificate: Counts toward Fundamentals of Supply Chain Management
Datasheet: 
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Contents
- Introduction to Supply Chain Strategies
- Functional vs. Innovative Products
- Efficient vs. Responsive Supply Chain Strategies
- Aligning Products and Strategies
- Product Life Cycle Revisited
- Improving Efficient Supply Chains
- Beer Game Introduction
- Beer Game Simulation
- Beer Game Results
- Bullwhip Effect: Importance and Causes
- Cause 1: Information Distortion
- Cause 2: Order Batching
- Cause 3: Promotions
- Cause 4: Allocation Gaming
- Counteracting Information Distortion: Forecasting Problems and the Hockey Stick Effect
- Counteracting Information Distortion: Vendor-Managed Inventory (VMI)
- Counteracting Information Distortion: Supplier Managed Availability (SMA)
- Counteracting Information Distortion: Reducing Lead Times, Reserving Capacity, and Direct Sales
- Counteracting Information Distortion: Keeping Safety Stocks Steady
- Counteracting Order Batching
- Counteracting Promotions
- Counteracting Allocation Gaming
- Conclusions
- Test Your Knowledge
- Feedback