E BEER GAME REPORT PCG2
Team PCG2
Jack Zhang
Lai Wen Jun
Gerald Chee
Wong Yun Jie
Overview
Each player was assigned a role of either a retailer, wholesaler, distributor or manufacturer for beers. The main obstacle we faced was the uncertainty in forecasting demands, which was due to a long lead time (3 weeks from manufacturer to retailer).
Objectives
Focusing to tackle the problem of demand forecast updating, our group sought to keep accumulated costs low which is contributed by holding and backlog costs.
Meanwhile, reducing the effects of bullwhip effect.
Strategy
Our team’s strategy was to maintain a certain level of inventory at every stage to prevent backlogging in general and try to push most of our stock down to the retailer as it is the direct point of contact with the customers. To achieve this, we maintained transparency of our stock levels with one another to make informed orders.
We began with the manufacturer producing a larger amount of stock than usual and then we began to push the stock downstream towards the retailer. With the high inventory level at the manufacturer, the immediate downstream (distributor) could place orders accordingly so as not to create backlog for its upstream stage (manufacturer). Likewise, the wholesaler and retailer did the same and placed their orders with regards to the inventory level of the immediate upstream stages.
However, the retailer still had to take into account what the customer may demand. Given the limited information we had in the game, we could not accurately forecast the amount of stock to maintain for the retailer. We decided that the retailer should hold more inventory as the customers’ demand were quite unpredictable so that the retailer would not suffer from too much of a backlog should there be a drastic spike in demand.
Conclusion
The game simulates a real life supply chain issue, known as the bullwhip effect. While the strategy helped us keep accumulated cost low, the scenario does not comply with certain real life
Jack Zhang
Lai Wen Jun
Gerald Chee
Wong Yun Jie
Overview
Each player was assigned a role of either a retailer, wholesaler, distributor or manufacturer for beers. The main obstacle we faced was the uncertainty in forecasting demands, which was due to a long lead time (3 weeks from manufacturer to retailer).
Objectives
Focusing to tackle the problem of demand forecast updating, our group sought to keep accumulated costs low which is contributed by holding and backlog costs.
Meanwhile, reducing the effects of bullwhip effect.
Strategy
Our team’s strategy was to maintain a certain level of inventory at every stage to prevent backlogging in general and try to push most of our stock down to the retailer as it is the direct point of contact with the customers. To achieve this, we maintained transparency of our stock levels with one another to make informed orders.
We began with the manufacturer producing a larger amount of stock than usual and then we began to push the stock downstream towards the retailer. With the high inventory level at the manufacturer, the immediate downstream (distributor) could place orders accordingly so as not to create backlog for its upstream stage (manufacturer). Likewise, the wholesaler and retailer did the same and placed their orders with regards to the inventory level of the immediate upstream stages.
However, the retailer still had to take into account what the customer may demand. Given the limited information we had in the game, we could not accurately forecast the amount of stock to maintain for the retailer. We decided that the retailer should hold more inventory as the customers’ demand were quite unpredictable so that the retailer would not suffer from too much of a backlog should there be a drastic spike in demand.
Conclusion
The game simulates a real life supply chain issue, known as the bullwhip effect. While the strategy helped us keep accumulated cost low, the scenario does not comply with certain real life