The Supply Chain Simulation by Zensimu also named, Beer Game is an experiential learning exercise originally developed at MIT in the 1960s to illustrate the complexities of supply chain management. It's a role-play simulation game where participants manage a supply chain consisting of a brewery, distributor, wholesaler, and retailer. The objective is to meet customer demand for beer while minimizing costs and avoiding inventory backlogs or shortages.

Our supply chain simulation offers several valuable use cases in both educational and professional settings:

1. Educational Tool: It serves as an experiential learning platform for students and professionals to understand the fundamentals of supply chain management. By participating in the game, learners can see the effects of their decisions unfold in real-time, providing a deeper understanding of concepts like supply and demand dynamics, inventory control, and the flow of goods and information across the supply chain.

2. Training and Development: Organizations use the simulation to train employees on the complexities of supply chain operations. This helps build their skills in forecasting, decision-making under uncertainty, and strategic planning. It also enhances their ability to collaborate across different functions, which is crucial for efficient supply chain management.

3. Testing New Strategies: Companies can use the simulation to safely test the impact of changes in supply chain strategies without the risks associated with altering real-world operations. This might include changes in supplier relationships, introduction of new distribution channels, or adjustments in inventory levels.

4. Understanding System Dynamics: The Beer Game helps illustrate how local decisions impact global results, such as how overordering by a retailer can cause excessive inventory buildup throughout the supply chain. This is critical for understanding the systemic nature of supply chains and for implementing more effective integrated planning and operations.

5. Improving Communication: The game demonstrates the importance of communication between different parts of the supply chain. Participants learn the value of sharing information and coordinating plans to avoid the bullwhip effect—a phenomenon where minor fluctuations in demand at the retail level cause progressively larger oscillations in orders up the supply chain.

6. Change Management: By simulating different supply chain scenarios, the game can help organizations prepare for and manage change more effectively. This includes understanding the potential impacts of market changes or disruptions, and developing more resilient supply chain practices.

The Beer Game can be implemented by educators, corporate trainers, business consultants, and managers seeking to enhance their team's understanding of supply chain management. It's especially beneficial for professionals in operations, logistics, procurement, and strategic planning.

The supply chain simulation by Zensimu helps participants explore and understand several core principles of supply chain management:

1. Demand Forecasting: The simulation stresses the importance of accurate demand forecasting in managing supply chains efficiently. Players learn how inaccuracies in forecasting can lead to either excess inventory or shortages, affecting the entire supply chain.

2. Inventory Management: The game provides insights into the complexities of inventory management, including decisions on how much stock to hold at different stages of the supply chain to balance costs against the risk of stockouts.

3. Lead Time: It illustrates the impact of lead time in supply chains and how delays between ordering and receiving goods can complicate inventory management and overall supply chain efficiency.

4. The Bullwhip Effect: One of the key learnings from the game is the bullwhip effect, where small fluctuations in consumer demand cause increasingly larger fluctuations in the orders placed by upstream supply chain members. This effect demonstrates the need for coordinated information flow throughout the supply chain.

5. Cost Optimization: Players experience how decisions at one stage of the supply chain affect costs at other stages. The game encourages strategies that minimize total supply chain costs rather than costs for just one part of the chain.

6. Interdependency and Collaboration: The Beer Game highlights the interdependent nature of the supply chain. Success in the simulation requires collaboration among players to share information and align strategies, underscoring the importance of partnership within the supply chain.

7. Adaptability and Flexibility: As conditions change during the game, players must adapt their strategies in response to new information and market conditions, mirroring the dynamic environment of real-world supply chains.

8. Sustainability and Ethics: Although not a primary focus of the original Beer Game, modern adaptations might include elements that address sustainability and ethical considerations, such as minimizing waste and managing the environmental impact of supply chain decisions.

Yes, you can customise our simulation to your brand’s colors! By customising the simulation with your logo and colors, participants will project themselves as if they were managing your company's actual supply chain

It's unlimited! You can also add multiple organisers: essential for handling large group sessions, facilitating learning and debriefing or for those who don’t feel comfortable hosting a session on their own

Yes of course, you just need to schedule a Demo with us!