The Beer Simulation Game was a surreal lesson in Supply Chain Management for me. The simulation game included four stages of SCM that required four participants to act in four different roles: the Manufacturer, Distributor, Wholesaler and Retailer. I was the manufacturer for my team; therefore I was responsible for producing the units of beer, whereas the other three were responsible for delivering to the respective customers. The first game, which was played in Classic Mode, resulted in the cost of a dreadful $36,874.00. I initially thought that I was doing something wrong in manufacturing the orders, but then realized that there were several factors contributing to the increasing inventory costs. The second game played in transparency mode …show more content…
During the first game, we did not know who our teammates were, although the retailer was easily identified for me as a result of outbursts during the game. During the classic mode, it was frustrating not being able to communicate to the other players; not being able to see what was going on with the other participants’ inventory, and not having any data or information to help make logical decisions. The second game was played in transparent mode, it was much smoother being able to have the visibility of what the other players were doing, however we still collectively performed the worst in the class. I believed that much to my team’s demise, ineffective communication plagued our team. Although the second game was more transparent and we were more aware who our teammates were, the retailer and the distributor would constantly tell me to produce high units of beer that I expressed would not be a good strategy. During the transparent mode game, the “alpha dog” of the group was adamant about me producing additional units, even when I expressed to her that the distributor was only submitting orders of 0. Eventually, I just decided to no longer produce any units for the remaining 17 weeks. This was definitely not a collective effort and our failure to collaborate contributed to our poor
As demonstrated in Exhibit 11, our factory processed 15 orders for materials during the course of the simulation. Had we been able to accurately predict our need for materials at the beginning of the simulation, we could of saved $14,000 through frontloading on inventory and taking advantage of the absence of inventory holding costs. Due to the difficulties of accurately predicting order quantities however, we would have decided to batch our material orders into 2 or 3 batches. Batching material orders would have allowed us to save on fixed order fees and also would have enabled us to respond to order fluctuations with increased/decreased order
The establishment of how to communicate with each other was vital and instrumental in being able to stay on task and get our assignments completed in a timely manner. Several of our team members will play devil’s advocate to make sure the directions we are given are clearly followed. The group individuals have demonstrated different talents during being a group and we have all just in consensus (without speaking it) allow that person to take over the portion they are expedited in. For example, Cintia is great at graphics she’s demonstrated a talent for using different software creating eye catching graphics to our projects, therefore the group knows that Cintia will take that portion of the task on if it’s
When our group first started planning our strategy to win the second Littlefield simulation game, it was evident that the goal of the game was to maximize profits. We were competing against 18 other teams, but we knew with correct system capacity management and correct inventory management we could be the number one team. Even though we made correct decisions overall, we ended up in second place again with a cash balance of $2,660,393 and remaining inventory of 52 kits. Although we were a little disappointed again, we were very satisfied with what we have learned and the important operations management concepts we used such as capacity management and lead-time and inventory management throughout both of the Littlefield simulation games.
10,000 Beers by Alex Broun is an energizing and unique style of an Australian work, investigating masculinity, sport and mateship. The play explores a theme that is seen very little on our contemporary stages, yet brings to light issues that are ever-present in our Australian culture such as the pressure to compete or preform. Another further concept looked at within the play is the negative impact that mateship in sport can really have on an athlete. With school soon coming to an end, I decided it would be apt to delve into a play which explores part of my life outside of school. Sport. As an athlete I’ve lived the lifestyle that the characters in the play have, experienced it first-hand. As this play is about sport, it ultimately gives a
Supply chain management involves the management of information flows between and among stages in a supply chain to maximize total supply chain effectiveness and profitability. The dozens of steps are required to achieve and carry out each of the above components. SCM software can enable an organization to generate efficiencies within these steps by automating and improving the information flows throughout and among the different supply chain components. If one member of the supply chain makes a reckless decision it can impact the entire supply chain. This is what
CLC Key Point: The final key point I would like to make is my work and time I did with my CLC Team this week on our project. I have learned through many years of working on teams that you must be prepared for “bumps” in the road. This project was no different. I think with this particular group, communicate more often. Our overall project is good, but we cut close to get it turned in on time. We had to track down the last piece due to slow communication. However, as I stated before you always to be successful you learn to work with the team you have. You need to help your teammates be the best they can be by supporting them, not degrading them or being negative toward them. I make a policy to remember that each person brings something different
The quick ratio for Boston Beer Company is 1.33. A company’s quick ratio is an indicator of a company’s short-term liquidity. This ratio is a more conservative form of the current ratio because it does not take into account inventory of the company when determining its current assets. Boston Beer Company still has a favorable ratio well above 1.0. While their current ratio is much better with all the inventory, Boston Beer Company is still a reliable company that can pay off its short term debts if need be.
At the outset, I have to acknowledge that I had a problem with this simulation. Initially, in my first two orders, I confused the backlog and inventory sections, so that I believed I had a significant surplus in inventory. Therefore, rather than minimizing the bullwhip of supply and demand, I exacerbated the problem by limiting my supply well below the number of orders coming in, much less below what I could fill with the backlog and incoming orders. This error on my part certainly led to increasing instability, not only in my own incoming orders, but also in the entire supply chain. The simulation also kept auto-filling my initial order, which was only 10,000 cases, despite me ordering a significantly larger number of cases. I could not get the simulation to operate properly and allow me to place a larger order. It kept auto-ordering the 10,000 cases. I could not get it to place an order other than 10,000 cases. Because of this glitch, I continued to increase my backlog. I simply could not order more than 10,000 cases. I address this issue because the glitch certainly impacted my opinion of the computer simulation as a means of learning. In this scenario, the initial computer simulation was absolutely worthless as a learning tool. I made an error in my first order, but I do not think that error was meaningful. Instead, it appears that whatever number of cases I placed in my initial order would be the number of cases ordered over the next several
In the first round of the root beer supply chain game there was a lot of confusion, mystery, and chaos; and the data showed that (Please see separate excel spreadsheet of data with mean, standard deviation, and variation calculated). Analysis of the data shows a classic bullwhip effect; the customer places an order and order fluctuations build up through the supply chain. You can also see that these effects are magnified as you get farther from the customer up the supply chain. This holds true for mean, standard deviation, and variation. Without proper communication between the supply chain, it felt like every group was working blind and three steps behind. This was due to
The quotation above portrays beer as a drink that is considered by egyptians and mesopotamians as a holy drink that should be given to every civilian who knows about its existence. This passage in the book truly shines light on one of the most important drinks since the beginning of humanity. Beer was one of the first drinks that was made in such a way that it was always safe to drink and not only that but it also gave the mesopotamians their true identity and culture. Along with providing a safe method for consuming liquid beer gave way to the early migrations, farming, and the development of river valley societies.
It is important to agree and commit to a strategy for communicating as a project team. Consider options. Having a communication strategy that people haven’t had an opportunity to agree on, or who aren’t aware of, will mean that communication won’t be effective.
I was given the opportunity to lead in single activity which required to guide the team members based on communication. I did planned and guided my members and explain them how we will work in that activity according to my mindset and priorities. The problem I experienced was that regardless of the understanding between group members, I was still not able to guide my colleagues to perform as I expected. The main reason for me not delivering what I expected was that I didn’t accounted for other member’s thoughts and priorities. (Beth & Charles, 2011, pp 463)
Communication is the key to success. A team without communication could never be successful. Communication is important because the group needs a clear goal and also they need to have shared objectives. For example, in football a defense needs to be on the same page; if two players on the defense are on different pages then the defense will not be successful. You need everyone to share the same objective in order to succeed, not just a few people but all as one. To ensure a team’s success, everyone on the team has to be accountable. Everyone has a job on the team to contribute to becoming successful as a whole. Also you need trust in order to become successful; you have to be able to trust in your team that they will give their all for the team.
It was surprising for me a many information I wasn’t aware of before. I always knew “communication” is one of the factor key of an effective team. In my culture when there is a fight between two group/person they always use communication to resolve the conflict. Lack of communication can cause a lot of misunderstanding. Human being make a lot mistake by only relying on it memory and what they believe to be true. You cannot judge someone without having to communicate with them. Having an effective communication with someone will most likely avoid a lot conflict. That why, people use communication as the primary key of solving
The malt is now ready for the brewing process. Production methods will differ from brewery to brewery, as well as according to brewery equipment and beer types. Athenian Brewery S.A uses its own production methods; however the main processes will be similar. The description below applies to the production of a typical lager beer in a brewery with a lauter tun installed.