Abstract
This document contains questions and answers about supply chain management.
Extract : "The Beer Game is a simulation of the supply chain where players should honor the consumer orders in managing their stocks, supplying and costs. Our individual performance in the Beer Game can't be taken as a component of our final grade in the course for several reasons.
First of all, the game is composed of four elements in the logistic chain (factory, distributor, wholesaler and retailer ), which depend all on each from another (orders placed –incoming orders) with a long lead-time.
In second place, there are the lacks of communication and transparency between different partners of chain (factory, distributor, wholesaler and retailer), which also work individually (no long term vision) and according to every unit: thus, it is complicated to have a good appropriateness between the demand and stock.
Thirdly, we can connect it to the idea of lack of reliable information between the various units, which can have consequences (for instance: an “unknown demand” - the retailer is in possession of information concerning the demand whereas the factory not).
In fourth place, they have not equally the same function: every element places orders according to the structure of the supply chain which can have repercussions such as the bullwhip effect : strong disconnection between the consumption with the actual customers demand and the manufacturing with the actual factory activity"
