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The Beer GameBringing your team together

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What is the Beer Game?

The Beer Game is a supply chain simulation that lets the players experience the

pressures of playing a role in a production/distribution simulation to develop their

Supply Chain understanding.

The game is played via a large board game with teams of at least four players. Players move pieces around the board and

determine what they want to make or purchase and how much stock to hold, in a fun and competitive environment.

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The Beer Game was created by a group of

professors at MIT Sloan School of

Management in the early 1960s. It was

developed to demonstrate a number of

supply chain management key principles. It

introduces the players to the concept of the

“bullwhip effect” and how structure produces

behaviour.

The Beer Game Origins

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The bullwhip effect is a well-known symptom of coordination problems in (traditional)

supply chains. It refers to the trend of larger and larger swings in inventory in response

to changes in demand, the further back through the supply chain you go.

Even in the face of stable customer demand, small variations in demand at the retail/customer end tend to dramatically amplify

upstream in the supply chain when information sharing and collaboration does not exist.

As a consequence of the bullwhip effect, a range of inefficiencies occur throughout the supply chain:

high (safety) stock levels

poor customer service levels

poor capacity utilisation

aggravated problems with demand forecasting

ultimately high cost and low levels of inter-firm trust

.

The Bullwhip Effect

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The Beer Game is a fun, interactive session which can help develop understanding

on why supply chain planning is complicated and build engagement around S&OP. It

highlights why structured, cross functional communication is important.

GRA’s experienced facilitators can increase your team’s knowledge and understanding and link the Beer Game’s learning

objectives to a broader program if required. The Beer Game can be used to:

What is the Beer Game?

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Improve understanding on how end to end supply chains operate

Create increased buy in for S&OP/IBP rollouts – this can work especially well for

developing non-supply chain department engagement such as Sales & Marketing

departments

Expand your team’s overall Supply Chain knowledge and the part they play

Increase awareness on why cross functional communication is important within

supply chains

Develop the case for Customer & Supplier collaboration

Improve culture and have some fun as a teambuilding exercise

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Case Study: Beer Game with Chobani

Chobani is the number one selling yoghurt brand in America and launched into the

Australian market in 2011. Chobani purchased Victorian dairy company Bead Foods

(makers of Gippsland Dairy) and built a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in

Dandenong South.

GRA ran the Beer Game for Chobani as part of their Leadership Development Programme. A range of different departments

including Sales, Planning, Procurement, Production, Quality and Logistics participated.

Sarah Hochholzer, People & Culture Manager at Chobani said: “It was a fun, interactive way for the team to get an overview

on how supply chains function and experience firsthand, some of the key issues supply chains face and how to overcome

them.”

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Sarah Hochholzer, People & Culture Manager, Chobani

It was a fun, interactive way for

the team to get an overview on

how supply chains function

and experience firsthand,

some of the key issues supply

chains face and how to

overcome them.

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What our clients say about The Beer Game

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