Final Project Notes
-Take a moment to look back at your feeling and reactions
-What were your raw impressions?
-Call out some adjectives.
-While playing the simulation what did you focus on?
-What strategies did you pursue?
-Was your game plan successful? Why or why not?
-Was there a point at which you changed your strategy? (Ex. When customer demand went up?)
-Which strategy do you best identify with?
-Strategy 1: “Isolationist”
-Optimize your own operation in the supply chain (“best I can be”), regardless of the impact on other participant in the chain.
-Strategy 2: “Cooperative”
-Try to help other participant in the chain.
-Followers of the “Cooperative” Strategy:
-How did you implement a cooperative approach?
-Alignment for stability by unspoken agreement?
-Simple JIT-pass the order on exactly as received?
-One participant used to buffer the channel and absorb variability?
-How did this happen?
-Every chain experienced exorbitant weekly costs!
-What do you think contributed to the high amount of backlog across-the-board?
-What do you think contributed to the high accumulation of inventory across the board?
-Typical Chain Results
-Three main patterns emerge:
-Oscillation: inventory/backlog goes down, then up
-Amplification: height of oscillations (and hence costs) increases the farther away one is from the end customer
-the distributor usually illustrates significant oscillation because the factory is buffered by having no limits on capacity.
-Lag: the swings (generally) happen later in time and increase as one goes farther away from the end customer
-But Why?
– These patterns occur with every single team, so what are the root causes of this performance?
-No communication, leading to independent and conflicting solutions
-Lag time
-Filtered information
-“Black box” observing patterns
-Bullwhip Effect: the combination of demand variability, combined with the time lag in receiving information.
-Strategies
-As the winning team, what were the strategies you utilized?
-What strategies were utilized by the losing team?
-Are there any distinct similarities or differences?
-Solutions
-What structural changes could be used for more effective product flow?
-Development of a procedure for week-to-week fluctuations
-Reduction of time lags (resulting in fewer players)
-Reduction of lead times (less lag between order and fulfillment)
-Allowing a single participant control over the movement of goods by transferring decision rights to that participant
-Conclusion
-This highly simplified example allows you to start thinking about business techniques that provide better supply chain management
-One product, one channel, and one participant at each stage
-How can we apply what we’ve learned to other industries and products?
Last Completed Projects
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