The Fresh Connection - Supply Chain Management Competition

The Fresh Connection is an Internet game for supply chain professionals. Invented, developed and supported by experts in the field of supply chain management (SCM). As of January 2011, many supply chain professionals in whole of The Netherlands will carry away themselves in the world of The Fresh Connection. In the game the participants play the Management Team of a company which produces and sells fruit juices. There are 4 roles per team:

• Vice-president Supply Chain who is responsible for logistic and planning decisions
• Vice-president Purchasing who occupies him/herself with among others the supplier choice and - agreements
• Vice-president Operations who leads and structures the operations and the warehouse
• Vice-president Sales who makes choices in the field of customer service, prioritizing and promotions

Each week the teams take part in this spectacular Internet game. Tasks, information and choice possibilities are dished up by means of Internet. The game lasts six weeks, where each week is equal to half a year in reality. As a team you engage yourself with strategic and tactical choices. The intelligent software behind the game calculates each week the consequences for the operation. The results (of your own choices) form the starting point the week after. The aim is to obtain an as high as possible Return on Investment (profit) with the company. More information you will find at: www.thefreshconnection.nl.

• General managers: general managers, operations managers, commercial managers, financial managers
• Functional managers: logistic managers, supply chain managers, planners, purchase managers and purchasers, transport managers, warehouse managers, production managers, marketing/sales managers
• Students of logistic, supply chain management, operations, purchase and related educations on Higher Vocational Education and University level.
• And further everyone who can optimize The Fresh Connection from his knowledge and experience!

• 500 Euros per teamFor only the competition:
• 500 Euros per teamFor the team performance report:
• 1000 Euros per teamFor the visit to the final event & congress day in January:
• 1000 Euros per teamFor training and evaluation afterwards:
• Or a combination of above options.

The costs for the competition can be reduced if one has a discount / coupon code.

It is possible for companies and education institutions to become a sponsor or partner. Because of this they are able to get for example their logo on the site of The Fresh Connection or an important place in the final event or one of the many other possibilities. A current overview of sponsors can be found at www.thefreshconnection.eu/en/sponsorship.aspx. The possibilities of registering as a sponsor can be found at www.thefreshconnection.eu/en/sponsorship/becoming-a-sponsor.aspx.

In May 2011 the final takes place. The best teams take part to this. You meet the other teams in person and get the occasion to develop partnerships, to discuss strategies and to negotiate. The team which delivers The Fresh Connection the highest Return On Investment, has won!

Further several opinion leaders from the supply chain management will speak during the final event and several workshops are kept with respect to supply chain management.

You can register a team as of September 2010. For information you can contact us.

b. How can I register the individual team members?
 

This is just possible at a later moment. Some weeks before the start of the competition the one that is put forward as a contact at the team registration, shall be informed about this. He/she gets then an e-mail with a log-in code per team. Each separate team member can then subsequently register him or herself with that log-in code.

During registering via our site (www.thefreshconnection.eu/en/register.aspx) there is a choice how you want to pay: by means of payment of an invoice or by means of automatic collection. If the registration is completed via the Internet site, an e-mail is sent automatically to the given contact. The e-mail must be confirmed by the contact. After the confirmation, the invoice is thereupon automatically sent or the collection is automatically started off.

A laptop/pc according to the current standards and a functional Internet connection is in principle sufficient. One must however have the disposition over the following software:

• Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher
• Flash Player
• Acrobat Reader

This is standard software which is already available on the most computers. If not, then this software is simply to download via the Internet, for example via the site: www.download.com. Moreover there must be an e-mail address available to be able to receive the communication with respect to the game.

No, not the game itself. The game is played via the Internet site. On the web page the choices which the team makes are filled in. One must therefore, however, have the disposition over the following software:

• Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher
• Flash Player
• Acrobat Reader

This is standard software which is already available on the most computers. If not, then this software is simply to download via the Internet, for example via the site: www.download.com.

At this moment it is not possible yet. Some weeks before the start of the competition the one which has been given as a contact at the team registration is informed about this. He/she gets then an e-mail with a log-in code per team. Each separate team member can then subsequently register him or herself with that log-in code. With this also the possibility to log-in on the game is taken care of.

If you give your name, e-mail address and the company for which you work for or the educational institute where you study via our contact site (www.thefreshconnection.eu/en/contact.aspx), then you will get a new log-in name/password within a few hours.

If you give your name, company name/ education name and the name of the person who offered you The Fresh Connection via our contact site (www.thefreshconnection.eu/en/contact.aspx), than you will get a new coupon code / discount code within a few hours.

As a start, verify if your pc meets the minimum system requirements (see 4a: How can I play The Fresh Connection on my pc?). If that is in order, then refreshing the page might help. You do that by pressing F5. If that won't work, than write the page down where the problem occurs, and forward your question via our contact site (www.thefreshconnection.eu/en/contact.aspx). You will get an answer within a few hours.

You will not get access to the game. Try it once again with the correct log-in details. If that also won't work, please contact us via our contact site (www.thefreshconnection.eu/en/contact.aspx). You will get an answer within a few hours.

No, in principle not. That would influence the course of the competition.

You get weekly in short the results of the decisions which you have made last week communicated via your given up e-mail address. If you want a more extensive evaluation of your decisions and the impact of it, then you can register yourself for the team performance report via the registration form www.thefreshconnection.eu/en/register.aspx.

You get weekly in short the results of the decisions which you have made last week communicated via your given up e-mail address. If you want a more extensive evaluation of your decisions and the impact of it, then you can register yourself for the team performance report via the registration form www.thefreshconnection.eu/en/register.aspx.

Contact us and you will get an answer within a few hours.

Via the normal IT security systems which are there and contractual with the several parties which have access to the data.