Introduction
The Fresh Connection
As of monday the 7th of February 2011 more than 200 supply chain professionals throughout Belgium will allow themselves to be drawn into the virtual world of The Fresh Connection. They will play this spectacular internet game once a week, working in teams. Orders, information and options are all presented through the internet. The game lasts a total of seven weeks, whereby each week is equivalent to six months in the real world. As a team you are involved in taking both strategic and tactical decisions. Each week the intelligent software underlying the game calculates the operational consequences of these decisions. The results (of your decisions) constitute your new starting point in the subsequent week. What new challenges will you - and they - have to face?
Four phases
After a trial round of one week, the real competition starts. During the trial round, you can get used to the game and take decisions that do not affect your final results. The real competitions lasts six weeks:
- In the first two weeks you concentrate on crisis management at The Fresh Connection. Things are not going at all well for the fruit-juice maker. Stocks are too high and losses substantial. Customers and suppliers are dissatisfied. It is your job to manage the crisis. But remember, change costs money...
- In the next two rounds you are involved in change management. Strategy, market, suppliers and technology - all are caught up in a process of accelerating change. How do you steer The Fresh Connection through this phase? How do you manage the supply chain?
- In the fifth and sixth weeks your principal challenge is chain management. The chain is becoming increasingly professional and chain integration is a must. But how is it to be achieved?
- In the final and decisive phase, which will take place on the 24th of March for the occasion of Supply Chain World Congress at the Heysel, an extra dimension is created through interaction. You meet your competitor teams in person. You may decide to co-operate with them, or you may decide to compete even more fiercely than before. The choice is yours. This round is your last chance...
The team that scores the highest return on investment is the official Supply Chain Team of 2011. Customer satisfaction and missed orders are also quantified and taken into account when calculating the ROI!
For more information about the supply chain management competition, download the brochure
Your results as a team and as individual players are reported every week, as well as your performance in comparison to the other teams.
Register now!