The Beer Game was developed by Jay Forrester at MIT's Sloan business school in the early 1960's. It is a simple yet realistic simulator of the supply chain and is used as a teaching tool for systems dynamics. It has been played all over the world by thousands of people ranging from high school students to chief executive officers and government officials. Each participant plays a role in the production and distribution of a product, in this case "beer".
Their objective is to manage inventory to simultaneously achieve optimal customer service while minimizing inventory, which turns out to be a challenging task. Players will:
- gain an appreciation of the supplier/customer relationship
- learn the importance of supply chain visibility
- appreciate the impact of lead times.
Most significantly, they learn how their decisions have an impact on the supply chain as a whole.
Note: participants are not required to bring anything (laptops, cell phones, notepads, conference portfolios, pens/pencils) as everything they need will be provided at the tables. The tables hold “game boards” that do not allow room for anything, including drinks and/or food.
Michael Ford is an independent business consultant with 25 years experience in retail, distribution, manufacturing and training. His background includes hands-on experience as a warehouseman, shipping clerk, inventory control clerk, planner and buyer. Ford began consulting in 1998 with a primary focus on APICS certification training. Major projects include MRP implementation, physical inventory, cycle counting, needs analysis and warehouse layout. Ford has a wealth of experience ranging from Engineer-to-Order to Make-to-Stock. Ford has presented at over 230 public events across North America, as well as Nigeria and South Africa in the past year. He specializes in combining technical knowledge with soft skills to develop unique “outside the box” solutions, and is a committed “agent of change.” Ford has a Bachelor of Industrial Engineering degree from the University of Buffalo and has earned professional certifications from APICS (Certified Supply Chain Professional and Certified Fellow in Production & Inventory Management) and the ASQ (Certified Quality Auditor, Certified Quality Engineer and Certified Reliability Engineer). He may be contacted at
michaeldford@earthlink.net or 607.624.4853.
