Logistics Game

Preview

The Scenario

You manage one stage of a four-tier beer supply chain — retailer, distributor, wholesaler, or manufacturer. Customer demand jumps from 4 to 8 units at week 5. With 2-week shipping delays and costs at $0.50/unit for holding and $1.00/unit for backlog, you must decide how much to order each week without seeing the full chain. Thirty-six weeks. Watch what happens.

What You'll Gain

• Witness the bullwhip effect in action — not just in a textbook
• Understand how local optimisation creates system-wide chaos
• Develop better demand signal interpretation and order-smoothing skills
• Experience the financial cost of over-ordering and stockouts directly
• Build intuition for supply chain coordination strategies

Main Features

• Four-tier supply chain (retailer → distributor → wholesaler → manufacturer)
• 36-week gameplay with weekly ordering decisions
• 2-week shipping delay mechanics built in
• Real-time cost tracking per supply chain stage
• Demand shock event at week 5
• Order history graphs for post-game debrief
• Inspired by the MIT Beer Game

Knowledge Terms Covered

• Bullwhip effect
• Inventory holding cost
• Backlog (stockout) cost
• Lead time
• Demand variability
• Supply chain tiers
• Order policy
• Demand signal distortion