Who’s in charge of your supply chain?
We know the pilot is in charge of an airplane, but only after many hours in a flight simulator.
“You don’t just jump into a fighter jet to tear around the sky before making a spectacular crash landing.”
– Timon Martin, Flight Simulation Guru
Put your team into a business simulation!
Gain an intense understanding of complex relationships, sharpen your skills, tear down functional silos, and learn what does not work – without crashing your business.
“Those who learn through simulation have an advantage over those who make decisions without a sound frame of reference.”
– Mike Loughrin, Business Simulation Guru
Experience the power of a business simulation!
- Are you and your colleagues at the top of your game in terms of gaining alignment across your supply chain from suppliers to customers?
- Do you make it a habit to continually seek new ideas which will help you improve your processes and keep you ahead of the competition?
If you answered yes, then the 2017 Supply Chain Alignment Competition and Team Building Event is an ideal means for you to demonstrate your expertise, pick up great ideas for improvement, and experience the best business simulation in the galaxy.
If you answered no, then now is the time to up your game and create a dialog with your colleagues on the importance of alignment and what you can do to achieve success.
“The management of a network of interconnected organizations engaged in the provision of product and service packages required by the ultimate consumer.”
– What is Supply Chain Management?
What’s this about?
This supply chain alignment competition and team building event has teams of four competing against each other using the online business simulation tool called The Fresh Connection.
Each team member is responsible for one functional area such as Sales, Operations, Procurement, or Inventory. The simulation involves each person making dozens of decisions on how best to manage their area. Examples include negotiating with customers, selecting suppliers, buying new equipment, and setting inventory planning parameters.
The best teams will collaborate on a business strategy, ensure all functional disciplines are aligned, and achieve the best performance in terms of ROI for their company. Some teams may not achieve great alignment, will struggle making decisions, and drive their bus over the cliff!
Read more about The Fresh Connection.
“I was totally addicted to my role as VP of Sales and could not wait to collaborate with my teammates to improve our performance and beat our competitors; an educational experience exceeding my wildest imaginations.”
– Mike Loughrin, CEO at Transformance Advisors
How does it work?
You will need to register a team of 4 by September 28, 2017.
The cost is $995.00 per team.
The competition begins on October 5, 2017. There will be a webinar explaining the details and providing a tour of The Fresh Connection dashboard.
The competition will involve 5 rounds, with each round opening up more decisions for each person to make. Each team will have telephone, email, and online support from a certified facilitator for The Fresh Connection.
- Kick-off webinar on October 5 at 9:00 AM MT and recorded for anyone to watch later
- Round 1 ends on October 12 at 9:00 PM MT
- Round 2 ends on October 19 at 9:00 PM MT
- Round 3 ends on October 26 at 9:00 PM MT
- Round 4 ends on November 2 at 9:00 PM MT
- Round 5 ends on November 9 at 9:00 PM MT
- Online awards ceremony on November 16 at 9:00 AM MT
How do we win?
Teams will be ranked based upon the return on investment they generate for the company modeled in the simulation.
Bragging rights as being “the best of the best” and a grand prize will be awarded to the team who obtains the highest return on investment.
Prizes will also be awarded to other top performers. Exciting prizes include:
- Four seats in a Supply Chain Management course which is integrated with The Fresh Connection valued at $6,000.
- Four seats in a Certified Lean Practitioner program valued at $6,000.
Note: prizes are regional with the location of some courses based on our sponsors. Most classroom oriented prizes are through sponsors near Boulder, CO and Naperville, IL.
“The Fresh Connection is a great learning tool which makes you think like an executive. You must link supply chain strategy to the business strategy and deal with the financial ramifications of your decisions.”
– Paul Vanderspek, Clinical Faculty Supply Chain Management at Colorado State University
What will it take?
The time investment will vary by team, but a reasonable estimate involves:
- 30 minutes for the kick-off webinar on October 5th
- 90 minutes for round 1 before it ends on October 12th
- 60 minutes for each of the remaining rounds – once a week before the rounds end
- Optional conference call with your facilitator which could run up to 30 minutes per round
- 30 minutes for the online awards ceremony on November 16th
- One team member should invest an additional 30 minutes per round to coordinate and prepare for meetings
The total investment over a 5 week period should be between 8 to 12 hours.
