Supply chain game – Lego game

Supply chain game – Lego game

XXXXXX Casper

XXXXXX Casper

Supply Chain Management Supply Chain Management

Introduction
First and foremost the game provided an understanding of the bullwhip effect and furthermore also insight to the challenges of distributing material and information within a supply chain. I have applied the cause-effect theory in order to obtain an understanding of the root causes, the reasons, to why the bullwhip effect, the result, occurred in the supply chain in the LEGO game (Slack, Chambers and Johnston, 2010). Hence the structure of this assignment will be based upon a cause-effect analysis which treats the experienced bullwhip effect as the result. Thus this assignment describe the causes of this effect identified through reflecting upon the LEGO supply chain game played September 25, 2015.
Bullwhip effect
The bullwhip effect is unexpected distortion of information observed in a supply chain and can be caused by demand fluctuations e.g. variability, which is processed and amplified through the companies in a supply chain. The demand fluctuations are amplified as they are processed upstream in the supply chain and hence the swings, the demand order variability, of the “bullwhip” can be expected to increase the farther upstream in the supply chain a company is located (Lee, Padmanabhan and Wheng, 1997).
Reflections and learning outcome from the game
I will divide this reflection and learning outcome section in two parts; (1) Round 1 where each “function” in the supply chain operated individually and without information sharing; (2) Round 2 where we were allowed to share information and organize the collaboration within and between the “functions” within the supply chain as we desired.
The information we got in round 1 in the orders from the downstream function didn’t represent