(141g) Modeling Information Sharing Using the Beer Game

The Beer Game is a classic model showing the instabilities of supply chains. This model has been studied and modified extensively to improve response time and ordering schemes. More recently visibility, in the form of instant ordering, has been added to show the decrease in supply chain oscillations. This model improves upon that by allowing the supply chain's fifth member, Transportation, to share its information. This high visibility model shows the future of supply chains in an extensively integrated world including RFID, and GPS while using information sharing services such as EPCIS. The model also includes the ability to turn off the ability to share information for each supply chain member. This results in a better model of present partially integrated supply chains.