Many businesses are recognizing the fact that logistics are becoming increasingly important in influencing customers motivation when making buying decisions. The future will see customers judging the competitive advantage of a supplier according to the following criteria:
- the supplier can beat the competition in offering greater
satisfaction of the customer’s needs (external performance) as well as
- being able to continually improve productivity at a greater speed than
the competition (internal performance).
Logistical performance will take its place as a key buying factor next to price and quality. The future belongs to those businesses able and willing to take on this challenge and anticipate their customers future needs. Thus, it will be vital to ensure that all parties involved in a process chain work well together over the whole process and avoid unnecessary friction. Only then will it be possible to achieve a total optimum made up of higher performance and competitive costs.
This logistics training program bases its profile on this challenge, ensuring that the trainees can be successfully integrated in a customer centered business culture. They are taught to embrace the ever-changing challenges relating to customers needs and understand the weighty consequences of each individual action on the whole process chain.
Targets
- The participants understand all important logistical functions, recognize the significance of the factors “cost“ and “time",are aware of cause and effect on stocks, recognize the sequences necessary for introducing logistical measures and their effects of the main processes, are acquainted with business planning cycles and understand the necessity of orientating all activity around the market and of elevating the focus of their individual activity onto the whole process, together with all other parties involved. In basing all tasks and measures on real-life situations, the participants gain an intense awareness of the necessity to recognize and implement potential improvements in their practical work as well as guiding their behavior according to the overall optimum. The experience in the group adds to the success of the learning process as the participants become more open in dealing with the issue and problems at hand. Whereas other simulation programs merely concentrate on reaching decisions, this seminar goes even further. All decisions have to be realized and business transactions settled.
The Roles in the Simulation
The process simulation portrays business processes from the moment a customer sends in an order to the settlement of that order (order cycle), and from booking the material to paying the bill (cash to cash cycle) in a simplified form.
- run the operative business,
- analyze the business processes according to cost and performance indexes,
- reorganize the business processes,
- implement the results of the planning,
- pplan turnover quantities, capacity and quantity of supplies and
- recognize the effects of the realized measures on all business operations.
Target Group
The process simulation portrays business processes from the moment a customer sends in an order to the settlement of that order (order cycle), and from booking the material to paying the bill (cash to cash cycle) in a simplified form. The seminar is aimed at new employees, students and trainees and apprentices who need to get to grips with the cycles and processes along the whole business chain and who need to understand how decisions and their own activities affect the entire process.
The seminar has been particularly successful in commercial apprentice-trainings as well as in the business and logistics departments of universities and colleges. The number of participants is unlimited but should not be under 7 participants.
The Structure
It is a well-known fact that participants learn more if they are allowed to get their hands dirty, try out new knowledge and make mistakes! The seminar is therefore dedicated to enabling the participants to personally take on the most important functions within a company’s process chain and optimize them. The participants take their places as customers, suppliers, manufacturer controller and requirement planner at the board, run as a profitcenter. Two types of board architecture guarantees various industry standards. The build modul (construction) or the recycle modul (deconstruction) can besticked together as a supplychain and work out indepentent closings. This allows competitiv analysis among the groups.
The modular structure enables the facilitator to play with a user-defined number of participants. The participants use job rotation to experience the business from all manner of different perspectives and are confronted with the various problems facing their colleagues in decision-making or liquidation along the process chain. The process is thus made transparent for all participants, enabling them to watch and reflect the effects and consequences of their actions on the process and on other functions. This may of course mean they will fall victim to negative consequences – a valuable learning factory!
Success Factors
The participants witness, feel and are thus acutely aware of the importance of the entire process of collaboration along the process chain. In working, analyzing, playing and discussing together for 2 to 3 exciting, intensive and stimulating days, the whole group is open to maximal learning success. This ensures the long-term transfer of the skills learned in the seminar, so that the participants will quickly be able to apply their knowledge to a broad range of future problem situations.
The Handling
The business depicted in the simulation runs according to the following sales and distribution structure:
The customer orders the required product at the sales department. The delivery is also sent out from the sales department. “Sales” orders further supplies for its depot from the factory.
The business activity is cut into time units (cycles and periods). Detailed analyses aided by data supplied at the seminar wrap up each period. These analyses relate to the performance (e.g. ability to deliver, punctuality and quality of delivery) and the costs (costs of storage and supplies, transport costs, management costs).
Lego Bricks® as Products
The simulation uses LEGO®-bricks to symbolize the purchased parts as well as the intermediate and end products. Stickers stand for any fitters required by the customers. Structured information and content of IT-processes is depicted in forms. Informal information is passed on by word of mouth. The adjacent diagramm shows the product structure of the build board 2 different products are produced, made up of 3 different single parts. The purchasing logistics representative is responsible for ensuring there is always enough material available in the initial supply section.
Logistic Simulation as Value Chain
Self-explanatory symbols and Icons on the printed board explain the information- and material flow within the supply chain. The successful construction of the intermediate and end products is symbolized by sticking the LEGO®-pieces together. The following diagram shows the finishing process from the deliverer to the Customer (e.g. order for 2 appliances B). The different products are created in severalproduction stages and with different working capital. Production characteristics, such as size of lots, quality, use of capacity, preparation time etc. are taken into account. The end products are delivered to your door without any surplus charges. We are also happy to provide full installation if required.
Pricing and Service
For the implementation of this Simulation a Licence Agreement is mandatory as well as a minimum of one equipment set available in German and English. Feel free to ask for conditions in your country. We would be glad to serve you with this unique learning tool.
