Proposal of a Beer Distribution Game Considering Waste Management and the Bullwhip Effect

The beer distribution game is a role-playing board game that also helps people learn about the importance of supply chain management. However, the game does not include the major difficulties in managing food and beverages supply chains. Food and beverages are assigned expiration or best-before date. If these goods cannot be sold within the period of the expiration or best-before date, they are wasted. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to extend the beer distribution game for incorporating these issues and to investigate the effects of the issues with playing the refined game. So, we set a time limit for products in the beer distribution game and include a rule that the products will be considered wasted after the time limit. We subsequently examined the effect of the time limit on food supply chain management. As a result of a preliminary game experiment, we find that the back order is highest at the distributors. Stock is the largest at the factory. Wholesalers and factories cause excessive waste. If the expiration date has passed, delivery is not possible, and the items will therefore be wasted. Furthermore, items will not reach the end consumer. In addition, higher inventory and waste are generated upstream. This result reflects the actual situation in the real world food and beverage industry.