The S&OP Game — how it is played

Three steps per turn, and nobody sees the whole chain.

A real-time educational simulation. Each player holds a role in an online supply chain, inspired by the MIT Beer Game and adapted to the constraints of today's supply chains. No preparatory work for participants.

3 steps per turn · Real time · FR / EN

One turn

Orders delivery Whatever is missing goes to backlog, and is paid for.
Shipping delivery What the supplier shipped enters stock.
Suppliers orders The player's only real choice: how much to order.

End of period. Stock and backlog carry over to the next turn.

Turn length

Month
Week
Day

The time step is chosen at setup. It sets the pace of the room, not the mechanics.

Six levers

What the game brings out.

01 Communication across the supply chain Without it, everyone optimises their own link and destabilises the next. The game makes that measurable.
02 Introducing forecasting Compare a turn played blind with a turn where the forecast is shared.
03 Sizing strategic stock Safety stock guards against shortage, and costs money every turn. A call has to be made.
04 "Make / Team / Buy" organisation Produce, share or buy: the trade-off comes back at every link.
05 Dual sourcing A second supplier absorbs variability, and complicates control. Both effects show.
06 Performance / cost balance The final score rewards neither a full warehouse nor zero stock.

The facilitator console

You see what no player can see.

Followed live

How far each player has got
How their orders evolve
How their costs evolve
How their stock evolves
How their shortages evolve

One player running late holds up the whole room: the row turns orange, so you know who to chase before the turn drags on.

In the room

What you need.

A facilitator

An OPS FLOW account, to create and run the game.

One seat per link

Every link has its seat, held alone or in pairs. From three players: the engine holds the remaining seats.

A browser

Nothing to install, no player account to create.

Half a day

Setup, game and debrief on the automatic report.

A demo game takes an hour to play.

Tell us about your context, we will set up the scenario.