Challengers in The Fresh Connection went head to head this week for the launch of the UK’s first supply chain management competition.
Competing teams representing some of the biggest players within the UK supply chain and logistics industry, have been joined by a number of new sign ups from companies including BAE Systems and Constellation Brands.
Additionally, there are a number of international teams from the US, Canada, Germany, Switzerland and Australia who have entered the UK competition.
The Fresh Connection is an internet-based, role-playing simulation run by supply chain consultants, SCALA. It is sponsored by AEB International, BiS Henderson and Slimstock and supported by The Chartered Institute of Logistics & Transport UK and The Institute of Operations Management,
The competition started on Monday 12th April and sees teams of four challenged to save an ailing fruit juice company from closure and develop it into a successful organisation by working together from crisis management through various developing business changes.
The initiative started in 2008 as a national competition in the Netherlands involving more than 1,000 supply chain professionals. Since then seven other countries including Italy, Belgium and Denmark have announced their participation.
UK organiser, John Perry, managing director of SCALA, said: “The Dutch final has just completed in Holland and was a fantastic event. Italy and Denmark also recently competed and Belgium is just about to enter the final stages.
“The UK finals will coincide with the USA and Switzerland competitions and South Africa has just signed up to compete in September. We are already in talks with other countries to stage a global final in 2011.”
The competition lasts seven weeks with each of the seven rounds lasting one to two hours. Each team is tasked with managing and making tactical and strategic decisions on procurement, operations, sales and the supply chain. Each decision has an impact on the business and shows the importance of different disciplines working together to create an efficient supply chain.
The competition will culminate in a live final and a conference at the Wroxall Abbey in July. The winning team will receive four Platinum tickets to The British Grand Prix at Silverstone and players will also have the opportunity to see how their team measures up against the rest of the competitors with a detailed performance evaluation report once the competition is over.
Further details of the competition can be found at www.thefreshconnection.co.uk.
