A key supply chain sector under study
The forest sector is made up of primary production and raw material transformation factories. The supply chains in this specific sector are complex and involve many different steps. Since wood is a raw material, disruptive elements such as economic fluctuations can affect it. The specific features that regulate this sector are the case of the challenge presented to the students as part of the "Wood supply game - simulation". This game emulates the supply chain of the forest sector by studying all its stages, from raw materials to delivered finished products, and underlines the importance of information sharing, industrial dynamics, as well as the importance of the constraints set by technical realities.
The Wood supply game simulation
Several teams of students from different schools competed against each other, and each team was given an industrial alliance to play. Each round simulates one week, and the length of the supply chain is simulated by inserting at least four sequential steps within each alliance. Several players are involved: wood supply, factory, wholesaler, retailer... The material is divided into two sub-chains: from wood supply to solid wood and fiberwood branches. The production must be divided half and half between the sawmill and the pulp mill.
Many factors determine the success of the teams: storage costs, availability of goods, supply quantities... The game simulates variations in demand and economic fluctuations.
The practical aspects of the game are a good way to simulate the problems that await the programme's graduates in their professional lives, an approach consistently promoted by KEDGE, which encourages learning by doing to improve the employability of its students.
KEDGE ISLI programme
The ISLI MSc in Global Supply Chain Management programme was created by several large multinational companies to train high-potential multicultural managers. It is ranked as the world's leading supply chain programme since 1984. ISLI has acquired an international reputation in higher education in Global Supply Chain and delivers a unique training in global and strategic management of flows from suppliers to the final customer in a systemic approach considering the chain as a single entity. Thanks to the course entirely taught in English and the global perspective of the programme, graduates benefit from increased employability in managerial positions worldwide.
