EXPERIENTIAL

LEARNING
The Fresh Connection Simulation

SP Jain Institute of Management and

Research

Nov 2019

Advanchainge
contact@advanchainge.com
+91-9873829286

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Introduction

Value Chain Management is on field that is becoming increasingly complex due to new
disruptive business models and emerging
technologies. To gain mastery in value chain
management, it is not only important to
understand how each part of supply chain
operates but also how various parts interact
and impact each other. It is like the
expertise of a physician depends on the
ability to understand how various body
systems interact with each other to be able
to diagnose and cure the disease. This is
called Value Chain Systems Thinking, that
cannot be taught in the classroom. It can
only be learnt by experiencing a real life like situations in a controlled environment.

Systems thinking is the foundation of the value chain discipline, yet it is invisible due to
conflicting objectives and lack of alignment – commonly known as ‘silos’. As a result, the
decisions made are sub-optimal, solving one part of problem and creating a bigger problem in
the other part of the supply chain system. Systems thinking help managers make sense of
complex data, make better decisions, manage change and create sustainable value for the
business.

In order to gain deeper insights into the interplay of the systems, experiential learning using
simulations are being increasingly used by the academic institutions as well as the
corporates. The key benefits of experiential learning using simulations are:

• Accelerates learning
• Bridges gap between theory and practice
• Produces demonstrable mindset change
• Engages learners and substantially increases the retention of learning
• Provides accurate assessment results on the learning achieved
• Delivers high return on investment

This proposal has been prepared for offering an elective course on Value Chain Management
using licensed simulation – The Fresh Connection. The duration of the elective program is
proposed to be 25 hours.

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The Fresh Connection – Supply Chain Simulation

The Fresh Connection (https://www.thefreshconnection.biz) is the world’s leading simulation
for experiential learning in value chain management used by Fortune 500 companies and
academic institutions across 25 countries. The key names that use The Fresh Connection
include:

Companies: Nestle, Dupont, Castrol, Unilever, Carlsberg, Nivea, Philips, Kuehne-Nagel,

BASF, Canon, DSM, Schneider, Coca-cola, Caterpillar, GE, Henkel, Barilla, J&J, Colgate
Palmolive, Roche, DHL, GSK and many more

Academic Institutions: MIT, IIM-A, Kuhne Logistics University, Eastern Michigan University,
Benson University, Antwerp School of Management, San Diego State University, Lund
University, University of Houston etc.

The Fresh Connection is built around a Fruit Juice manufacturing company that has the
management representing 4 functions i.e. Sales, Supply Chain, Operations and Purchasing.
At the beginning the company is making loss, has poor customer service with high level of
obsolescence.

The management team is expected to take strategic and tactical decisions in value chain to
maximize the company’s ROI. It requires balancing cross-functional trade-offs that have
complex interplay with each other.

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The Program Structure

The program has been structured around the learning themes of value chain management.
Conducted in the classroom set-up, students will first go through the conceptual
understanding of each learning theme followed by implementation of the theme in the
simulation round. There will be 6 simulation rounds that would be facilitated by the instructor.

Course Objectives:
The course would help students in understanding:
• Strategic role of value chain management.
• Drivers of supply chain performance.
• End to end integrated value chain thinking.
• Developing capabilities for critical analysis of value chains.
• Structured problem solving and decision making.
• Team working and collaboration

Course Learning Outcomes (CLO):

Upon successful completion of the course the students will be able to:
• Display familiarity with supply chain concepts and how value chain concepts can be
used to improve the competitive position of a firm
• Formulate value chain strategies and align KPIs
• Measure value chain performance
• Develop understanding of the various analytical tools to solve value chain problems
and improve performance

Course Duration: 7 Hours

The learning themes are:

 Supply Chain Mapping and Trade-offs Identification
 Key Performance Indicators Selection
 Systems / Integrated Thinking and Problem Solving
 Value Chain Segmentation & Strategy
 Sales & Operations Planning
 Service and Inventory Balancing

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The structure and the schedule of the program is:

1. Pre-read: The learners will be provided pre-read material 1 week in advance of the
classroom program. The pre-read material will include certain basic concepts, as well
as the definition / explanation of certain terms, so that learners don’t face any difficulty
during the classroom program.

2. Classroom Program Outline

S. Classroom Session Preparation by Students / Theory Duration (Hrs)

No. by the Institute Faculty

DAY 1

1 Kick-off Presentation and Pre-read material provided by 1400 - 1530

demonstration round Advanchainge
 Simulation tool navigation
 Reports and Decisions
 Challenge objectives

Break 1530 - 1545

2 Exercise 1: Visualize and map end 1545 - 1630

to end supply chain and find
disconnects

3 Round No. 1 (Level 2): Connecting 1630 - 1800

the dots

4 Debriefing Round 1 - Analysis and 1800 – 1830

Feedback

Break 1830 - 1845

5 Exercise 2: Identify the trade-offs in 1845 – 1915

TFC supply chain

6 Exercise 3: Arrive at the Supply Classroom Theory 1915 - 2000

Chain Strategy and balance the  Supply Chain Strategy and
trade-offs by aligning all the KPIs to segmentation
common strategy  Inventory Management – Safety
and Cycle Stocks, ROP

DAY 2

7 Round No. 2 (Level 3): Align Supply 1400 – 1530

Chain to Common Strategy

8 Debriefing Round 2 – Analysis and 1530 – 1545

Feedback
Break 1545 – 1600

9 Exercise 4: Sales and Operations 1600 - 1645

Planning – Steps involved in

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implementing Supply Chain

Strategy

10 Round No. 3 (Level 3d): Sales & 1645- 1845

Operations Planning

11 Debriefing - Analysis and Learning 1845 – 1915

Summary

Commercial Proposal
1. Cost of Simulation Licenses (The Fresh Connection): Euro 25 per student to be paid to
Inchainge, The Netherlands

2. Cost of Conducting the Session: As per the Institute’s norms for external faculty (6 Sessions of
70 minutes each)

Contact Details

Ashish Mendiratta +91-9873829286 ashish.mendiratta@advanchainge.com

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