It allows us to handle more teams at once and to put more emphasis on modifying plans in response to changing demands. Demands are then announced, and teams are informed of their sales and ending inventories for that period. In addition the cumulative net profits are posted for all to see and the next period begins. In addition to tracking their inventories to see if actual levels are close to planned levels, teams are encouraged to track sales to see if they are occurring as expected. Here they use forecasting techniques learned earlier in the course.
Excitement builds as the game nears the end.
Some teams will be out of the running but most will be close enough to be hopeful up until the last period. Minimizing overtime, maintaining sufficient inventory to cover sales, and avoiding expediting penalties makes a team competitive. Winners are often determined by the effective control of inventory costs. Since all activities for each team were recorded during the game, a final analysis is immediately available. It shows a complete breakdown of all costs and revenue and allows teams to see where they did poorly or well.