By Doing It Tuesday, March 28, 2000.
Today is the second day of the three-week course and one of the most exciting.
We are scheduled to participate in the Simulation, a role-playing game in which we will reenact the daily activities of personnel at all levels of the logistics system, and, in the process, gain a deeper understanding of health logistics in developing countries. As we sit at tables neatly situated in three rows, the FPLM trainers show us a diagram of a simplified in-country supply chain. Logistics experts classify systems as pull , push , or pull-push , according to who decides the quantities of commodities to order. In a pull-push system, both types of staff determine the quantities, but at different points in the logistics system. The trainers explain that each row of tables in our room represents a type of logistics system.