Game-like e-Learning and Strategic Map of Demand-to-Supply Management

Abstract

In the SCM age, the demand and supply gap becomes more risky, and the main concern is directed towards the demand-to-supply management at the aggregate planning stage. This study introduces a game approach to demand-to-supply management by Matsui (2002), and is applied to the e-learning exercise for demand-to-supply management in the AML II project. In the paper, a game-like e-learning method is developed for the collaborative matching of demand (sales) and supply (production) sides (centers). Then, a strategic map is introduced as the collaborative solution of matching. The exercise covers the demand-to-supply planning and management in a make-to-stock enterprise for a period of one year. First, the usual aggregate planning is applied to simple smoothing forecast data with factor α, and the robustness problem to actual sales is discussed. Next, a (N, α)-strategic map with base stock N is introduced, and a collaborative solution is found on the base of profit maximization. Finally, it is shown that the aggregate plan for forecasting base stock is not robust under actual fluctuation in sales, and that the (N, α)-strategic map gives a better robust solution (decision rule). Thus, game-like e-learning with a strategic map would be an effective method.