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After fierce competition from top brands including Miller Brands and BAE Systems, Cadbury was declared the winner of the Fresh Connection, at the live final of the UK’s first supply chain competition.
16 teams competed in the final event on 8 July at Wroxhall Abbey, Warwickshire, but it was Cadbury’s “Purple Passion” team that took the honours, with Heinz coming in second and Swisslog in third position.
“We’re absolutely elated to have won,” said Emma Pawson, customer innovation and continuous improvement manager at Cadbury. “It was really enjoyable and we learned a lot about the end to end manufacturing process – and it was even more enjoyable to have won!”
The winning team were presented with four platinum tickets for the Silverstone Grand Prix, champagne and the much coveted trophy by Peter Surtees, European Supply Chain Director for Kimberly Clark and John Perry, managing director of SCALA Consulting.
Kimberly-Clark and Huddersfield University, both early competitors in the game, were so impressed with the Fresh Connection they plan to replicate the competition within their own organisations. Huddersfield University is to introduce it as a module within their Global logistics and supply chain management MSc. This will be the first time a UK university will have adapted this technology into a degree programme and the module will be available to both under and post graduates.
Chris Savage, principal lecturer of Transport and Logistics with University of Huddersfield, which has the biggest and longest running undergraduate logistics department in the UK, said: “This adapted version of the Fresh Connection will maintain the competitive element of the game with the addition of an academic assessment based on a final case study.”
Peter Surtees, European supply chain director for Kimberly-Clark, said: “With a supply chain network that comprises 200 people, across 14 countries, covering functions that include logistics, planning and customer services, the challenge is to get people working in high achieving teams. The Fresh Connection will greatly assist in helping our remote team working, injecting a healthy element of competition into training.”
Over 180 supply chain professionals have participated in this year’s logistics strategy for a virtual business. The top performing teams all met at Wroxhall to battle through the three live final rounds with their goal being the generation of the greatest possible return on investment.
The interactive, web-based competition, which has helped high profile brands train its staff to refine supply chain management processes, is the first of its kind in the UK. The teams of four were tasked with saving a virtual, ailing fruit juice company from closure and develop it into a successful, profitable organisation.
John Perry, managing director of SCALA Consulting, said: “We’re delighted to have been responsible for introducing such an innovative strategy game to the UK. It was also superb to see so many of the younger generation coming through in our industry and demonstrating great talents and epitomised by the winning Cadbury team who achieved such excellent results over the course of 10 rounds.
“The competition has really challenged participants by focusing on all areas of the supply chain network – including operations, sales and procurement – and the role-play format has provided an excellent collaborative platform for team building and developing real understanding of supply chain strategies and tactics within a competitive environment.” |
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