The Fresh Connection is an innovative web-based business game that challenges supply chain professionals to demonstrate and improve their knowledge of how supply chain decisions affect corporate success. Launched in South Africa in 2010 by SAPICS (The Association for Operations Management of Southern Africa), it enjoys enormous support from the industry.

In this year’s competition Imperial Logistics Group company Resolve (previously Volition Consulting Services) demonstrated its mastery of the game –  quite literally – when two teams from the firm finished second and third.

Cobus Rossouw Imperial Logistics Chief Integration Officer says, “The aim of the game is to take a loss-making, fictitious company and generate a positive return on investment. Each function (Supply Chain Management, Sales, Purchasing and Operations) can make a limited number of decisions and they must work together closely to positively impact return on investment. What makes the game even more interesting is that supply chain risks are randomly activated in the game and can seriously harm the company if not mitigated”.

Three rounds were played, with 26 South African teams participating. The team with the highest weighted return on investment across all three rounds was crowned the winner and earned a spot in the Fresh Connection final in Istanbul.

Rossouw concludes, “Our teams learned early on that integrated thinking is key to success and are very proud to have two Resolve teams in the top three in South Africa.”