FEB PhD students win national Supply Chain Management competition

After a nerve-racking final on 22 January 2009, the PhD students of the Faculty of Economics and Business won the title Supply Chain Team 2008/9. They beat 250 professional teams from companies such as Unilever, Philips, Stork and Friesland Foods. The winning FEB team members are: Boyana Petkova, Erik Soepenberg, Remco Germs and Tim van Kampen.

As from 1 November 2008, over a thousand Supply Chain professionals competed in the national competition “The Fresh Connection” (www.thefreshconnection.nl). The goal was to save an ailing fruit juice producer from bankruptcy. In nine rounds, the teams had to lead the company to the biggest possible profit. The team of young researchers from the Faculty of Economics and Business won the title ‘Supply Chain Team 2008/9’. An excellent performance, since they beat experienced managers and given the fact that the competition imitates practical decisions that companies have to make.

Turbulent markets

The first six rounds were defined by a turbulent market for sales and suppliers. The teams had to adjust their strategy and at the same time reduce the costs by production improvements. On the basis of the average scores over six rounds, 28 out of 250 teams were selected for the final in Utrecht.

Race against the clock

In the final rounds 1 and 2, the organization of The Fresh Connection surprised the teams with the introduction of a new production line. In a race against the clock, the teams had to optimise their existing production lines and at the same time set up the purchasing, production and sales for their new products. The five teams that proved to be best capable of making the right decisions made it to the decisive final round.

Guts

The last round of the final was even more exciting: only one team could acquire a new customer to generate more profit. The teams from the University of Groningen, Philips, Beaufort Business Partners and CQM team 1 and 2 were ordered to explain to 400 managers why they had to be the team that should acquire the customer. While the other teams were competing with each other to acquire the extra customer, the RUG team’s strategy was “Thanks but no thanks”. There was a burst of applause in the room. CEO Unilever Peter Ernsting and CEO Refresco Hans Roelofs agreed: “This strategy shows guts”.

Enthusiasm

The strategy based on remaining faithful to existing customers eventually brought victory to the RUG team. “We gave everything”, team member Erik Soepenberg says. “Although we had little practical experience, compared to managers, our enthusiasm and analytical approach were the deciding factors.”

The FEB team consisted of (in alphabetical order):

Boyana Petkova – Vice President Supply Chain Management
Erik Soepenberg – Vice President Operations
Remco Germs – Vice President Purchasing
Tim van Kampen – Vice President Sales

More on the competition:
www.thefreshconnection.nl and www.logistiek.nl.

See also:
News 19 November 2008: "Excellent start FEB team in competition for Supply Chain Management professionals"