Ripple

Free · open source · inspired by the MIT Beer Game

One small order.
A very big ripple.

Ripple is a supply chain game. Run a retailer, wholesaler, distributor or factory, place one order a week, and discover how a tiny change in demand turns into chaos upstream.

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Goods travel towards the customer · orders travel towards the factory · every hop takes time

Play in 10 minutes

Take one seat in a four-stage chain. Smart bots play the rest — no sign-up, works on your phone.

A debrief that explains

Bullwhip ratios, cost breakdowns, a policy benchmark and coach feedback on the exact weeks you over-reacted.

Built for OpEx classes

Lead times, pipeline inventory, information sharing and systems thinking — felt first, explained after.

What is the bullwhip effect?

Customers barely changed. The factory went wild.

In this simulated chain, end-customer demand steps from 4 to 8 cases — once. Each stage only sees the orders of the stage below it, reacts with a delay, and forgets what is already on the way. The swings grow at every step upstream.

Learn why it happens
Ripple · an educational supply chain game for Operational Excellence classes