We will be using an online version of the beer game simulation. In this simulation exercise, you will play the role of an inventory manager in a beer production and distribution supply chain. The distribution supply chain is a simple linear supply chain that consists of four stages (retailer, wholesaler, distributor and manufacturer), and you will manage one of these stages. This simulation uses a periodic-review system. In each period you will decide your order quantity from the supplier (e.g., wholesaler is the supplier for the retailer, and the distributor is the supplier for the wholesaler, etc.). The manufacturer is assumed to have an external supplier with unlimited capacity. If the inventory is not available at any stage, the arriving demand will be backordered. There is a cost associated with backordering, hence keeping your inventory level too low may incur higher backordering cost. Having too much of inventory is not good either, as you will see higher inventory holding cost. Holding cost and backordering cost are the only costs you will see in this supply chain game, and as an inventory manager you need to decide your order quantity to keep the total supply chain cost low. The game covers