Inventory management simulation: buy right for a five-month season
One big order before winter, four top-ups during it, and a forecast that was 20% out last year. Weigh the cost of too many against too few before you set the number.
- One pre-season order, then a top-up at the start of each month
- Forecast with an 80% range, updated as real sales arrive
- A possible cold snap, and a lead time that suddenly doubles
- Scored on profit against hindsight, customers served and stock discipline
Not sure yet? Try the free 3-round Price War first: no sign-up, about five minutes.
What is a quick inventory management simulation for learning the newsvendor problem and reorder points?
Order Right is a Bodhih Arena micro-simulation that teaches seasonal inventory decisions. You make one pre-season order for a winter jacket, then monthly top-ups over a five-month season while demand reveals itself and the supplier's lead time doubles. The debrief compares your profit with perfect hindsight and explains the newsvendor logic.
What is Order Right?
Order Right is a single-player online simulation of stocking one seasonal product. As the outerwear buyer for an invented retailer, you place a large pre-season order at the lower factory price, then top-up orders at the start of each month that cost more and take time to arrive. Unsold stock costs storage and is cleared cheaply in March; a customer who finds none walks away. Real season strength stays hidden.
Order Right at a glance
| Format | Micro-sim, single player |
|---|---|
| Length | About 15 minutes per play |
| Players | One person; every play is a new seeded scenario |
| Devices | Any modern browser on a laptop, tablet or phone |
| Scoring | Scored on the server out of 100, with sub-scores and a debrief |
| Credential | Open Badges 3.0 micro-sim credential at a score of 80 or more, with a public verification page |
| Competencies | Commercial Acumen (SPN.4.5), Planning and Prioritisation (SPN.5.1), Analytical Reasoning (SPN.4.2) |
| LMS | LTI 1.3 launch from Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard or D2L, with grade passback; usable as a Bodhih pathway stage |
| Price for one person | $12 |
| Price per seat | $12 per seat, volume pricing by seat count |
Why stock is either too much or too little
The average forecast becomes the order
Buying exactly the expected demand feels prudent. It ignores that a missed sale and a spare unit cost very different amounts, so the right order is rarely the average.
Nobody updates the plan once the season starts
The pre-season forecast becomes a fixed truth. Two months of real sales arrive, saying the season is running hot or cold, and top-ups carry on as planned.
Lead-time changes arrive as a surprise
A supplier warns that deliveries will take twice as long. Orders placed on the old rhythm now arrive too late, and the gap shows up as empty shelves in the busiest month.
Here is the situation you walk into
You buy outerwear for Nordhaven Outfitters. It is late September, and the buying meeting is about the Polarline heated jacket. Before the season, the factory price is less than half the selling price. Top-ups during the season cost more and take a month to arrive. Anything left in March is cleared at about half of what it cost, after months of storage.
The planning team's forecast runs from October to February, peaking in December, with an 80% range for every month. Last winter they were 20% out, in one direction or the other. A customer who finds no jacket walks away: you lose the margin and some goodwill.
You set the pre-season number. Then, at the start of each month, you see what really sold, planning revises its view of the season, and you decide on a top-up. A weather warning may raise next month's forecast; it may also be wrong. And at some point your supplier will call about port congestion.
6 decisions, one debrief
- STEP 1
Pre-season: the big buy
Set the pre-season order (up to 2,000 jackets, in tens) at the lower factory price. It arrives for October. This is the newsvendor decision: cover the early months without burying yourself in stock.
- STEP 2
October plays out
You see October's real demand, what you sold and any customers turned away. Planning updates its estimate of how strong the season is running.
- STEP 3
Start of November and December: top up
Order more at the higher top-up price, with a one-month lead time. Watch your position: stock on hand plus what is on order, against demand until the next order can land.
- STEP 4
The lead-time shock
At the start of December or January the supplier warns that top-ups now take two months. The window each order must cover doubles, and an order placed late enough may arrive after the season and go straight to clearance.
- STEP 5
January and February: taper
Demand falls away after the peak. Ordering too much now is the most expensive mistake left in the season.
- STEP 6
The debrief
Your gross profit against perfect hindsight, the share of customers served, jackets cleared, what you ordered when the lead time doubled, and the reveal of the season's true strength and each month's demand.
Who Order Right is for
- Buyers, merchandisers and planners. You make the pre-season call every year. This lets you test the reasoning behind it, and see how much an updated forecast and a fast reaction to a lead-time change are worth.
- Supply chain and operations teams. Safety stock and reorder points are in every textbook. Here they meet a doubling lead time and a cold snap, which is when they matter.
- Small business owners and retail managers. If you hold seasonal stock, the trade-off between markdowns and missed sales is your margin. The simulation makes it visible in a quarter of an hour.
- MBA, commerce and operations students. A short, replayable way to understand the newsvendor problem and inventory position, with your own numbers to analyse.
Who should skip it
It models one product and one supplier; it is not a multi-SKU planning tool or a course in statistical forecasting.
What you will do differently at your next buying meeting
The debrief puts a single number on your season: your profit as a share of what perfect hindsight would have earned, and the reasons for the gap.
Size a one-shot order on costs, not just the forecast
You will weigh what a spare unit costs against what a missed sale costs, and set the order above or below the average for a reason you can explain.
Manage inventory position, not just stock on the shelf
You will track on hand plus on order against demand over the lead time, every month, and order before the gap opens.
React at once when lead time changes
You will know that a longer lead time raises both when you reorder and how much, and act on the day the supplier calls.
Update the forecast from real sales
You will treat each month's demand as evidence about the season, and shift your plan when it says the year is running hot or cold.
Plan under uncertainty with confidence
Ranges, a possible false alarm and a supply shock make this a compact exercise in decision making under uncertainty that applies well beyond retail.
Learning goals
- Set a pre-season order by weighing the cost of too much against too little
- Use a reorder point: cover demand over the lead time plus safety stock
- Update the forecast as real demand comes in
Skills practised: Decision making under uncertainty, Forecast interpretation, Cost trade-off reasoning, Supply planning, Commercial judgement on margin and markdowns.
Competencies scored
Sub-scores map to the open Bodhih Competency Spine, so results sit beside your other learning records.
What the debrief shows
- Your score out of 100 and three sub-scores: profit against perfect hindsight, customers served and inventory discipline, each mapped to a Competency Spine skill.
- What happened: season demand, your pre-season and top-up orders, customers served, jackets cleared and what you ordered when the lead time doubled.
- Behind the curtain: the season's true strength, whether and when a cold snap hit, and real demand month by month.
- Why the best pre-season order sits a little above the average forecast, what strong players do, and the key concept, newsvendor logic and the reorder point.
Newsvendor logic and the reorder point
For a one-shot buy, order up to the level where the chance of running out equals the cost of a spare unit divided by the cost of a spare unit plus the cost of a lost sale. For repeat buys, reorder when stock on hand plus on order falls below expected demand over the lead time plus safety stock.
Use Order Right with a team
Seats are $12 each. Buy up to 25 seats online and assign them from your company admin; above that, or for a facilitated programme or an institution licence, request a quote and we activate your seats after payment.
Before a buying or S&OP workshop
Ask each planner to play first. The session can compare pre-season orders across the room and discuss why they differed.
A pathway stage in supply chain training
Add it to a Bodhih learning pathway after a module on safety stock, so the formula becomes a decision people have made under pressure.
Graduate and analyst assessment
Each play is newly seeded, so it works as a short, scored exercise in reasoning with ranges and updating a plan, followed by an interview about the choices.
Run it from your LMS
Launch from Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard or D2L through LTI 1.3 with grades passed back, or use the company leaderboard in Arena points for a team contest.
Volume pricing
| Seats | Per seat | How to buy |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $12 | Online |
| 2 to 10 | $10.80 | Online |
| 11 to 50 | $9.60 | Online up to 25, then quote |
| 51+ | $8.40 | Quote |
Order Right compared with a case study or slide-based course
| Compared on | A case study or slide-based course | Order Right |
|---|---|---|
| The newsvendor problem | A formula and a worked example. | You set a real pre-season order and see the season punish or reward it. |
| Uncertainty | One demand figure, or a table to plug in. | A forecast with ranges, monthly surprises, a possible cold snap and a possible false alarm. |
| Supply shocks | Mentioned as a risk. | The lead time doubles mid-season and you must react with your next order. |
| Feedback | The textbook answer. | Your profit against perfect hindsight, three sub-scores and the true demand revealed. |
| Replay | The same numbers each time. | Each play draws a new season strength, demand pattern, cold snap and shock timing. |
| Where it is weaker | Better for multi-product planning and the maths behind forecasting. | It focuses on one product and the judgement of when and how much to order. |
What to pair with Order Right
The Inventory and Warehouse Control Kit (Pro Kit)
Its EOQ and safety stock calculator turns the reorder-point logic from the debrief into numbers for your own products.
See the kit →Pro KitThe Purchasing and Vendor Management System (Pro Kit)
Lead times and supplier reliability drove the second half of the season; this kit helps you manage suppliers and compare total cost, not only unit price.
See the kit →Pro KitThe Cash Flow Forecast and Collections System (Pro Kit)
Every jacket on the shelf is cash tied up; a 13-week cash forecast shows what your buying plan does to the bank balance.
See the kit →AssessAll assessmentCritical Reasoning Assessment (AssessAll)
A timed assessment across five reasoning dimensions, a useful companion measure for the analytical reasoning the simulation scores.
Take the assessment →Bodhih TrainingCorporate training by Bodhih Training
For buying and planning teams, run the simulation as pre-work and debrief it together in an instructor-led session.
Talk to Bodhih Training →Related simulations
How much does Order Right cost for one person?
Order Right is $12 for one person, bought online, including replays, the debrief and the credential if you score 80 or more. It is sold as a single simulation.
What is the price for a team or an institution?
Seats cost $12 each, with volume tiers as numbers rise. Up to 25 seats can be bought online. For bigger groups, facilitated sessions or a college licence, request a quote, and we activate the seats once it is agreed.
How long does it take?
About 15 minutes: five ordering decisions and the debrief. If you stop, your progress is saved.
What do I get?
The simulation, a score out of 100 with three sub-scores tied to the Bodhih Competency Spine, a debrief (what happened, why, what strong players do, the key concept and the season's real demand), a company leaderboard place, and a credential at 80 or more.
Can I play again with different numbers?
Yes. Every play reseeds the season's strength, monthly demand, whether a cold snap comes, whether a weather warning is a false alarm, and when the lead time doubles.
Is there a certificate?
At 80 or more you earn an Order Right micro-sim credential, issued as an Open Badges 3.0 badge with a public verification page and an Add to LinkedIn button.
What devices does it work on?
A web browser on a laptop, tablet or phone; nothing to install. The season plan table is easier on a larger screen.
Can it run inside our LMS?
Yes. It launches through LTI 1.3 from Canvas, Moodle, Blackboard, D2L and similar platforms, with the score passed back, and can be a stage in a Bodhih learning pathway.
Who is it for?
Buyers, merchandisers, planners, supply chain teams, retail managers and owners with seasonal stock, and operations or MBA students. You need basic arithmetic, not statistics.
How does it compare with an inventory case study?
A case gives you the numbers and asks for the right answer. Order Right makes you decide five times with partial information, then shows what perfect hindsight would have earned. It is narrower than a full case and gives faster, personal feedback.
What happens to my data?
We store your orders and scores to run the simulation and show your debrief. The retailer and its figures are invented. Results stay within your organisation's account. See bodhih.org/privacy.
Is there a free trial, and what is the refund policy?
Try the free three-round Price War at /taste-arena, no sign-up, to see how Arena simulations play. Refund terms are at bodhih.org/refunds.
Set the number, then let the season judge it
In 15 minutes you will see how your instincts on stock compare with perfect hindsight, and why. Place your pre-season order, watch the winter unfold, and find out what one supplier phone call can do to a good plan.
Want a feel for Arena first? Play the free 3-round Price War.
- Play it as often as you like for 12 months: every play is a new scenario
- A debrief after each play: what happened, why, and what strong players do
- A verifiable credential when you score 80 or more
- Scored on the server, mapped to the Bodhih Competency Spine
Not sure yet? Try the free 3-round Price War first, no sign-up.
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