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Bill's Building Blocks: Blokus, A Game of Thwarting Risk with Strategy

Bill's Building Blocks: Blokus, A Game of Thwarting Risk with Strategy

In the Mattel strategy board game Blokus (ages five to adult) players position colored tiles on a square board attempting to deny their opponent the opportunity to place all 21 of their pieces. The board is divided into 20 rows and 20 columns. The 21 pieces each differ in shape based on polyominoes of one to five squares.  Each player’s next tile must touch a corner of one of that player’s previous tiles. The strategy involves racing across the board placing large pieces first before becoming blocked or interdicted by your opponent. When I play Blokus with the grandkids, it reminds me of multiple, interconnected supply chains with different numbers of echelons stretched across different geographies. One example is an automotive OEM with dealerships downstream and complete engine, transmission, chassis, and electronics supply chains upstream.

A basic supply chain consists of one echelon of SOURCE followed by one echelon of MAKE followed by one echelon of DELIVER. The inbound logistics connecting SOURCE with MAKE involve repetitive, fixed routes moving various sizes of lower-level materials. The midbound logistics connecting MAKE with DELIVER also involve repetitive, fixed routes moving finished and/or postponeable product. The outbound logistics connecting DELIVER with the customer involve mostly non-repetitive, variable routes delivering sets of finished goods to customers.

The point of a supply chain interdiction makes a difference. When an interdiction occurs upstream, it impacts the sourcing of critical material inventory. Unless a substitution can be made, this will reduce the throughput capacity of any product requiring that part in its bill of materials. When the part is used to produce multiple products, another remedy is to change the allocation of the remaining inventory among products. When an interdiction occurs downstream, it can impact a supply chain’s total revenue and profitability.

The point of a logistics route blockage also makes a difference. When the blockage involves a repetitive, fixed path, some alternative must be found in terms of transportation and warehousing. This will increase the transit time portion of the lead time. When the blockage involves a non-repetitive, variable path as in the last mile to a specific customer, it may be possible to re-route the delivery or change the mode of transportation to circumvent the blockage. A solution involves real-time information and some creativity.

Supply chain risk assessment should include an analysis of interdiction and blockage risk.

©2022 William T. Walker, CFPIM, CSCP-F, CLTD-F, CIRM has 42 years practitioner experience, authored Supply Chain Construction and Supply Chain Architecture, and teaches Supply Chain Engineering at NYU Tandon plus Demand Planning at Rutgers Business School. He is a 40+year ASCM member and APICS E&R Foundation past president. email: [email protected]