CSU’s Beverage Business Institute hosts another successful industry workshop

The second industry workshop recently hosted by the Beverage Business Institute at Colorado State University’s College of Business tapped executives from CSU partner Coca-Cola and professors in marketing and supply chain management from the College to provide knowledge and insights in beverage business management.

The three-day workshop featured interactive courses designed to help participants effectively manage supply chains, product demand, and conflict resolution. Featured guest speakers were Mike Loughrin, chief executive officer of Transformance Advisors, and Rusty Sanders, president of Goldsand Consulting, Inc.

Steve Medland, instructor of supply chains and operations at the College of Business, presented a seminar focused on the importance of understanding the intricacies of supply chain management beyond one’s own suppliers and consumers.

When Medland asked how many of the workshop participants had recently contacted one of their suppliers or consumers, most of the hands in the room were in the air. When he asked who had contacted their suppliers’ suppliers or their consumers’ consumers, all the hands dropped.

“Really, we don’t have a supply chain,” said Medland. “We have a supply web. In a business composed of an intricate network of different types of companies, professionals in the beverage industry have to understand the complex mechanisms of supply chain management.”

Medland and Paul Vanderspeck, clinical professor of management at the College, demonstrated more effective ways for beverage business managers to understand the system through a board game they created called, “The Beer Game.”

During The Beer Game, participants were divided into four teams, with each person on the team given the role of either working for the factory manufacturing the product, the wholesaler, the distributor, or the retailer selling the final product.

The teams placed orders and moved inventory over a simulated 40-week time period. The goal was to have the lowest total costs resulting from excess inventory and backlog over the duration of the game. While the team with the lowest overall distribution costs was declared the winner, each team member worked independently and without colluding with any other player.

Midway through the game, attendees took a break to listen to Mike Loughrin present “Critical Aspects of Demand Management for the Beverage Industry Supply Chain.” Loughrin discussed ways for companies to help manage demand for their products through collaboration and consensus between suppliers, producers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, and final consumers. Loughrin emphasized ways to minimize the “bullwhip effect,” an observed phenomenon in forecast-driven distribution channels that refers to a trend of larger and larger swings in inventory in response to changes in demand as one looks at firms that are further back in the supply chain for a product.

On the conference’s second day, former CSU football coach and now the College’s Director of Community Leadership Outreach Sonny Lubick presented “The Importance of Values Centered Leadership.”

Lubick shared his insights and the philosophies that helped make him a successful football coach for 37 years. He said that in 15 years as a head coach, he never fired anyone – a success he attributes to being true to himself and to his values, as well as to building a team that buys into the program’s overall philosophy.

“A team can spot a phony immediately, so you have to be yourself. If you’re being disingenuous, it’s all over. You have to get your entire team on board, buying into what your company’s philosophy is. You aren’t reaching your full potential as an organization unless everyone – including the janitor – is happy,” said Lubick.

“You have to learn from your mistakes. One thing I’ve learned and know for a fact is that you have to take good care of your people,” said Lubick. “It’s not about your talent, your personality, or your ambition. Your team doesn’t care about how much you know. It’s about how much they know you care.”

Lubick also emphasized the importance of companies building on what they do well and not obsessing over factors they can’t control (such as what the competition is doing).

“In today’s business world, success isn’t just measured by your accomplishments,” said Lubick. “Today’s recruiters are more interested in your interpersonal skills, your people skills. It’s about your work ethic, your loyalty, and whether or not you’re a good cultural fit for that organization.”

To wrap up the day’s events, an executive team from Coca-Cola hosted a discussion titled “Live Positively,” detailing the company’s various social and sustainable business practices.

Maria Cereghino, Shedi Nasser, and Torin Newman described five core focus areas for the company as it moves deeper into the 21st century as the world’s number one brand.

The trio described ways in which Coca-Cola is moving toward water neutrality through their water stewardship programs and how they’re attempting to recover 50 percent of the plastic, cardboard, and aluminum used in the bottling process after the product is consumed.

“The Denver bottling plant was able to save more than 38 million gallons of water last year by coming up with innovative ways to prevent water waste, such as using pressurized air instead of water to clean the production lines at the end of the day,” said Newman.

The executives also discussed ways that the company is working to ensure that consumers are making informed decisions by utilizing responsible marketing practices and making nutrition information readily accessible by placing the data on the front of packaging – a revolutionary practice in the food and beverage industries.

Finally, the group highlighted Coca-Cola’s dedication to education. The company has provided $38 million for 4,250 scholarships as part of its Scholar’s Foundation, as well as $20 million to 1,300 students in the First Generation Scholars program.

“Coca-Cola believes in diversity and inclusion. That means equal access to information, promotions, and advancement within the company and helping to provide educational opportunities to everyone,” said Cereghino.

Wrapping up the conference on the third day was Doug Hoffman, a marketing professor for the College of Business, who presented his talk, “Marketing for Results,” which highlighted ways that smaller companies could maximize their results by using best practices in their marketing and promotional programs.

The Beverage Business Institute was developed by Colorado State’s College of Business to provide specialized management education and research for the beverage industry. Workshop participants may earn CSU’s one-of-a-kind Certificate in Beverage Business Management by attending three additional workshops throughout the year.

BBI is well positioned in a geographic area that has more craft breweries per capita than almost any other region in the United States. CSU’s partnership with Coca-Cola – the world’s number one brand and top beverage company – provides unique access to exceptional expertise for program participants.