Beer Game
Player Manual for Beer game Last Modified Jan 7, 2011 Game Link: http://davinci.tamu.edu/beergame/
Objective of the Game: Is to satisfy the demand of the customer, while keeping the cost low. There is a cost for holding inventory and a cost for not satisfying demand (backorder). The demand for the product remains until it is satisfied i.e. backorder persists until it is fulfilled. Each player would be given an information card as shown below,
The information card contains details regarding the group (e.g. 465-Spring06), game (e.g. 1), position (e.g. Retailer) and password. Using this information a player could start/login into his game. When a player clicks on the link to play the game, he would see the entire list of groups registered to play this game. The player would be directed to click on his group (e.g. 465Spring06), which would direct him to the list of games. Each player would be assigned to a position in a game. When the player clicks on the game button, he would see a snapshot of the supply chain as shown below,
Downstream
Upstream This picture would vary according to the game settings. The traditional supply chain partner positions include factory, distributor, wholesaler and retailer. Sometimes there might less than 4 supply chain partners in a game. The two types of flows in this supply chain include product and information. There may be delay in these flows, which could be 1 or 2 weeks or in some cases no delay. Shipment (product flow) is made downstream and information is transmitted upstream in this supply chain.
As soon as a player clicks on his position, he/she would be asked to login using the password given to them. After validating the login, the player is transferred to their game screen. The game screen consists of 4 regions, namely order input screen, past information (10 weeks) about their position, status information of the supply chain partners and plot and settings screen.
1. Order input screen This screen provides
Objective of the Game: Is to satisfy the demand of the customer, while keeping the cost low. There is a cost for holding inventory and a cost for not satisfying demand (backorder). The demand for the product remains until it is satisfied i.e. backorder persists until it is fulfilled. Each player would be given an information card as shown below,
The information card contains details regarding the group (e.g. 465-Spring06), game (e.g. 1), position (e.g. Retailer) and password. Using this information a player could start/login into his game. When a player clicks on the link to play the game, he would see the entire list of groups registered to play this game. The player would be directed to click on his group (e.g. 465Spring06), which would direct him to the list of games. Each player would be assigned to a position in a game. When the player clicks on the game button, he would see a snapshot of the supply chain as shown below,
Downstream
Upstream This picture would vary according to the game settings. The traditional supply chain partner positions include factory, distributor, wholesaler and retailer. Sometimes there might less than 4 supply chain partners in a game. The two types of flows in this supply chain include product and information. There may be delay in these flows, which could be 1 or 2 weeks or in some cases no delay. Shipment (product flow) is made downstream and information is transmitted upstream in this supply chain.
As soon as a player clicks on his position, he/she would be asked to login using the password given to them. After validating the login, the player is transferred to their game screen. The game screen consists of 4 regions, namely order input screen, past information (10 weeks) about their position, status information of the supply chain partners and plot and settings screen.
1. Order input screen This screen provides