Spectrum 48K AUTO CHEF CCS STRATEGY GAMES The object of the Auto Chef is to trade profitably so that the company accumulates sufficient capital (£25 million) to take-over T.H.F.! From information supplied you have to decide on which type of outlet to operate, the price of the menu, whether to enter into loan contracts or purchase consignments of food or wines and the level of advertising, wages and dividends. Decisions also have to take into account differing levels of inflation each year. You are warned that if results and dividends are insufficient to satisfy the shareholders, you will be made to resign! There are levels of difficulty. COPYRIGHT 1982 Copies of this recording may only be made for the sole use of the purchaser unless written permission is obtained. CASES COMPUTER SIMULATIONS, 14 Langton Way, London SE3 7TL LOADING INSTRUCTIONS The procedure for loading a program into your Spectrum is given in the manual. Please follow these steps for loading program. 1. Connect the ear socket of the computer to the ear socket of your tape recorder. 2. Set the volume control as per Sinclair manual. 3. Adjust the tune control to maximum. 4. Type LOAD "AUTOCHEF". 5. Start the tape recorder. The program will RUN automatically once loaded. 6. The program takes 2 minutes to load. Printed by ACI. Tel: 0233 22318 1. OBJECT OF THE GAME You are the M.D. of a group which operates a chain of restaurants. The group starts with £1 million capital. The objective is to increase the net assets of the company to £25 million and take-over *THF in the shortest possible time. Be warned however, your progress will be assessed by the shareholders and if you are not making satisfactory progress, you will be forced to resign. Results of decisions are seen in the form of the Trading Account, Profit & Loss Account and Balance Sheet. 2. INFORMATION AVAILABLE a. Bar chart showing results of a market survey of customer's eating habits. b. Histogram of cost indecies. c. Trading Profit & Loss Account. d. Balance Sheet. 3. Business decisions required You have to decide on: a. Type of catering establishments to operate. b. How much rent to tender for leases/franchise. c. How much to charge for each meal. d. Whether to purchase bulk consignments of food and wine. e. The level of advertising. f. Staff remuneration policy. g. Whether to enter into loans or repay them. h. Percentage dividend declared. 4. Problems encountered a. Increase in the rental market. b. Loss of customer due to too high a menu price. c. Strikes, fires, unhygienic premises. 5. HINTS ON PLAY a. You will need to decide which chain of catering establishments you wish to operate. Look for high customer demand and large number of units. b. There is a greater gross profit percentage on restaurants and cafeterias than on fast food restaurants or take-away premises. Maximum number of restaurants and cafeteria units is 9. c. If your bid is not successful then you will have to increase your bid by more than 10% (say 15%) to be successful. d. All costs increase each year because of inflation. A histogram illustrates rates of increase. e. Menu prices may be increased. However, the ability of the market to withstand increased prices depends on the 'meals bought index'. The higher this is, the higher the menu price the market will stand. If too high a price is required, sales will be lost through lack of customers. f. It is usually desirable to purchase bulk consignments of food and wine as these are obtained at a 10% to 20% discount. g. High level of advertising may result in sales increasing by 10% or 20%. Player must seek optimum level each year. h. Reductions in level of wages are permanent, however a strike results in 20% of sales being lost. i. Dividends less than 15% will usually result in shareholders proposing a 'vote of no confidence'. j. There is a bonus issue of shares every 5 years which increases the requirement for dividends. k. Fixtures and fittings increase each year according to the value of leases (rents) entered into. l. Cost Ratios to sales are as follows: Other Food Wine Wages Expenses Take Aways 70 17 4 Fast Food 55 30 4 Cafeterias 35 5 30 10 Restaurants 15 10 35 10 m. Load "AUTOCHEF". *T.H.H. is the trademark of Trust House Forte.