Spectrum 48K PRINT SHOP CCS STRATEGY GAMES 'Print Shop' is a very comprehensive game for managers interested in testing their business acumen. The game spans a period of 12 weeks and each week the player is asked to make decisions on the following: - Number and category of staff to employ. - Amount and type of paper to purchase. - The quotation for each job. - The scheduling of work to the optimum week. The user is shown the results of his decisions in a Trading Account after each week and in the Profit and Loss Account and Balance Sheet after each month. There are three 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 tone control to maximum. 4. Type LOAD "PRINTSHOP". 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 INSTRUCTIONS 1. OBJECT OF THE GAME You are the sole proprietor of a small print works and your objective is to make a net profit of over £4,000 in the first three months of trading. If however you incur losses which result in the net assets becoming negative, your banker will foreclose and business will cease. Results of trading are given weekly in Trading Accounts and monthly in Profit and Loss and Balance Sheets. 2. INFORMATION AVAILABLE BUSINESS DECISIONS REQUIRED Staff establishment listing - Amount and type of staff required. b) Paper stock listing - Amount and type of paper required. c) Job cost estimates - The quotation for each jobs. d) Production load schedule - The scheduling of work in optimum week. 3. DESCRIPTION There are 30 production hours in a week. The cost of staff is (a) Finisher £150 pw. (b) Print operator £210 pw. (c) Layout artist £150 pw. (d) Supervisor £270 pw. For every 5 production staff a Supervisor is required. When production staff reach 10 then new premises are required at double the rent. Once a Supervisor is employed he cannot be sacked. The rent and rates, light and heat costs are £1,680 per month. For every print operator employed a printing machine has to be rented at £60 per week. Every Finisher requires equipment which costs £30 a week. The number of jobs offered each week varies. If "Print Shop" does not have resources then it may contract out at least 100% above inhouse man hour rates. "Print Shop" may also buy in paper at 50% above normal cost. The game operates on a weekly cycle. There are seven types of paper costing between £3 and £9 per ream. The number of orders are randomised but will tend to increase each week. The production elements of each order are also randomised so each order is different in terms of production hours required and the amount and type of paper. Your competitors quotation is also randomised by the computer but will vary from cost of estimate to three times the cost of estimate. When paper is out of stock you may buy further supplies from your competitors at a 50% premium. Administration costs are calculated at 5% of sales. 4. HELPFUL HINTS a) Initial staff should be 1 of each category. Additional staff should be taken on when orders start increasing in about 3 or 4 weeks. Remember it takes two weeks to train staff and therefore production hours available will not increase until 2 weeks have elapsed. b) About 100 reams of each type of paper will cost £3,500 and this is usually the optimum level to start with. c) Try to remember the type of paper used in previous orders. You will then know if you need to purchase paper at a premium or have it in stock. d) Negative Stock Balances brought forward from previous week relate to Reserved Stocks for future orders. Purchase paper at least to cover negative balances. e) When quoting consider these points: - Balance of production hours uncommitted in current week. - Likelihood of further orders being received during current week. - Need to subcontract part of the job. - Adequacy of paper stocks because out of stock items will cost 50% premium. - Need to cover at least the marginal costs, i.e. cost of paper whether in stock or at premium rates and subcontractors costs. f) If job requires paper which is out of stock, it may be worthwhile to schedule it to be completed in the later weeks because paper can then be purchased without premium.