E-Ops Game

The goal of the game is to make as much money as possible during the time played.  The player must play at least 15 minutes to get a score that qualifies for the "top 100" list.  The player needs to manage all roles in the e-business.  These roles include purchasing material, scheduling production and selling the product.  All of the activities are conducted over the Internet.

The business involves selling generic computers over the Internet.  The company makes two types of computers.  A low end computer called "Computer1" and a high end one called "Computer2".  These computers are made in a factory that can make exactly one computer each second.  The computers are made in batches and there is no setup time when moving from one batch to another batch.  The computers are assembled using parts that need to be purchased.  The following are the bills of material for each computer:

Parts are purchased in batches through an Internet trading company.  The player solicits bids for parts by indicating how many units of a particular part would like to be purchased.  The market responds with a time when the parts can be delivered and a price.  The price for the batch of parts is dependent on the order quantity and the time of delivery.  

Similarly, computers are sold over the Internet.  The player has the option of offering a batch of computers to the Internet market or "querying" the market to see what buyers currently want.  In both cases the sales price for the computers is dependant on the the quantity purchased and the delivery time.  These computers are sold like commodities.

Keep in mind that everything happens in Internet time, that being seconds.  Parts arrive at an exact second in the future.  The assembly process is scheduled to the second and computer orders are shipped (if they are available) at a specific second.

The following are a few assumptions built into the system that will help in understanding what is going on:

1. The simulation will not allow ordering additional material if your cash balance is less than zero.  When ordering material, the accounts payable account is credited.  The vendor is paid when the order arrives.  Similarly, when computers are sold the order backlog account is credited.  Cash is actually received and the backlog cleared when the computers are delivered.  Given the timing of material and computer orders it is possible to run some float through these accounts.
2. The assembly process.  One computer is made each second.  Computers are not scheduled until the parts are actually available.  In the list of future events, there are two events that relate to assembly.  The first indicates that a particular type of computer is "scheduled".  The date on the event is when the computers will actually go into finished goods inventory.  When a batch of computers is "scheduled" the parts are allocated to the assembly order and removed from the on-hand balance.  The second type of assembly event is marked "Waiting for Material".  These are orders that have been entered into the system but parts are not yet "on-hand".  The due date on "Waiting for Material" orders is when the order was entered into the system.  There may be multiple "Waiting for Material" orders for a computer type in the system.  One bit of confusion is in knowing exactly how many parts are needed over and above what have already been ordered (i.e. some kind of time phased run out calculation).  The player needs to calculate this from the data provided in the status report.
3. Buying material.  Batches of material can be bought on the spot market (i.e. right now) or in the future.  The spot market prices are given in the table above.  There is a maximum 10% discount given for 600 unit order quantity (the discount starts at 100 units and maxes out at 600).  There is a maximum 20% discount for items purchased 5 minutes in the future.  These are simple linear functions.
4. Selling computers.  The same discounts are in place for the computers as are present for material.  The margin on both computers is exactly the same.  There is a 10% penalty for late delivery of computers.  This is captured as a "delivery penalty" cost in the operating statement. The cash received from the customer is reduced by this penalty.
    

The key evaluation criterion is the "performance rating."  The program calculates the number of computers that you could produce over the time you have been playing and multiplies this number of units by an expected per computer profit margin (this is $180/computer).  Your actual profit margin is then divided by this expected profit margin and multiplied by 100 to get the performance rating.

The elapsed time clock starts running when you start running your factory the first time.  It continues until your last transaction is processed.  "Idle time" is the time that your factory is idle after it has be used to make computers the first time.

Good luck with the game!

I am very interested in your feedback and suggestions.

Click here to return to logon screen for the game.

---Professor Jacobs