[1/3] Prepare your Beer Game Session
Follow these 3 steps to prepare your Beer Game session :
In this article:
1. Determine the number of Games to create
Each game represents one supply-chain with several roles (between 2 and 8). In the default scenario, there are 4 roles : retailer, wholesaler, distributor and manufacturer. The participants will be dispatched between these roles.
In general, and especially in a remote context, we advise to assign one participant for each role. So for example in the default scenario, if you expect 12 participants, create 3 games. If you have less participants than the total number of roles, don't worry, the computer will play the roles where no one is connected.
If you are playing in-presence, you can assign several participants to a single role. In this case, 2, 3 or 4 persons can sit in front of a single computer and discuss together on the order to send every week.
In your Dashboard, when creating a new game, use the field "Create several copies" to generate several games (supply-chain) based on the number of expected players. Each game will be named xxx 1, 2, 3..
2. Adjust the Scenario
In the Default template, the game simulates a beer supply chain and is played for a total of 20 turns (each represents a week). From week 5, the Retailer marketing team starts a promotion, making the demand increase from 4/week to 8/week.
Select a game template
We propose several default templates, simulating for example a smartphone, vaccine or airplane supply-chain. Each simulates a different scenario with different a product, role names, scheduled messages, etc. For example, you may play in a smartphone e-commerce business, a vaccine manufacturer in times of a pandemic, or an airplane spare parts supply-chain.
If you are not sure, just stick to the Default Beer Game 😉
Customize the parameters
On the next screen, you can adjust all the game parameters. These include the role names and starting stock, lead times, allowing communication or not, the final consumer demand, etc.
It allows you to propose an experience branded to your own context / industry. You can also focus the teaching on specific topics that may be relevant for you, such as information-sharing, lead times, batch sizes, stock cost, etc.
Read our full article to discover all the Beer Game parameters available.
Create a second round
If you have enough time, it is a good idea to make everyone play a second round, with different parameters.
In the classical scenario, we allow the "transparent mode" in the second round, allowing all participants to see the information of their colleagues.
Depending on your learning goals, you may also prepare a second round where you reduce lead times, reduce MOQ/batch sizes etc.
3. Get the links to invite participants
Once the games are created, you can extract links to invite participants from your Dashboard's games list. Select the concerned games, then click on "Invite Participants":
From there, you can either extract links to each role, to each game, or to all of your games.
- For small audiences (8-15) – or if you want to precisely assign players : extract the links to each individual roles. You can then use Excel to pre-assign participants and send them the file by email.
- For medium audiences (15-30) - or if groups are already made : share a link to individual games. From a game page, participants can select a role to play or join randomly.
- For bigger audiences (>30) : share a link to your instructor page in the chat. Then all participants will be able to reach a position randomly.
