Can You Just…?

The Fabrication Business Game

You own a steel fabrication shop. Price the jobs, pick the right steel, run your crew and keep the cash flowing, against three rival firms after the same work. Made by a welding and fabrication tutor, so the jobs, specs and headaches are real.

Free to play, and free for individual learners. Colleges and independent training providers need a revocable, non-transferable licence: see . Hosting and upkeep are paid for by me and anyone who chooses to support Honos Engineering.

What you'll be doing

1. Win the work

Clients put jobs out to tender: a café splashback, a brewery walkway, a footbridge. Read the brief, pick the grade and finish that meets their spec, and bid. Three rival firms are bidding too, and a wrong spec loses the job.

2. Purchase material

Won it? Purchase the sheet, sections and bar from the stockholder. If your grade isn't on the rack, it's a mill order and you wait weeks before you can start.

3. Build it

Your crew's hours go into cutting, forming, welding, finishing and inspection, against a deadline. Then the client asks “Can you just…?”. Charge for it, do it free, or spot the trap and say no.

4. Get paid and grow

Deliver on time to get paid and earn reputation stars. Stars, better kit and the right certificates unlock bigger National and International contracts. Wages and bills land at every month end.

How you win

When the time's up, the company worth the most wins. That's your cash and the money you're owed, plus half the value of your kit, plus £1,000 for every reputation star, minus any loans.

Busy isn't the same as profitable. A job priced too low, a crew sat waiting for steel, or a “can you just” done for nothing can sink you.

How a turn works

Each turn is one week. Everyone takes one action: bid for a job, invest in kit, people or training, or pass. Then your crew work their hours and finished jobs are delivered.

A Quarter game is 13 weeks, about 20 minutes. The game saves itself every week, and you can tap any underlined term for a plain-English explanation.

Your crew's skill ratings

Everyone in your crew has a Skills Passport with a rating for each process they can do: cutting, sawing, forming, welding, finishing, treatment, lifting and inspection. The rating decides which machines they can run.

Novice

Still learning and needs supervision. Adds hours, but only on basic Level I kit.

Competent

Works unsupervised to a standard. Can run Level II kit, and can sit a weld coding test.

Proficient

Fast and consistent, sets up and fault-finds. Can run Level III kit.

Expert

The one everyone asks. Runs Level III kit and brings the rest of the crew on.

Moving up: people learn on the job. 100 hours working in a process takes them from N to C, and 300 more from C to P. Apprentices, and anyone working next to someone rated P or E, learn 50% faster. A training course moves anyone up one step, and a course is the only way to reach E. When someone steps up, expect them to ask for a pay rise.