Conestoga students compete against top universities in international business competition

A team of five Conestoga students enrolled in the Supply Chain and Operations Management program and International Business Management program faced-off against universities from Canada and the United States in a virtual simulation competition on Friday, March 25.  

Hosted by the ERPsim Lab at HEC Montreal, in partnership with SAP Next-Gen University Alliances NA, the North America ERPsim Competition required students to use SAP ERP and SAP S/4HANA systems to manage a virtual company in a competitive market.  

As the only Canadian college to participate in the event, the Conestoga team faced fierce competition against 24 universities from across North America, some of which included MBA programs from those schools. 

The simulation forces users to focus on making the best decision in the most efficient way while juggling business processes, information management, change management, information security, and auditing, among many other aspects of business systems.  

“A competition like this exposes students to the challenges they can expect to face in their field,” said Stephen Thomson, director of the Magna Centre for Supply Chain Excellence, and coach of the Conestoga team. 

The goal of the simulation is to offer students an incentive to get better at translating their strategy into action using an ERP system. 

Despite the challenges, Matthew Cantin, a third-year student in the International Business Management program, said the competition was a learning experience.  

“In supply chains I learned that it is crucial to make quick and informed decisions,” Cantin said. “The simulation allowed me to bring all the concepts I learned throughout my program and better understand how business units operate together to be successful.”  

Another student on the Conestoga team, Carolina Putro, described the simulation as an excellent way to integrate supply chain studies with hands-on experience.  

This annual competition marked the first time Conestoga College joined the event, and although the team didn’t make it through to the next round, Thomson says the team looks forward to building on their experience next year.  

The top three schools moving on to the next stage include: Sherbrooke University, Governors State University, and San Diego State University.