Posted by Rita Mu
Teams of Australian university students and Linfox industry mentors have put their decision-making skills to the test in a recent competition in Melbourne.
At the day-long event, held at Victoria University in May, experts from Linfox coached student teams from Victoria University (VU), RMIT, Swinburne, Deakin and Monash Universities in simulation games.
Using SAP Enterprise Resource Planning software, teams fought to win the biggest market share by buying raw materials, managing budgets, developing production and distribution schedules, and selling products. They were required to respond to changing variables such as an increase in grain prices or a decrease in the foreign exchange rate, with every 25 minutes in real life simulating 30 days.
Founder of the LinFox Group, Lindsay Fox, who opened the event, said there was a need for logistics and supply chain management practitioners to be "hands-on.” He also addressed key issues facing the industry, including the impact of carbon tax, legislation, green supply chain management and efficiency.
Event organiser and VU’s SAP Academic Program Director, Paul Hawking, said the game was played by universities around the world to give students the experience of managing the details of a real company, both emotionally and intellectually.
“This game focuses on how things work together and allows participants to immediately see the effects of their decision-making,” he said. “Just as in real life, they pay for poor decisions or those not made in time.”
The top three teams in the competition were:
1st: RMIT University
2nd: Deakin University
3rd: Victoria University