ERPsim Invitational competitors sought after by company recruiters


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Livonia mentor Cory Muniga, left, laughs while graduate students Richard Rasmussen of Fort Gratiot and Daniel Sanchez of Texas compete at the ERPsim competition on Feb. 19 in McGuirk Arena.

After spending three days a week participating in simulation training for the third annual Enterprise Resource Planning Simulation Invitational Competition, Martin Porea felt his team was prepared.

The Macomb graduate student was part of the PricewaterhouseCoopers team. After each practice, the team spent hours looking at data and seeing what sold and discovering trends. The preparation was time consuming, but worth it, he said.

“You don't get this kind of experience in the classroom. We felt prepared, but you never know what's going to happen,” Porea said. "You come in with a plan and two days later, your plan goes out the window because the market changes. As prepared as you may be, you have to be really flexible as well.”

The ERPsim is a simulation game. Twenty teams managed their own companies in a simulated competitive market in McGurick Arena Thursday. This year was a Logistics Dairy Game where six dairy products had to be sold in three regions. The competition hosted two games with the team that accumulated the most Net Profit dollars being the winner.

This year, Auto-Owners won ranked first place, General Motors 1 second place and Consumers Energy 2 third place in Server GM3. In Server GM7, Deloitte 2 ranked first place, Tata Consultancy 2 second place and Rockwell Collins 1 third place.

Director of the Systems, Applications and Products University Alliance Program Frank Andrea knows of no other school in Michigan involved in the SAP University Alliance community. There are over 2,000 programs worldwide in the competition where students are united with a company mentor and competing for scholarships and awards.

“I think it's good for the students because this is essentially what we do during any of our projects,” Rockwell Collins Team 1 mentor Dan Hellerstedt said. “You're under a time crunch, you've got a lot of stress on you and have to work with a lot of people."

The event hosted a panel discussion featuring Harley-Davidson, 3M, GM, Consumers Energy, IAC and Central Michigan University.

“Above all other things, it is the knowledge that the students who have worked hard in this event will be sought after by company recruiters,” Director of the SAP University Alliance Program Frank Andera said. “It is truly the smile and pride a student shows to me when they come to me with their excitement telling me that they have a full-time offer from their sponsoring company.”

President George Ross attended the event to talk to students and show his support for the competition. Seeing corporate partners viewing the students during the event that “brings together highly intelligent students” through hard work and teamwork “encouraged” him.

“As I look across these groups and see the diversity in the groups that are full of male and female students, international students and students who appear to be American students, I just think that we talk a lot about diversity and the strength of team building and decision making and knocking down stereotypes and it's happening right now in this competition,” he said.

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