2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

In today’s competitive marketplace, companies are continuously tapping into technological advances in order to gain a competitive advantage as well as increase efficiency throughout their supply chain. One widely used information technology is Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software. Between 2014 and 2020, the ERP market is expected to grow 7.2% worldwide. This increase in industry use has led to the adoption of ERP software applications in higher education curriculum, as currently over 3,000 universities worldwide have affiliations with various commercial ERP software providers. Furthermore, studies have shown that students who have previous coursework in some kind of ERP system have higher starting salaries than their peers with similar coursework.

There has been research on effective methods of teaching ERP processes in order to prepare undergraduate students for careers that will use ERP systems. However, little research exists on methods to prepare students before actual hands-on experience with ERP software. Using real-world, live software immerses students for the purpose of experiential learning, but presents the dual complexity of learning challenging software along with understanding the fundamental business processes managed. The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of a manual, paper-based supply chain game as an effective teaching tool to prepare students for successful introduction into practical application of software systems used to develop higher level concepts.

This paper defines and explains the “Paper Game,” developed by the ERPsim Lab at HEC Montreal, used to model business processes within an order-to-cash cycle for a manufacturing company at the center of a three-tier supply chain. Implementation and execution strategies are detailed, demonstrating the benefits of utilizing the Paper Game prior to introducing students to ERP system software. Survey data collected from students during spring and fall 2017 show that the majority of students believed the game was engaging and expressed satisfaction with the benefits provided. Recommendations for use and strategies for the Paper Game, plus applications for non-ERP system coursework, is also presented.