Today was a great day. Today, in one of my classes, I had a really fun, valuable experience. The class is called Enterprise Wide Data Systems, or ITP-320. It’s a class that teaches us how to use SAP ERP, which stands for Systems, Applications and Processing, Enterprise Resource Management. The SAP system is commonly used in many companies, to integrate business processes and replace a multitude of older systems which did not run cohesively.
This class is one that all industrial and systems engineers, operations track, at USC, will take. The first few weeks of class are spent learning and getting acquainted with the SAP system. After we’ve learned the basics of using and understanding SAP, we move on to the more exciting part – the ERPsim. The ERPsim is a simulation game, where teams of five students compete against each other in a simulated real-time market in rounds, aiming to get the highest company valuation. The first round was what we played today, which only consisted of selling product. Every team was given a default amount of stock and a default price of the product (a type of cereal) and for this round we were in charge of changing the prices for the cereal in real-time, depending on what the competing teams were doing and also on what the consumers were buying.
I was a little bit nervous for the competition, but after the round was over I realized it really was meant to be fun as well and not just stressful, and the excitement of the round was invigorating. The first few rounds are introductory rounds, so we learn how to use the system and get used to the different roles and jobs necessary, and then the real game will start.
This was a great experience in something clearly related to possible future careers, as SAP has become integral in the operations in many companies, as well as providing valuable knowledge in the competition in the business world. By the end of it as well, our team had a fantastic time working together (groups had been assigned randomly), and we had developed much more of a strategy than we had started with. We even ended up getting second place, and I’m very excited for next round!
