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Fifteenth annual competition brings experience and industry mentorship to students Oct. 22
Central Michigan University’s ERPsim Competition is moving to the fall, giving students an earlier opportunity to build practical business skills and connect with employers during the height of recruiting season.
The 15th annual competition will take place from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 22, at Finch Fieldhouse. Hosted by the College of Business Administration, the event challenges student teams to manage a simulated company using an integrated enterprise resource planning system.
The move from the spring semester is intended to better align the competition with company recruiting cycles, allowing students to demonstrate their skills and form professional connections when many employers are actively seeking interns and new graduates.
“Moving the competition to the fall aligns perfectly with peak hiring timelines for internships and full-time offers,” said Christine Witt, a faculty member in business information systems and director of CMU’s SAP University Alliance Program. “It allows students to showcase their skills right as applications open and gives employers a first-hand look at students in action.”
The change also reflects feedback from companies involved with the competition.
“Feedback from several participating company mentors confirms that this new autumn timing much better aligns with their active seasonal recruiting efforts,” Witt said.
During ERPsim, teams use SAP technology to make decisions across finance, operations, supply chain, marketing, and other business functions. The simulation allows students to see how each decision affects the performance of the company, requiring them to analyze results, communicate with teammates, and adjust their strategy in real time.
The competition will include five rounds, with teams receiving results and time to refine their strategies between each stage. The format gives students repeated opportunities to test ideas, learn from the outcomes, and respond to changing conditions.
While SAP powers the simulation, ERPsim is designed to develop broader skills that apply across industries and business disciplines. Participants do not need to be SAP experts. Success depends on their ability to interpret information, collaborate under pressure, and understand how decisions in one area of a business can influence the entire organization.
“This competition is built for diverse thinkers, proving that students from different majors can succeed when they bring their unique academic perspectives to the table,” Witt said. “Whether in human resources, supply chain, finance, or marketing, every discipline teaches valuable problem-solving frameworks. Employers love seeing how these mixed-major dynamics play out in real-world scenarios.”
Industry mentors play a central role in the ERPsim experience. Before and during the competition, mentors help teams consider their strategies, interpret results, and connect what is happening in the simulation to decisions professionals make in the workplace.
Those conversations also give students opportunities to learn about different careers, build relationships with professionals, and demonstrate how they approach problems as part of a team.
Brian Nakoneczny, senior manager of logistics at Domino’s Pizza LLC, first participated in ERPsim as a CMU student in 2016. He returned after graduation as an industry mentor and will take part in his 10th competition this fall.
“We had fantastic mentors who shared their professional experiences and connected the dots between what we were experiencing during the competition and some real-world examples they had encountered during their careers,” Nakoneczny said. “I considered myself a perpetual student, and after graduation, I saw the ERPsim competition as a way to share my experiences with students while learning from theirs and staying connected to my alma mater.”
Nakoneczny said he continues to return because of the energy students bring to the competition and the growth he sees as teams refine their approaches.
“This experience is something I look forward to every year. It’s genuinely energizing for the following several weeks,” he said. “Watching students refine their strategies in practice and witnessing those ‘aha!’ moments when they adapt in real time during competition is incredibly rewarding.”
During this year’s event, Nakoneczny will receive the 2026 ERPsim Mentor Excellence Award in recognition of his dedication, leadership, and years of service to the competition.
In addition to mentoring students, Nakoneczny has helped recruit other professionals to support participating teams. His continued involvement has strengthened the competition’s industry connections and given students greater access to professional guidance.
“Seeing their growth, both on the competition stage and in their personal development, is always a delight,” he said.
The ERPsim Mentor Excellence Award recognizes professionals who demonstrate an exceptional commitment to student learning through mentorship, guidance, and long-term engagement with the competition.
This year’s competition will feature a keynote address by Aaron Foley, senior supply chain manager at Boeing. His presentation, “Find Your Compass: Discovering Direction Through Your Core Values,” will explore how he identified what mattered most to him and used those values to navigate career and life decisions, even when the path did not follow a predictable map.
Foley previously coached two ERPsim teams and said he is excited to return after several years away from Michigan to see how the competition has evolved.
“Being asked to be the keynote speaker is a great honor,” Foley said. “As a recruiter and employer, I find this type of hands-on experience one of the most valuable things students can do … not just learning concepts, but actually applying them in the system.”
Witt said Foley’s message complements the experience students will gain through the competition.
“Aaron’s address comes at the perfect time for our students as they prepare to launch their careers,” Witt said. “His insights on core values will give them a practical compass for navigating the job market, while the competition itself gives them the concrete experience employers want to see.”
The event will conclude with lunch and the announcement of the winning teams and scholarships.
Students interested in participating can register by Oct. 9, 2026, through the ERPsim registration page. All graduate students may register without a prerequisite. Any undergraduate student who has completed BUS 331 is welcome to join.
Professionals with experience in areas such as information technology, operations, analytics, finance, marketing, and supply chain are also invited to serve as mentors. Mentors can support students through pre-competition conversations, practice sessions, or guidance during the event.
Professionals interested in mentoring can contact Christine Witt at witt1cm@cmich.edu for more information.
By bringing together simulation-based learning, industry mentorship, and employer engagement, ERPsim gives students a chance to practice navigating complex business challenges while building professional skills and relationships.
