The Use of Simulators for Teaching Fundamental Supply Chain Concepts

Nowadays, simulators have become a valuable tool when teaching complex topics in the field of Engineering. Being aware of the prominent role simulators play in the education of the new generations, a multidisciplinary team of academics at Tecnologico de Monterrey designed and developed a simulator that emulates some of the most essential planning activities occurring in a production system. Various decisive activities, from issuing purchase orders to delivering finished products, are considered in the simulation model to reflect the different stages in which raw materials are turned into finished products. The simulator has been successfully used as a supporting educational tool in supply-related courses offered by Tecnologico de Monterrey under the new model TEC21. One of the reasons the simulator has proven to be an effective teaching aid is that it is easy for users to identify the main interactions occurring among different supply chain processes. This paper aims to show the benefits of using the simulator as a complementary tool in Supply Chain courses.