I4Evosim: An Educational Platform Simulating a Competitive ETO Market

This paper introduces I4Evosim, a gamified simulation of a competitive engineer-to-order (ETO) market. I4Evosim was developed to teach students about two complementary aspects: the ETO context and the inherent uncertainty of its products, as well as optimization approaches for planning and scheduling. The simulation encourages students to design a business strategy in a competitive market and conduct a retrospective strategic performance analysis. Gamification mechanisms make it easier to grasp a complex subject that combines diverse and uncertain decisions, constraints, and objectives. The findings of a preliminary experiment conducted with students at Universite Laval allowed us to measure the platform’s impact on the learning process.