The ‘tbs_excelcalibur’ team, MBA students, has won their World Championship for the 3rd round from the Operation Simulation Competition 2024 (OpsSimCom 2024) organized by MIT Sloan School of Management, with 51 teams from around the world participating, and 3 teams form Thammasat University ranked in the Top 10.
The ‘tbs_excelcalibur’ team, championship award, consists of Supasin Vijittrakarnrung and Dechthana Mahapokai, MBA students. Ranking the 2nd is TBS_AM team, with Alisa Tantavichien from the BBA program. Ranking the 4th is TBS_JustWarmUP team, consisting of MBA students Narapat Patcharapornpun, Kritsada Prasertburanakul, Nichanan Tantasirin, and Pattarawate Saksirisampant. The TBS_Mak8 team, ranked 34th, consists of BBA students Narada Kaewmanee, Viruthai Thumburanavit, Metas Wattanaphan, and Natthaphon Thusamran.
An interview with ‘tbs_excelcalibur’ team, Supasin Vijittrakarnrung and Dechthana Mahapokai, graduate students of the Master of Business Administration program, Thammasat Business School, Thammasat University, about the experience of competing in the OpsSimCom 2024 stage:
Operation Simulation Competition
Dechthana: The Operation Simulation Competition (OpsSimCom) is a competition that simulates factory production management. The products can be anything. Last year, it was medical equipment, but this year it has changed to VR devices. However, the gameplay remains the same. The game is divided into three stages: the first 50 days, where everyone has the same data for initial calculations in the game, the next 280 days, where we have full control over the factory, and the final 50 days, where we use the latest values we have set and continue playing for another 50 days. The factory has two production lines: one is to fulfill customer orders, which is not too difficult, and the challenging part is producing standardized products and setting the selling price. The quantity sold depends on how much we deviate the price from the market price. It follows supply and demand principles.
But the difficult part is that we do not know what the market price is. Many people almost guess randomly. In the meantime, we have to calculate how to choose and buy machines, determine manpower, and also determine the size of the batch to avoid line interruptions or excessive production. We use all the knowledge in the field of Operation Management to the fullest. Whoever makes the most money in the game will be the winner.
What makes a champion
Dechthana: We have received game data quickly, so we planned the first round in terms of the number of machines, the number of workers, and setting the job values to make some machines work more, which quickly put us in the lead. At first, we were worried about whether we could pay off debts because our team was initially ranked last.
Supasin: The key is to understand what the competition is about. What are the conditions? What factors must be considered in making decisions? Once we understand the game, our team can discuss and plan together, knowing the techniques to use for both the rising and falling market conditions, which can lead to high profits. We can aim for the number 1 spot from the middle of the game and maintain our ranking until the end of the competition.
