FAQ

Absolutely, this program is meant for you! If you teach your students about supply chain management, inventory management, process flow, manufacturing, or distribution and project management, we have the perfect training model to show your students how professionals make their decisions in the real world. If you want to include more topics, let us know, and undoubtedly we can accommodate that as well.

Yes, our program is absolutely flexible. You can customize it to embrace the approach that you would like to take for your curriculum. If you would rather make the training model into a graded quiz, we can help you with that. Or if you would like to focus on only one kind of software training (say, discrete ERP), then we can make that happen. Simply get in touch with us, and together we can develop something perfectly suited for your needs!

This program works with TEC’s patented online software application, TEC Advisor. This in turn is powered by our Decision Support System (DSS) called ERGO. 

ERGO is a stand-alone, general-purpose DSS designed to help companies like yours simplify any kind of complex decision.

The ERGO DSS breaks complex decisions into simple steps. Each step moves you closer to a rational, justifiable decision, so you never get overwhelmed by the volume of data or lose sight of your objectives. And ERGO makes it easy to document every step of the decision process, so you can keep all of your stakeholders on the same page.

Using the ERGO DSS, you can:

• Factor tens of thousands of evaluation criteria into your decision;
• Compare thousands of potential solutions in a single decision model;
• Set priorities in the way that works best for you;
• Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of potential solutions with what-if scenarios, simulations, sensitivity analyses, side-by-side comparisons, rankings, and more;
• Use interactive graphs and charts to generate precise analyses and explore what-if scenarios;
• Conduct detailed cost-benefit analyses;
• Generate custom reports to communicate the progress, and ultimately the results, of your decision.

From procurement to engineering trade studies, portfolio optimization, project portfolio management (PPM), performance and risk assessment, systems dynamics modelling, software selection, hiring, and more, the ERGO DSS can handle virtually any kind of decision. ERGO customers include government, military organizations, and companies in industries such as finance, law, utilities, education, oil and gas, sports, and others.

You will have direct access to a senior project consultant, a senior product manager, and your own account executive to answer all your questions. Our senior project consultants are business consultants whose services are employed by hundreds of companies to help them evaluate and select the best software for their needs. They are recognized experts in the field, and have the experience and expertise to respond to all of your questions and needs. Our senior product manager is the person working behind the scenes for the website and your portal, and can address any concerns you may have. Your account executive will work closely with you from your first contact with us till your last.

Yes, absolutely. If you want to bring in an expert to illustrate the whole process or brief your students in depth, our consultants are available for guest lectures. Together we can work out the details.

Certainly. As part of introducing this program to you, we will be pleased to do a demo for you and as many members of your faculty as you would like. 

Yes, you can. In fact, Our Selection Services are designed for exactly this purpose. We will be happy to put you in touch with our Selection Services team if you are interested in using our decision support software for your consulting projects.

They can—and they should! The use of a software evaluation system is becoming a prerequisite for many management positions. This knowledge adds immense value to your students’ skill set, and most interviewing companies will be pleased to notice that your students come equipped with this knowledge and experience. 

Since this program is customizable, we can work around your time requirements. Generally, we advise professors to give students at least 5-7 hours for this program, including assignment time. This works out to one to two hours of class time to explain software evaluation and practice with the software evaluation tool, 3 hours of assignment time for students to work with the software, and one to two hours of presentation time.

Before your course begins, we will train you so that you have a complete picture of the project. The students will then take the role of “consultants” and solve the problem that you as a client give them. This means that you will have the complete flow of information in your hands for your students. We will also provide you with a solution document to the training models to help you grade your students on their assignment.  

As a student, you can bring this program to the attention of your TA, faculty, or department head, and we can work with them to administer it in your class. If you wish to administer this as a student group activity or symposium, you or the head of the symposium can contact us and we can work that out as well.

We work with TAs all the time. If you want to introduce this course to the class you are assisting, just let us know. We can schedule a demo for you and your professor and you can take it from there. Generally when we work with TAs, they are administering the program after getting a go-ahead from their professor.  Whatever approach you want to take is OK with us.

The feedback system has been created simply to help us understand and monitor the progress of this program, and to help us improve it. Any information gathered is purely for this purpose. We will definitely not seek any direct contact with the students, and will send you a link to an e-survey that you can distribute to them.

We will use your university’s logo on our website to indicate that your university is a partner with TEC. The logos of institutions’ participating in the TEC Campus Program are also used for information materials where appropriate, as is the norm with client and software developer logos. As well, we can accommodate any specific requests you might have in this regard.