Global Student Challenge: the Supply Chain Simulation Contest
The Global Student Challenge is an annual competition in which teams of four students run a virtual company in a supply chain simulation. It launched in 2013 and now runs under Inchainge, the maker of the simulations.
Updated
What the Global Student Challenge is
The Supply Chain Finance Community (SCFC) announced the fourth edition of the Global Student Challenge in September 2017. The contest was set up in 2013 and was open to students anywhere in the world. It was powered by two web-based business simulations, The Fresh Connection and The Cool Connection, which put players in charge of the decisions of a company working under uncertain and changing market conditions.
Teams of four students run their own virtual company. In The Fresh Connection the company makes fruit juices and sells to retailers. In The Cool Connection it makes personal care products and sells to retail channels, and the company is losing money, so the new management team has to make it profitable again by strategic and tactical decisions. The Cool Connection track focuses on bridging the physical and the financial supply chain, while The Fresh Connection concentrates on supply chain strategy and trade-offs.
The 2017 edition offered a prize fund of 20,000 euros, internships and a trip to the Netherlands for the top 20 national teams. Qualification ran in September and October, regional finals from November 2017 to January 2018, and the global final in April 2018.
What is true today
The old address, globalstudentchallenge.org, now forwards to a page on the website of Inchainge, the company that develops the simulations. That page calls the contest the number one supply chain student competition in the world and says it is in its 13th edition. It reports more than 100 countries, 700 universities, 35,000 students and 250 teachers involved.
For the 2026-2027 season the page lists a global online qualification from May 10 to May 23 and a global final from June 14 to 18. The top 10 percent of each course are invited to qualify, and teams need four bachelor or master students enrolled in the 2026/2027 school year. The global final week uses only The Fresh Connection; students who know The Cool Connection, The Blue Connection or The Triple Connection can still enter.
Students need not have the simulations built into a course. The page points to a way of taking part without that.
Questions about the contest
Is the Global Student Challenge still running?
Yes. The Inchainge page describes the 2026-2027 edition, with a global qualification in May and a global final in June.
Who can take part?
Teams of four full-time or part-time bachelor or master students during the 2026/2027 school year. Students who played a previous global final cannot join a new finalist team.
Which games does it use?
The global final week uses The Fresh Connection. Students who have played The Cool Connection, The Blue Connection or The Triple Connection in a course can also enter.
Who runs it now?
Inchainge presents it as one of its global challenges. In 2017 the Supply Chain Finance Community launched the fourth edition with Windesheim University of applied sciences, KDC, TKI Dinalog and Inchainge among those involved.