Benoit Montreuil

On the activeness of intelligent Physical Internet containers

The paper focuses on the design of PI-containers and on their associated activeness.The Physical Internet aims to reverse the unsustainability situation existing in logistic systems.PI-container can play an active role for its mission and in the PI management.The activeness must be analyzed according to a recursive view.A grouping application of containers in a PI-hub is used to illustrate the proposed model. The aim of the innovative Physical Internet (PI) concept is to reverse the unsustainability situation existing in current logistic systems, to meet the increasingly demanding services required by the users and to increase the global logistic performance. In the PI approach, the goods are encapsulated in modularly dimensioned, reusable or recyclable, and smart containers, called PI-containers. This paper focuses on the informational context of such containers and more particularly on their associated activeness. This capability allows the PI-container to have an active role in achieving its mission and in the PI management and operation. After a presentation of the physical and informational aspects associated to PI-containers in hyperconnected logistics, a state-of-the-art review of the field of smart containers is provided. The limitations of actual solutions for fulfilling the informational requirements are highlighted. The notion of activeness is detailed and a descriptive framework is introduced. Finally, a grouping application of containers in a PI-hub is used to illustrate the proposed framework.

Hybrid modeling approach to market deployment planning: an application to a natural disaster relief supply business venture

In today’s fast-paced global economy, entrepreneurs increasingly tend to holistically design their business ventures during the early stages of business creation. This tendency highlights the need for an efficient and systematic approach to market deployment planning due to the dynamic and complex nature of current markets and the evolving significance of global strategic positioning. Traditional market expansion planning is no longer adequate for fast-paced contexts. This paper introduces a hybrid modelling approach in order to develop a market deployment roadmap. Based on market pertinent databases, the proposed approach uses self-organising maps for market clustering and an optimisation model for market deployment road mapping within each cluster. The approach is illustrated through its application to market deployment road mapping for a business venture specialising in natural disaster supply relief. Dealing with real case studies with exploiting the vast database have not received much attention in disaster relief planning context. Hence, this study provides a novel contribution to humanitarian relief planning considering the role of the business ventures in relief operation and their business model simultaneously.

Multicriteria supplier selection for supply chain management

Under the pressure of global competition, cycle time reduction and increasing product complexity, enterprises have realized that internal improvements are certainly important but not sufficient. Company performances depend not only on internal activities but also on external resources from supply networks made up of customers, suppliers, and subcontractors. In the present paper, the conventional choice of suppliers involved in a supply network is reconsidered. The process proposed to support decisions in a context of choice is based on the exploitation of a Simulation of Extended Enterprises ‘SEE’ platform for the configuration of a multicriteria method (Analytic Hierarchy Process ‘AHP’) and the analysis of the choice of suppliers. This multicriteria method, restructured into two phases, is presented and the implementation process is described. The case study focuses on snowmobile assembly with 75 workstations in a multi-product assembly line, 420 supplied parts and 48 suppliers. Multiple simulation cases are presented and the obtained results are analysed.

Comment trois organisations ont géré l’innovation de leur modèle d’affaires autour de la mobilité et du e-commerce

RÉSUMÉ Un consensus existe dans la littérature : la clé du succès dans l’exploitation d’une technologie de la communication et de l’information (TIC) est l’innovation systémique du modèle d’affaires de l’entreprise. L’objectif de cet article est d’étudier pourquoi et comment les entreprises procèdent à une innovation de leur modèle d’affaires en exploitant les TIC. La comparaison de trois cas d’entreprises a permis de formuler neuf propositions mettant en évidence des dynamiques d’innovation par rupture, les liens entre types de motivations stratégiques à innover, et configurations de l’organisation du processus d’innovation, ainsi que l’importance de l’apprentissage organisationnel et du leadership.