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International audienceToday, pooled warehouse presents a major issue for supply chain actors. Managing such structures establishes a more complex and little known actions system. In this paper, we provide the main specificities of a pooled warehouse examined from the perspectives of both a literature review and an exploratory qualitative study built on seven cases in France. This study is based on semi-structured interviews with 22 companies managing projects in the field of pooled warehouses. From this qualitative analysis, we distinguish the main characteristics of pooled warehouses, such as compatibility and partner maturity, shared Vendor Managed Inventory, and collaborative management. In addition, we identify new key performance indicators, uncertainty sources and risks of pooled warehouses. This work helps define pooled warehouse concept and brings practitioners a better understanding of how it can be managed. Furthermore, it allows researchers to develop new models of optimization considering the pooling context

International audienceThe recent product traceability requirements, particularly in food production chains, demonstrate an industrial need to improve traceability systems. Having real-time access to traceability information allows its exploitation, which is the aim of this work. In this paper the problem of minimizing the cost of products recall is treated. First the raw material dispersion problem is analyzed, in order to determine a risk level criterion or "production criticality". This criterion is used subsequently to optimize deliveries dispatch with the purpose of minimizing the number of batch recalls in case of crisis. This is achieved by implementing decision-making aid tools based on operational research and artificial intelligence

A new approach of coordination of decisions in a multi site system is proposed. It is based this approach on a multi-agent concept and on the principle of distributed network of enterprises. For this purpose, each enterprise is defined as autonomous and performs simultaneously at the local and global levels.The basic component of our approach is a so-called Virtual Enterprise Node (VEN), where the enterprise network is represented as a set of tiers (like in a product breakdown structure). Within the network, each partner constitutes a VEN, which is in contact with several customers and suppliers. Exchanges between the VENs ensure the autonomy of decision, and guarantiee the consistency of information and material flows. Only two complementary VEN agents are necessary: one for external interactions, the Negotiator Agent (NA) and one for the planning of internal decisions, the Planner Agent (PA).If supply problems occur in the network, two other agents are defined: the Tier Negotiator Agent (TNA) working at the tier level only and the Supply Chain Mediator Agent (SCMA) working at the level of the enterprise network. These two agents are only active when the perturbation occurs. Otherwise, the VENs process the flow of information alone.With this new approach, managing enterprise network becomes much more transparent and looks like managing a simple enterprise in the network. The use of a Multi-Agent System (MAS) allows physical distribution of the decisional system, and procures a heterarchical organization structure with a decentralized control that guaranties the autonomy of each entity and the flexibility of the network.