SCAN Agile and Digital Collaborative Systems

IMT Mines Albi and SCALIAN have initiated in the fall of 2019, a joint research laboratory called SCAN for Agile and Digital Collaborative Systems (Systèmes de Collaborations Agiles et Numériques). This laboratory aims to provide business leaders with the keys to improve the agility and resilience of their supply chains by better addressing the risks and opportunities to which their activity is subject.

For 30 years, SCALIAN, a consulting firm in management and digital transformation, has been involved in many key programmes of the major names in the aerospace, energy, transport and defence industries. The firm operates in three areas:

• digital transformation
• development of digital solutions
• industrial performance

In this context, it addresses issues related to the management of their supply chains. These vast networks, which encompass all the players and operations involved in the design, production and distribution of a product or service, contain a wealth of information. Knowing how to use this information and how to convey it contextually to the leaders and players of a business constitutes a lever for the performance of industries.

Digital technologies, including AI considerably increase the potential for improvement. They bring the prospect of a more efficient organization of the manufacturing means, in industry 4.0.

SCAN joint laboratory is one of the flagship projects of the Laboratoire International Associé « Sentient Immersive Response Networks Lab (SIReN Lab) » that exists between Georgia Tech (USA) and IMT Mines Albi. This structure develops and experiments sensory and immersive decision support systems for networks of collaborative organizations. It is particularly interested in the capacity of these networks to organize themselves to meet effectively a need, whether of a commercial or societal nature. The objective is to immerse all the players in these networks in a common decision-making environment allowing them to combine their capacities to respond more effectively to a complex and potentially disrupted situation.

Ultimately, the Associated International laboratory aims to make the most of the new technologies available today (virtual reality, decision-making cockpit and control tower, augmented reality, serious multiplayer games, interactive dashboards, etc.) in
order to improve the effectiveness, efficiency and agility of organizational networks. It is notably relying on the IOMEGA VR platform located in the premises of IMT Mines Albi.