BEM

The goal of the BEM project is to develop and validate a new IT approach to manage events in the transport and distribution sectors, with a special focus on managing unexpected events.

Project objectives

The goal of the BEM project is to develop and validate a new IT approach to manage events in the transport and distribution sectors. The focus is on managing unexpected events, as they can sometimes deeply affect physical and organizational flows, and a re-optimization is required to bring the system back to normal operation.

Flux management systems are among the solutions commonly found on the IT market, and notably include process management engines as well as graphical editors. These engines all have their limitations:

They are unable to coordinate, activate and synchronize processes.
They are unable to manage situations that do not match the defined flux model they are processing, which leaves the engine without a solution, in the event that normal operation is no longer possible.
They are incapable of bringing the engine back to normal operation after an unexpected event. Ideally, doing so would follow an optimal path towards that state.

The goal of BEM is to propose a process management solution built on top of state-of-the-art artificial intelligence engines, and give them temporal coordination capabilities. With this innovation, BEM aims to minimize the negative consequences of incidents and simplify the implementation of a flux management solution. The BEM industrial case study involves Trendy Foods, a Belgian leader in food distribution for convenience stores.

Project results

CETIC produced an initial analysis of the Trendy Foods logistics platform, including a set of concrete exceptional situations. A Goal-Oriented Requirements Engineering (GORE) analysis of the project has been led, using the KAOS approach and the Objectiver tool for requirements engineering. CETIC is also developing a methodology to involve keys actors of a given organization in the definition of their work and organizational flows.

CETIC is also involved in the specification of the logistical chain management tool. Its key part is an engine incorporating:

An event-based process management solution, with temporal coordination capabilities,
A description of its logistical process, written in the form of business-specific logical rules,
A classification of states designed to automate the management of exceptional events, and the elaboration of an optimal path to achieve stability in those states.

Project Added-value for Businesses

The BEM solution will notably provide enterprises with:

The minimization of the detrimental fallouts resulting from accidents,
A simplified, affordable yet optimized implementation of intelligent workflow management to solve complex and unexpected situations.