Designing and managing agile wood supply systems to maximize value-extraction from procurement areas in Canadian forests

木材供应系统（WSS）是由商业实体（企业家，米尔斯，公共利益相关者，客户.），规划过程和协调机制组成的复杂结构。它们产生信息、物质和资金流动。WSS的范围涵盖从商业林分的采购（即收购和采伐）到需求地点（米尔斯）的交付。WSS被迫适应需求方的不确定性，以及供应方的数量和原材料特性缺乏可预测性。经理们希望供应具有灵活性，但仍不愿承担风险。他们希望WSS在各个方面的变化，如成本和收获地点，物种组合，使用给定物种，大小和质量的木材的工厂能力。开发一个能够满足这些期望的物流系统需要探索敏捷性特征和推动因素。敏捷性是有代价的，它不应该被看作是一个目标，而是一种提高系统性能的手段。因此，WSS必须具有足够的灵活性，以科普和适应不可预测因素造成的不确定性，并减轻其对收获可持续性的影响。这就需要实施先进的协作生产规划和调度系统，并明确关注战略问题。基于我现有研究的坚实基础，拟议的计划将侧重于应用系统工程方法，以实现加拿大森林运营背景下敏捷水平和运营环境之间的一致性。* 拟议计划的长期目标是制定一个连贯的规划和协调框架，将协作结构与相互关联的森林规划优化模型相结合。将实现三个具体目标：1）提出并评估供应规划流程，以概述开发敏捷WSS的一系列选项，并构建一个能够评估每个选项长期影响的平台; 2）开发一种方法，以减少WSS对供应不可预测性和市场条件不确定性的脆弱性，并确定最佳的敏捷性水平;以及3）确定与工业4.0范式相关的能力，这些能力可以解决WSS共享操作中确定的协作障碍。*该计划将有助于培训三名HQP（2名博士，1名硕士）。在自然资源的运筹学方法的开发和应用方面具有高级学位的学生可以期待良好的职业机会。

Wood Supply Systems (WSSs) are complex structures composed of business entities (entrepreneurs, mills, public stakeholders, clients…), planning processes, and coordination mechanisms. They generate information, material and financial flows. The scope of WSS spans from procurement (i.e. acquisition and harvesting) from commercial forest stands to delivery at demand sites (mills). WSSs are compelled to adapt to uncertainty on the demand side, and the lack of predictability of volumes and raw material characteristics on the supply side. Managers want flexibility in supply but remain risk averse. They want WSSs that are robust to variations in aspects such as the cost and location of harvest, species mix, mill capacity to use wood of given species, size, and quality. The development of a logistics system that can meet these expectations requires exploring agility characteristics and enablers. There is a cost to agility, and it must not be seen as an objective but as a means to system performance. Thus, the WSSs must have the adequate level of agility to cope and adapt to the uncertainty caused by unpredictable aspects, and mitigate their impact on harvest sustainability. This requires the implementation of advanced systems for collaborative production planning and scheduling with a clear concern for strategic issues. Based on the solid foundation of my existing research, the proposed program will therefore focus on applying systems engineering approaches to achieve concordance between agility levels and operational environment in the Canadian forest operations context. ***The long-term objective of the proposed program is to develop a coherent planning and coordination framework that combines collaboration structures with interconnected forest planning optimization models. Three specific objectives are to be achieved: 1) Propose and assess supply planning processes to outline the array of options for developing agile WSS, and to construct a platform capable of evaluating the long-term impact of each option; 2) Develop a methodology to reduce the vulnerability of the WSS to unpredictability in supply and to uncertainty in market conditions, and identify the optimal level of agility; and 3) identify capacities associated with Industry 4.0 paradigm that could resolve collaboration roadblocks identified in WSS shared operations.***This program will contribute to the training of three HQPs (2 PhD, 1 MSc). Students with advanced degree in the development and application of operations research methods in natural resources can expect excellent career opportunities.