Multi-agent System Applications in the Forest Products Industry

15 J-FOR Journal of Science & Technology for Forest Products and Processes: VOL.1, NO.2, 2011 Agent-based technology and its applications in multi-agent systems are a set of tools used in many sectors, including manufacturing, services, logistics, and health care, to model and study the dynamics, resilience, and self-organization of complex systems, as well as to design prescriptive decision support systems. Agent-based technology encompasses various techniques from distributed artificial intelligence and is sometime used in conjunction with operations research to model and simulate how system components behave and interact. These techniques are also used to assess the impact of regulations and organizational constraints on the ability of systems to self-organize and adapt to changes. Because this technology can model a wide range of behaviours, including reactive, proactive/planning, and learning, as well as interaction mechanisms such as competition and collaboration, agent-based technology has been used in many applications in the forest sector and the forest products industry, ranging from ecosystem simulation, territorial planning, fire management, and operations management to supply chain management. This paper proposes a survey of these applications and identifies how agent technology is used to develop advanced tools to achieve a better understanding of the biological, social, and economic dynamics of forest ecosystems, as well as to improve decision-making in territorial planning, land use, and production and transportation operations management. JEAN-MARC FRAYRET MULTI-AGENT SYSTEM APPLICATIONS IN THE FOREST PRODUCTS INDUSTRY