Business Analytics & Supply Chain Management

Research activities in Business Analytics (BA) and Supply Chain Management (SCM) focus on the analysis of data collected through a wide range of sources and on decision-making based on the analysis of this data and on the techniques optimization, with the aim of enabling companies and organizations to improve the quality of their services and their organizational efficiency, more particularly in the context of supply chains and logistics management.

The main areas of expertise are therefore the use and development of analytical methods to highlight critical information for companies and to predict future situations thanks to these tools (statistical and data mining methods: non-parametric regression, censored data analysis, discrete choice models, machine learning, natural language processing, pattern recognition, etc.), to make recommendations to companies (operations research methods: mathematical modeling, stochastic programming, combinatorial optimization , exact and heuristic approaches, discrete mathematics, simulation and digital twins...).

SCM is a major field of application of these analytical methods, and these subjects are frequently associated in the so-called "industrial engineering" departments of many foreign universities. BA & SCM research includes: design and coordination of supply chains and intermodal transport networks; production, distribution and transportation planning; transport and loading of vehicles; transport pricing and revenue management; reducing energy consumption and polluting emissions; health care operations management; portfolio optimization and stock market forecasts; grouping and question-and-answer systems; methodological developments in areas of expertise.

At HEC Liège, the management engineering course program is strongly associated with our area of ​​research through common core courses, mainly based on analytical methods, and the two areas of specialization "SCM and BA" and " Digital Business". The Master in Management Sciences also benefits from research in BA & SCM through courses in quantitative methods in the common core and the specialization in "Global Supply Chain Management". 

Our goal is to transfer our skills and internationally recognized research and expertise to our local community and international partners. BA & SCM researchers perform basic and applied research. They have many collaborations with the public and private sectors. It is both a need, for data and knowledge, and an objective. In the same spirit, we promote partnerships with companies through chairs and funding for doctorates; for example based on the Digital Lab platform.

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