MSc Industrial Engineering
Agile Factory Management (I-ENG AFM)

This specialism is no longer available after the 2024-25 year.

Programme Objectives

This specialism in Industrial Engineering develops skills for agile factory management based on operational research methods and production management approaches, such as lean, adaptive and reactive management. Fundamental approaches for factory design and simulation will be introduced as well as performance assessment. At the conclusion of the course, students should be able to model and simulate production systems, to optimize production systems control strategies and to apply new assessment methods based on simulation and optimization approaches, taking into consideration different kinds of indicators (environmental, social, economical) related to agile factories.

The programme of study lasts two academic years - denoted by M1 and M2 and is taught in English. It comprises three study semesters followed by a paid Master's thesis / internship in the final semester.

Our Master's programmes in Industrial Engineering are fully accredited by the French Ministry of Higher Education and Research.

See our other Master's programmes in Industrial Engineering

Contribution to sustainable development goals

Learn more about Centrale Nantes' commitment to the 17 sustainable development goals

Course Content

30 ECTS Credits per semester.
Language of instruction: English
 

M1 Year - 2024/25

M1 Year - 2024/25

Autumn Semester Course	ECTS	Spring Semester Course	ECTS
Statistics and Data Analysis	4	Operations Research	4
Enterprise Modelling	4	Innovation Engineering	4
Introduction to Optimization Methods	4	Introduction to Research	4
Production Management	4	Enterprise 4.0 Processes	4
Discrete-event Simulation	4	Project Management	4
Financial and Economic Aspects for Industrial Engineering	4	Introduction to Information Systems	4
Basics of Computer Science and Mathematics	4	Strategic Management of Sustainable Enterprise	4
Modern Languages *	2	Modern Languages *	2

* 'French as a Foreign language' except for French native speakers who will study 'Cultural and Communicational English' or Spanish (depending on sufficient demand).

NB Course content may be subject to minor changes

M2 Year - 2025/26

M2 Year - 2025/26

Autumn semester course	ECTS
SCM	4
Shopfloor Scheduling	4
Sustainable Manufacturing	4
Integrated design and implementation of CPPS	4
Artificial Intelligence for decision-making in industrial engineering	4
Multi-criteria decision making and decision support	4
Project and Conferences	4
Modern languages *	2

* 'French as a Foreign language' except for French native speakers who will study 'Cultural and Communicational English' or Spanish (depending on sufficient demand).
NB Course content may be subject to minor changes

 

M2 Year - 2025/26

Spring Semester	ECTS
Master thesis / internship	30

Master thesis / internship

Examples of previous internships in industry:

• Employee experience and engagement - Danone (France)
• Price forecasting - Michelin (France)
• Supply chain management - L’Oréal (France), ArcelorMittal (France), Nike (Belgium), Ariane Groupe (France), New Look Marine Services (Dubaï)
• Lean Manufacturing - Louis Vuitton (Spain), PSA (France), Aribus (Nantes)
• Data Scientist - Georges Renault (France), Amazon (Luxembourg), Tdf (France)
• ERP configuration/migration  - Mansa Sugar (Zambia), Imerys (France)
• Project Manager - DXC Technology (France), L’Oréal (France)
• Product innovation – Huawei (France), Assystem (France), Pernod Ricard (France), Thedush Robotics (India)

Examples of previous internships in research labs:

• Reducing mental-load on assembly lines: augmented reality contribution, LS2N, Nantes
• Interoperability between MES and ERP, LS2N, Nantes
• Management of a fleet of AGV, CRAN, Nancy, France

NB Internships undertaken in France are strictly regulated and are only open to current full-time students of an accredited educational institution. Interns are entitled to all the rights guaranteed to regular employees (such as social protection and redress mechanisms). For internships that exceed two months in duration a minimum level of remuneration is set by the government, at approximately €600 per month. In some professional branches, this amount may be higher.

Skills developed

• Master modeling and simulation of production systems
• Master optimisation methods for production system control
• Master the new concepts and performance indicators of the smart and agile factory

In addition to the above specialism-specific skills, students will also develop more general skills:
 

• Identify models, perform simulation and analyse results
• Communicate comprehensive results in a meaningful way
• Undertake bibliographic surveys of international research and professional literature
• Manage or be part of a project

Download syllabus | Industrial Engineering - Agile Factory Management

• M1 Year
• M2 Year

Facilities and Partnerships

Faculty and Research Facilities

This Industrial Engineering programme relies on the Centrale Nantes’ faculty, staff and research facilities of the LS2N Research Institute and other faculty members from University of Nantes as well as external speakers from industry.

Focus on unique resources

Smart Factory Platform

This smart platform offers everything that we could expect from a production system: it is modular, reconfigurable, agile and flexible. It demonstrates the modern concepts of the industry of the future, integrating diversity management, total production traceability and detailed quality monitoring. - Emeritus Professor Alain Bernard

Learn more

Flexible assembly lines

This experimental platform located on the IUT campus in Carquefou comprises two separate assembly lines and is part of a production unit for research and teaching purposes that includes a Cartesian robot rack and opto-guided conveyors for loading/unloading workstations

Learn more (in French)
 

After the MSc

Pursue your studies

• PhD opportunities at Centrale Nantes - the programme is supported by the Laboratory of Digital Sciences of Nantes - UMR CNRS 6597; ED SIS)
• PhD studies possible anywhere in Europe (international recognition of the master's degree)

Examples of job opportunities:

• Continuous improvement manager
• Consultant in manufacturing digitalisation
• Product owner
• Data analyst in manufacturing

Companies that hired our recent graduates:

• Capgemini
• Michelin
• Accenture
• Dassault Systems
• Expeleo

Where are they now?

Find out what our recent MSc graduates are doing now