prof.dr.ir. Jan Fransoo

Bio

Jan C. Fransoo is Professor of Operations and Logistics Management at the School of Economics and Management of Tilburg University in Tilburg, the Netherlands. He has conducted research across a wide variety of domains and methodologies, all related to supply chain and operations management, and published extensively in many journals in operations management, operations research, industrial engineering, and transportation. He currently serves as Associate Editor of Operations Research, and Production and Operations Management. In recent years, his research has mainly focused on retail operations in developing countries and other emerging markets. Much of this research is conducted in collaboration with Consumer Packaged Goods companies, technology startups, and intergovernmental agencies such as the World Bank and the Interamerican Development Bank. Apart from this line of research, he also has active research lines on omnichannel retail, intermodal transportation, and urban logistics.

Expertise

Professor Fransoo conducts both model-based and empirical quantitative research. His current research studies in particular the operations and supply chains of the 50 million mom-and-pop stores (which he denoted as "nanostores") that serve much of the population in the developing world. His book "Reaching 50 million nanostores" is the first extensive study documenting this very large retail channel. Furthermore, he currently also studies omnichannel grocery retail, hinterland container supply chains, and urban logistics.

In his prior work, he has studied inventory, production planning and transportation models. He holds particular domain expertise of the grocery retail, chemical, pharmaceutical, and consumer packaged goods (FMCG) industries.

Professor Fransoo frequently appears in Dutch, German, Belgian, and international media to inform the general public and comment on current affairs related to his expertise. 

Teaching

At Tilburg, Professor Fransoo teaches on conducting model-based research in operations and supply chain management, in the CentER PhD Program. In the supply chain management Master program, he lectures as part of the course "Sustainable Supply Chains".  In the International Business Administration Bachelor program, he lectures as part of the course "Global Sustainable Leadership".

Furthermore, he teaches in multiple executive education programs at TIAS and other business and engineering schools.

Courses

• Adv.Top.in Inform. Mgt & SCM (CentER)
• Model-based Research in Management
• Collab. in SCM and Adv. Topics (Spring)

Collaboration

In his research, Professor Fransoo extensively collaborates with companies and other stakeholders in the field. These include Consumer Packaged Goods Manufacturers like ABInbev and Grupo Bimbo, technology startups like Uturn and TiendaPago, logistics companies like Den Hartogh Logistics, intergovernmental organizations like the World Bank and the Interamerican Development Bank.

In 2021, he led a team of supply chain and operations academics and professionals to assist the national Covid-19 vaccination program in the Netherlands.

Highlights

Prior to joining Tilburg University, Professor Fransoo was on the faculty at Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands, where he still holds a visiting position, and at Kuehne Logistics University in Hamburg, Germany. Professor Fransoo is currently further affiliated to the Center for Transportation and Logistics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, USA.

Within the Netherlands, Professor Fransoo was a co-founder of Dinalog, the Dutch Institute for Advanced Logistics, and was for over 10 years one of the key policy makers for the national research and innovation agendas for logistics and supply chain management.

Top publications

1. Improving agility, adaptability, alignment, accessibility, and afford…

   Escamilla Gonzalez Aragon, R., Fransoo, J. C., & Tang, C. S. (2021). Improving agility, adaptability, alignment, accessibility, and affordability in nanostore supply chains. Production and Operations Management, 30(3), 676-688.

2. Supplying to mom and pop: traditional retail channel selection in meg…

   Ge, J., Honhon, D., Fransoo, J. C., & Zhao, L. (2021). Supplying to mom and pop: traditional retail channel selection in megacities. M&SOM-Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 23(1), 19-35.

3. Reaching 50 Million Nanostores - Retail Distribution in Emerging Mega…

   Fransoo, J. C. (Ed.), Blanco, E. E., & Mejia Argueta, C. (2017). Reaching 50 Million Nanostores: Retail Distribution in Emerging Megacities. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

4. Shipping to heterogeneous customers with competing carriers

   Lu, T., Chen, Y.-J., Fransoo, J. C., & Lee, C.-Y. (2020). Shipping to heterogeneous customers with competing carriers. M&SOM-Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 22(4), 850-867.

5. Realizing supply chain agility under time pressure: Ad hoc supply cha…

   Mueller, J., Hoberg, K., & Fransoo, J. C. (2023). Realizing supply chain agility under time pressure: Ad hoc supply chains during the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Operations Management, 69(3), 426-449.