First works related to the concept of communicating material: Process of dissemination of product information.

Summary For many years, several communities such as IMS (Intelligent Manufacturing Systems), HMS (Holonic Manufacturing System) have suggested the use of intelligent products to make systems adaptable and adaptive and have shown the benefits that can be achieved, both at the economic level, in terms of product traceability, information sharing or optimization of manufacturing processes. However, a large number of questions remain open, such as the collection of product-related information, its storage throughout the supply chain, and the dissemination and management of this information throughout its life cycle. The contribution of this thesis consists in the definition of a framework for the dissemination of product information during the whole life cycle. This dissemination framework is associated with a new paradigm that radically changes the way of seeing the product and the material. This new concept consists in giving the product the ability to be intrinsically and integrally "communicating". The proposed information dissemination framework offers the possibility to the user to embed information sensitive to the context of use of the communicating product. In addition to the definition of the information dissemination process, this thesis offers an overview of the research fields, both scientific and technological, to be investigated in the future concerning the concept of "communicating matter".