Logistics information technology
concept
Logistics information technology is the comprehensive application of modern information technology in all aspects of logistics. It is the fundamental symbol of modern logistics distinguishing traditional logistics, and it is also the fastest growing field in logistics technology, especially the widespread application of computer network technology. The logistics information technology has reached a higher level of application.
classification
Used in information technology in all aspects of logistics. According to the functions and characteristics of logistics, logistics information technologies include computer technology, network technology, information classification and coding technology, bar code technology, radio frequency identification technology, electronic data exchange technology, global positioning system (GPS), geographic information system (GIS) and so on.
significance
Logistics information technology is an important symbol of logistics modernization, and it is also the fastest growing field in logistics technology. From the bar code system of data collection to the microcomputer, Internet, various terminal equipment and other hardware and computer software in the office automation system, it is constantly changing. development of. At the same time, with the continuous development of logistics information technology, a series of new logistics concepts and new logistics management methods have been created, which has promoted the transformation of logistics. In the aspect of supply chain management, the development of logistics information technology has also changed the way in which enterprise application supply chain management gains competitive advantage. Successful enterprises support its business strategy and select its business operations through the application of information technology. Through the use of information technology to improve the efficiency of supply chain activities, enhance the operational decision-making ability of the entire supply chain.
The composition of logistics information technology
Bar code technology
Barcode technology is an automatic identification technology that has been developed and developed in computer application practice. It provides us with a way to identify and describe the goods in the logistics. Bar code is the technical basis for realizing POS system, EDI, e-commerce and supply chain management. It is an important technical means for modernizing logistics management and improving enterprise management level and competitiveness.
EDI technology
EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) refers to the transmission and exchange of structured data using a computer network in a standardized format electronically. The three elements that make up the EDI system are EDI hardware and software, communication networks, and data standardization.
Radio frequency technology
Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a non-contact automatic identification technology that automatically identifies target objects through RF signals to obtain relevant data. The identification work can work in a variety of harsh environments without manual intervention. Short-range RF products are not afraid of harsh environments such as oil stains and dust pollution. They can replace bar codes, such as tracking objects on the assembly line of a factory. Long-range RF products are mostly used for transportation, and the recognition distance can reach several tens of meters, such as automatic charging or identification of vehicle identity.
GIS technology
GIS (Geographical Information System) is a product of multiple disciplines. It is based on geospatial data and uses geo-model analysis methods to provide a variety of spatial and dynamic geographic information in a timely manner. Computer technology systems for research and geographic decision making services. Its basic function is to convert tabular data (whether it comes from a database, spreadsheet file or directly into the program) into a geographic graphic display, then browse, manipulate and analyze the displayed results. It can range from intercontinental maps to very detailed block maps, showing population, sales, shipping routes and more.
GPS technology
Global Positioning System (GPS) has a full range of real-time 3D navigation and positioning capabilities in sea, land and air. In the field of logistics, GPS can be applied to vehicle self-positioning, tracking and scheduling, for railway transportation management, and for military logistics.
Management software
Logistics management software includes Transportation Management System (TMS), Warehouse Management System (WMS), Freight Forwarding Management System (FMS), and Supply Chain Management System (SCM).
Application status
In China, various logistics information application technologies have been widely used in all aspects of logistics activities, which have a profound impact on the logistics activities of enterprises.
Application of logistics automation equipment technology
The hot link of the integration and application of logistics automation equipment technology is the distribution center, which is characterized by many varieties of items to be picked every day, many batches and large quantities. Therefore, in the distribution centers of domestic supermarkets, medicines, postal parcels and other industries, logistics automatic picking equipment was introduced. One is the automation application of the sorting equipment, such as the distribution center of Beijing Pharmaceutical Corporation, and the sorting shelf (disc) is equipped with visual sorting reminding equipment, which is connected with the logistics management information system and dynamically prompts The selected items and quantity guide the picking operation of the staff and improve the accuracy and speed of the picking of the goods. The other is an automatic sorting device after picking items. Attached to the identified object (usually the transport unit after the package) by bar code or electronic tag, sent to the sorting port by the conveyor belt, and then sorted by the sorter equipped with the reading device to make the articles enter their respective The group cargo channel completes the automatic sorting of items. Sorting equipment is used in large domestic distribution centers. However, such equipment and corresponding supporting software are basically imported from abroad, but also imported foreign machinery and equipment, domestic configuration software. The three-dimensional warehouse and the matching roadway stacking machine are developing rapidly in China, and are applied in machinery manufacturing, automobile, textile, railway, cigarette and other industries.
Application of logistics equipment tracking and control technology
At present, the tracking of logistics equipment mainly refers to the tracking of the transportation carrier of the logistics and the location of the items involved in the logistics activities. There are many ways to track logistics equipment. It can be passively tracked by traditional means of communication, such as telephone. It can be staged by RFID. However, the most used in China is still using GPS technology to track. GPS technology tracking uses GPS logistics monitoring and management system, which mainly tracks the transportation situation of freight vehicles and goods, so that the owner and owner can know the location and status of vehicles and goods at any time, and ensure the effective monitoring and rapid operation of the entire logistics process. The composition of the logistics GPS monitoring and management system mainly includes the GPS positioning equipment on the transportation vehicle, the tracking service platform (including the geographic information system and corresponding software), the information communication mechanism and other equipment (such as electronic labels or barcodes on the goods, alarm devices, etc. ). In China, some logistics companies also apply this technology in order to improve the management level of their enterprises and enhance their service capabilities to customers.
Application of Logistics Dynamic Information Collection Technology
The globalization of enterprise competition, the shortening of product life cycle and the shortening of customer delivery time have put forward higher requirements for the availability and controllability of logistics services, and the real-time logistics concept was born. How to ensure complete control of the logistics process, logistics dynamic information collection and application technology is an essential element. The dynamic cargo or mobile carrier itself has a lot of useful information, such as the name, quantity, weight, quality, origin of the goods, or the name, grade, location, status, etc. of the mobile carrier (such as vehicles, ships, etc.). This information may be used repeatedly in the logistics, so correct and fast reading of the dynamic cargo or carrier information and utilization can significantly improve the efficiency of the logistics. In the current popular logistics dynamic information collection technology application, the first and second-dimensional bar code technology has the widest application range, followed by magnetic stripe (card), speech recognition, portable data terminal, radio frequency identification (RFID) and other technologies.
(1) One-dimensional bar code technology: One-dimensional bar code is composed of a set of regularly arranged bars and spaces, and corresponding numbers. This data encoding consisting of strips and spaces can be read by machines and can be easily translated into binary numbers. And decimal numbers. Therefore, this technique is widely used in the tagging of item information. Because the bar code specification and the non-fouling bar code have a high reading rate, the one-dimensional bar code combined with the corresponding scanner can significantly improve the collection speed of the item information. In addition, the bar code system has lower cost, simple operation, and is the earliest reading technology in China. Therefore, there is a large market in China, and most supermarkets in China use one-dimensional bar code technology. However, the data represented by the one-dimensional bar code is limited, and the distance of the barcode scanner for reading the bar code information is also very close, and the readability of the bar code on the bar code is extremely poor, so it limits its further promotion and application, and at the same time some other information storage capacity. Reading techniques that are larger and more reliable are beginning to emerge.
(2) Two-dimensional bar code technology: Since the information capacity of the one-dimensional bar code is very small, for example, the bar code on the commodity can only accommodate a few or more than a dozen Arabic numerals or letters, the detailed description of the product can only be provided by the database, leaving the advance The established database, the use of one-dimensional barcodes has been limited. For this reason, people have invented a new code system, in addition to the advantages of one-dimensional bar code, but also have a large information capacity (according to different coding techniques, the capacity is several times to several tens of times of one-dimensional, so that it can be stored Personal natural conditions and fingerprints, photos and other information), high reliability (can still read complete information in 50% of damage), and strong security and anti-counterfeiting. This is a two-dimensional bar code technique for storing information in two dimensions in the horizontal and vertical directions. The two-dimensional bar code inherits the characteristics of the one-dimensional bar code. The bar code system is cheap, has a high reading rate and is easy to use, so it is applied on management information systems such as domestic banks and vehicles.
(3) Magnetic strip technology: The magnetic strip (card) technique bonds a thin layer of oriented iron oxide particles in a coating form with a resin and adheres to a non-magnetic substrate such as paper or plastic. Magnetic strips are essentially the same as tapes or disks used in computers. They can be used to record letters, characters, and numbers. The advantage is that the data can be read and written multiple times, the data storage capacity can meet most needs, and the strong adhesion of the device makes it widely used in many fields, such as credit card, bank ATM card, air ticket, bus ticket, automatic Sales card, membership card, etc. However, the anti-theft performance and storage capacity of the magnetic stripe card are still different from some new technologies such as chip card technology.
(4) Voice recognition technology: It is a technology that converts into text information by recognizing sound. Its biggest feature is that it does not need to manually enter information. This is the work place where the data is collected and the hands and feet are used together, or the typing ability on the keyboard. Low people are especially suitable. However, the biggest problem with voice recognition is the recognition rate, which is difficult to apply continuously and efficiently. At present, it is more suitable for occasions where the volume of speech sentences is concentrated and repeatedly applied.
(5) Visual recognition technology: The visual recognition system is a kind of image collection and recognition system that can collect information on limited image characters such as logos, characters and numbers. The application of visual recognition technology is also a problem of recognition rate for some irregular or insufficiently clear images, and the data format is limited. It is usually scanned with a contact scanner. With the development of automation, the visual technology will be more detailed and professional. The direction is moving and will be combined with other automatic identification technologies.
(6) Contact smart card technology: A smart card is an information storage technology that embeds an integrated circuit core with processing capability and encrypted storage function in a substrate of the same size as a credit card, and can be read by touching the chip through the reader. Take the information from the chip. The contact smart card features independent computing and storage functions. In passive situations, data is not lost, data security and confidentiality are very good, and the cost is moderate. The combination of smart card and computer system can easily meet the needs of collecting, transmitting, encrypting and managing various kinds of information. It has been widely used in many fields at home and abroad such as banks, road tolls, and water meter gas charges.
(7) Portable data terminal: A portable data terminal (PDT) generally includes a scanner, a small but powerful computer with a memory, a display, and a keyboard for manual input. So it is a versatile data acquisition device, PDT is programmable, allowing for the application of some application software. The data in the PDT memory can be transferred to the host computer at any time via RF communication technology.
(8) Video recognition (RFID): Radio frequency identification technology is a non-contact automatic identification technology realized by radio frequency communication. RFID tags are small in size, large in capacity, long in life, and reusable. They support fast reading and writing, non-visual recognition, mobile recognition, multi-target recognition, positioning and long-term tracking management. RFID technology combined with technologies such as the Internet and communications enables global tracking and information sharing. From the application of the above-mentioned logistics information application technology and the development trend of global logistics informationization, the application of logistics dynamic information collection technology is becoming a key research field in the world. As a logistics developing country, China has accumulated certain experience in the application of logistics dynamic information collection technology. For example, the application of bar code technology and contact magnetic stripe (card) technology is very common, but in some new cutting-edge technologies, such as RFID. Research and application in areas such as technology are still relatively backward.
development trend
RFID will become a key technology in the future logistics field
Experts believe that RFID technology can be used in the logistics industry to significantly improve logistics management and operational efficiency and reduce logistics costs. In addition, from the perspective of global development trends, with the continuous improvement and maturity of RFID-related technologies, the RFID industry will become an emerging high-tech industrial cluster and become a new growth point for the national economy. Therefore, RFID technology is expected to become a new lubricant to accelerate the development of modern logistics.
Logistics dynamic information collection technology
Under the trend of global supply chain management, timely grasp of the dynamic information and quality information of goods has become a key factor for corporate profitability. However, due to the influence of nature, weather, communication, technology, regulations and other aspects, the development of logistics dynamic information collection technology has been greatly restricted, far from meeting the needs of modern logistics development. Relying on new scientific and technological means and improving logistics dynamic information collection technology, it has become the next technological breakthrough point in the field of logistics.
Logistics information security technology will be increasingly valued
With the help of network technology, logistics information technology, while enjoying the tremendous benefits brought by the rapid development of the network, is also suffering from security crises that may be suffered, such as malicious attacks by network hackers, virus looting, information leakage, etc. Wait. Applying security technology to ensure the safe and stable operation of the enterprise's logistics information system or platform is a major challenge for enterprises.