What information technologies do modern logistics enterprises need?

Logistics information technology is the comprehensive application of modern information technology in all aspects of logistics. It is the fundamental sign that modern logistics is different from traditional logistics, and it is also the fastest-growing field of logistics technology, especially the extensive application of computer network technology, which makes logistics information technology reach a higher application level. As an important part of modern information technology, logistics information technology essentially belongs to the category of information technology, but its basic elements are still the same as modern information technology, which can be divided into four levels: 1. The basic technology of logistics information, that is, the manufacturing technology of related parts and devices, is the basis of the whole information technology. Such as microelectronics, photonics, optoelectronics and molecular electronics. 2. Logistics information system technology, that is, the technology of equipment and systems related to the acquisition, transmission, processing and control of logistics information, is based on basic information technology and is the core of the whole information technology. Its contents mainly include logistics information acquisition technology, logistics information transmission technology, logistics information processing technology and logistics information control technology. 3. Logistics information application technology refers to all kinds of logistics automation equipment and logistics information management systems designed based on management information system (MIS) technology, optimization technology and computer integrated manufacturing system (CIMS) technology, such as automatic sorting and transmission equipment, automatic guided vehicle (AGV), automatic container handling equipment, warehouse management system (WMS), transportation management system (TMS), distribution optimization system and global positioning system (GPS). 4. Logistics information security technology, that is, the technology to ensure logistics information security, mainly includes password technology, firewall technology, virus prevention technology, identity authentication technology, access control technology, backup recovery technology and database security technology. Second, the application status of China's logistics information technology In China, various logistics information application technologies have been widely used in all aspects of logistics activities, which have had a far-reaching impact on the logistics activities of enterprises. 1. Application of logistics automation equipment technology The hot spot of integrated application of logistics automation equipment technology is the distribution center, which is characterized by many varieties, batches and quantities of items that need to be picked every day. Therefore, the distribution centers of domestic supermarkets, medicines, postal parcels and other industries have partially introduced logistics automatic sorting equipment. One is the automatic application of sorting equipment, such as the distribution center of Beijing Pharmaceutical Corporation, whose sorting shelves (trays) are equipped with visual sorting prompting equipment, which is connected with the logistics management information system to dynamically prompt the items and quantities to be selected, guide the staff to sort operations, and improve the accuracy and speed of goods sorting. The other is an automatic sorting device after goods are sorted. The identified articles (usually packaging and transportation units) are labeled with bar codes or electronic labels, which are sent to the sorting port by the conveyor belt, and then sorted by the sorting machine equipped with reading equipment, so that the articles enter their respective goods collection channels and complete the automatic sorting of the articles. Sorting equipment has been used in large distribution centers in China. But this kind of equipment and corresponding supporting software are basically imported from abroad, as well as imported foreign mechanical equipment and domestic configuration software. The three-dimensional warehouse and its roadway stacker have developed rapidly in China, and have been used in machinery manufacturing, automobile, textile, railway, cigarette and other industries. For example, the roadway stacker produced by Kunchuan Group has been used in many enterprises such as Honghe Cigarette Factory for many years. In recent years, the walking speed, noise, positioning accuracy and other technical indicators of domestic stackers have been greatly improved, and the operation is relatively stable. However, compared with well-known foreign manufacturers, there is still a big gap in some fine indexes of the stacker, such as the lowest limit height of the cargo space, the noise (above 80 m/s) during high-speed operation, and the motor deceleration performance. 2. Application of logistics equipment tracking and control technology At present, logistics equipment tracking mainly refers to tracking the transportation carrier of logistics and the location of items involved in logistics activities. There are many ways to track logistics equipment, including passive tracking by traditional communication means such as telephone and phased tracking by RFID, but at present, GPS technology is the most widely used in China. GPS technology tracking uses GPS logistics monitoring and management system, which mainly tracks the transportation of freight vehicles and goods, so that the owner and owner can know the position and state of vehicles and goods at any time, and ensure the effective monitoring and rapid operation of the whole logistics process. Logistics GPS monitoring and management system mainly includes GPS positioning equipment, tracking service platform (including geographic information system and corresponding software), information communication mechanism and other equipment (such as electronic labels or barcodes on goods, alarm devices, etc.). ) In China, some logistics enterprises are also using this technology in order to improve their management level and service ability to customers. For example, at the end of last year, local governments such as Shenyang asked their subordinate transportation departments to configure GPS equipment for operating buses, thus strengthening the supervision of operating buses. 3. The application of logistics dynamic information collection technology The globalization of enterprise competition, the shortening of product life cycle and the shortening of user delivery time all put forward higher requirements for the availability and controllability of logistics services, and the concept of real-time logistics was born. How to ensure the complete control of the logistics process, the application technology of logistics dynamic information collection is an essential element. Dynamic goods or moving carriers themselves have a lot of useful information, such as the name, quantity, weight, quality and place of origin of goods, or a series of information such as the name, brand, location and status of moving carriers (such as vehicles and ships). This information may be reused in logistics, so reading the information of dynamic goods or carriers correctly and quickly and using it can obviously improve the efficiency of logistics. Among the popular applications of logistics dynamic information collection technology, one-dimensional and two-dimensional bar code technology has the widest application range, followed by magnetic stripe (card), voice 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, spaces and corresponding numbers. This data code consisting of bars and spaces can be read by machine and easily translated into binary numbers and decimal numbers. Therefore, this technology is widely used in item information annotation. Due to the high recognition rate of non-polluting bar codes that meet the bar code specifications, one-dimensional bar codes combined with corresponding scanners can obviously improve the collection speed of item information. In addition, the bar code system is the earliest reading technology in China because of its low cost and simple operation, so it has a big market in China, and most supermarkets in China are using one-dimensional bar code technology. But the data represented by one-dimensional bar code is limited, and the distance for barcode scanner to read bar code information is also very close. Moreover, the readability of the defaced bar code is extremely poor, which limits its further popularization and application. At the same time, some other reading technologies with larger information storage capacity and better reading reliability began to appear. (2) Two-dimensional bar code technology: Because the information capacity of one-dimensional bar code is very small, for example, the bar code on a commodity can only accommodate a few or a dozen Arabic numerals or letters, and the detailed description of the commodity can only be provided by the database. Without a pre-established database, the use of one-dimensional bar codes is limited. For this reason, people invented a new coding system, which not only has the advantages of one-dimensional bar code, but also has the advantages of large information capacity (depending on the coding technology, the capacity is several times to dozens of times that of one-dimensional bar code, which can store personal natural information, fingerprints, photos and other information), high reliability (even if it is damaged by 50%, it can still read complete information), strong confidentiality and strong anti-counterfeiting. This is the two-dimensional bar code technology, which stores information in two-dimensional space in both horizontal and vertical directions. Two-dimensional bar code inherits the characteristics of one-dimensional bar code, and the bar code system is low in price, high in reading rate and convenient to use, so it has been applied in domestic management information systems such as banks and vehicles. (3) Magnetic stripe technology: The magnetic stripe (card) technology bonds the thin layers of iron oxide particles arranged in the direction with the resin in the form of paint, and sticks them to non-magnetic substrates such as paper or plastic. A magnetic stripe is essentially the same as a magnetic tape or disk used in a computer. It can be used to record letters, characters and numerical information. The advantage is that data can be read and written many times, and the data storage capacity can meet most requirements. Because of its strong adhesion, the device is widely used in many fields, such as credit cards, bank ATM cards, air tickets, bus tickets, ticketing cards, membership cards and so on. However, the anti-theft performance and storage capacity of magnetic stripe cards are far behind some new technologies, such as chip card technology. (4) Speech recognition technology: it is a technology that converts speech into text information through recognition. Its biggest feature is that it doesn't need to input information manually, and it is especially suitable for those who have to use their hands and feet to collect information or whose keyboard typing ability is not high. However, the biggest problem of speech recognition is the recognition rate, so it is difficult to apply it continuously and efficiently. At present, it is more suitable for occasions where phonetic symbols are concentrated and used repeatedly. (5) Visual recognition technology: Visual recognition system is an image analysis and recognition system, which can collect limited information of symbols, characters, numbers and other image contents. The application obstacle of visual recognition technology is also the recognition rate of some irregular or unclear images, and the data format is limited, so contact scanners are usually used for scanning. With the development of automation, vision technology will develop in a more precise and professional direction, and will be combined with other automatic identification technologies. (6) Contact smart card technology: Smart card is an information storage technology that embeds the integrated circuit core with processing ability and encryption storage function into a substrate with the same size as a credit card. The information in the chip can be read by touching the chip with a reader. Contact smart cards are characterized by independent operation and storage functions. In the passive situation, the data will not be lost, the data security and confidentiality are very good, and the cost is moderate. The combination of smart card and computer system can conveniently meet the needs of information collection, transmission, encryption and management, and it has been widely used in many fields at home and abroad, such as bank, highway toll, water meter and gas toll. (7) Portable data terminal: Portable data terminal (PDT) generally includes a scanner, a small but powerful computer, a monitor and a keyboard for manual input. Therefore, it is a multifunctional data acquisition device, and PDT is programmable, allowing some application software to be programmed. The data in PDT memory can be transmitted to the host at any time through radio frequency communication technology. (8) Video Identification (RFID): Radio frequency identification technology is a non-contact automatic identification technology realized by radio frequency communication. RFID tags have the characteristics of small size, large capacity, long service life and reusability, and can support fast reading and writing, non-visual recognition, mobile recognition, multi-target recognition, positioning and long-term tracking management. The combination of RFID technology with Internet, communication and other technologies can realize global tracking of commodities and information sharing. Judging from the application of the above logistics information application technology and the development trend of global logistics informatization, the application of logistics dynamic information collection technology is becoming a key research field in the world. As a developing logistics country, China has accumulated some experience in the application of logistics dynamic information collection technology, such as bar code technology and contact magnetic stripe (card) technology, but it is still backward in the research and application of some cutting-edge new technologies, such as RFID technology. Third, the development trend of logistics information technology 1. One of the trends: RFID will become a key technical expert in the future logistics field. According to analysis, the application of RFID technology in the logistics industry can greatly improve the efficiency of logistics management and operation and reduce the logistics cost. In addition, from the global development trend, with the continuous improvement and maturity of RFID related technologies, RFID industry will become a new high-tech industrial cluster and a new growth point of the national economy. Therefore, RFID technology is expected to become a new lubricant to promote the accelerated development of modern logistics. 2. Trend 2: Logistics dynamic information collection technology will become the breakthrough point of logistics development. Under the trend of global supply chain management, it has become a key factor for enterprises to grasp the dynamic information and quality information of goods in time. However, due to the influence of nature, weather, communication, technology and regulations, the development of logistics dynamic information collection technology has been greatly limited, which is far from meeting the needs of modern logistics development. It is the next technological breakthrough in the field of logistics to help new scientific and technological means and improve the dynamic information collection technology of logistics. 3. The third trend: logistics information security technology will be paid more and more attention. Logistics information technology developed with the help of network technology. While enjoying the great benefits brought by the rapid development of the network, it also suffers from possible security crises at all times, such as pervasive malicious attacks by network hackers, virus utilization, information leakage and so on. Applying security technology to ensure the safe and stable operation of enterprise logistics information system or platform is a major challenge that enterprises will face for a long time. /