Design of Military Logistics Management System
Based on Internet of Things Technology
Xue-jiang Wei 1, Jian-fei Feng 2, Shao-juan Feng 3, Yu-zhu Zhai 4
1, 2, 3
Public Acquisition Department, Wuhan Economics Academy, Wuhan, China
4
Wuhan Economics Academy, Wuhan, China
(15926403236@163.com)
Abstract - Since the capability of information collection,
information processing and information using is the
bottleneck of the development of military logistics, this
paper puts forward “three-layer architecture” of military
logistics management system based on Internet of Things
technology after analyzing the operation process of military
logistics, and introduces its functions which include demand
management, decision-making assistant, procurement
management, warehouse management, transportation &
distribution management.
Keywords - Internet of Things, Military Logistics,
Military Logistics Management System, RFID
I. INTRODUCTION
The ultimate objective of military logistics operation
is distributing military supplies to all combat troops
actively at the right time and places [1]. The achievement
of this objective is greatly influenced by the capability of
information collection,
information transmission,
information analyzing, information processing and
information using, which has been the bottleneck of the
development of military logistics [2]. This situation may be
changed by developing and applying Internet of Things
technology in military logistics. Based on the Internet of
Things technology, some appropriate objectives of
military logistics can be easily achieved by optimizing
military logistics operation process and constructing
military logistics management system [3] [4].
II. ANALYSIS OF MILITARY LOGISTICS
OPERATION PROCESS
The military logistics operation process can be
divided into three phases: demand applying, material
acquisition, transportation & distribution [5], as shown in
Fig. 1.
1) Demand applying: When combat troops need
some materials, they apply the demand including material
names, amounts, quality standards, deadlines and
destinations to military logistics command.
2) Material acquisition: When military logistics
command receives combat troops’ material demands, it
makes material acquisition decision promptly after
contracting demand with inventory. If the inventory is
enough, it will give an outing order to military depot;
otherwise it will give a material procurement mission to
military procurement agency which will purchase those
needed materials from suppliers.
Fig.1. Military logistics operation process
3) Transportation & distribution: During the period
of carrying out material acquisition mission, military
logistics command decides how to distribute the supplies.
If it is dangerous for civil logistics enterprise, military
logistics command will select military transportation
agency to transport the supplies; otherwise it will select
civil logistics enterprise. If the supplies are only
distributed to one place, they will be transported to the
destination directly; otherwise they will be transported to
distribution center firstly and be distributed to combat
troops by distribution center later.
III. DESIGN OF MILITARY LOGISTICS
MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
A. Objective of military logistics management system
Military logistics management system aims at
providing an information management platform to
military logistics command, military procurement agency,
military depot and military transportation agency, and
combining them with suppliers and logistics enterprises
by information flow. It also aims at achieving automatic
information collection, intelligent information processing,
scientific resource configuration and maximum support
efficiency by applying Internet of Things technology and
Geographic Information System (GIS).
B. Architecture of military logistics management
system
Architecture of military logistics management system
includes three layers: sensing layer, network layer and
application layer [6]-[11], as shown in Fig. 2.
situation of military logistics, the distribution of resources
and the condition of transportation.
2. Procurement management
Procurement management is provided to military
procurement agency, which includes supplier selection
and E-Procurement management [13].
1) Supplier selection: With the assistance of Geodatabase and GIS application support service, military
logistics management system searches those suppliers
which accord with demands intelligently following the
rules set by commander, and transforms the result into
report automatically.
2) E-procurement management: Through military
logistics management system, all material procurement
activities such as promulgating procurement information,
bidding, evaluating bids, contracting and payment can be
carried out online.
3. Warehouse management
Fig.2. Architecture of military logistics management system
C. Functions of military logistics management system
1. Military logistics decision-making assistant
Military logistics decision-making assistant is
provided to military logistics command, which includes
demand management, potential support capability
evaluation and decision-making assistant of material
support plan [12].
1) Demand management: After combat troops apply
material demands through internet or by Personal Digital
Assistant (PDA), military logistics management system
integrates these demands with same material and
destination automatically accorded with the common rule
and request of demand management by the assistance of
computers.
2) Potential support capability evaluation: When
receiving a supply mission, military logistics management
system analyzes the information provided by supplier
database, inventory database and transportation database
intelligently, and evaluates the potential support capability
provided by suppliers, military depots, military
transportation agencies and logistics enterprises
automatically by the assistance of GIS application support
service, cloud computing service and intelligent analysis
service.
3) Decision-making assistant of material support
plan: Based on the evaluation of potential support
capability, military logistics management system can
assist the commander to make decision after analyzing the
Warehouse management is provided to military
depot, which includes storage location assignment, outwarehouse and in-warehouse management, inventory
management, monitoring and control to warehouse’s
surroundings [14].
1) Storage location assignment: Military logistics
management system provides graphical interfaces to
users, and assigns storage location intelligently according
to the information of materials including deposit periods,
bulk & weight, destination and so on, in order to improve
the utilization ratio of storage location and speed of
inbound & outbound operation.
2) Out-warehouse & in-warehouse management:
Military logistics management system transmits outwarehouse & in-warehouse information through local area
network (LAN) of military rear depot, and collects
materials information automatically by using Radio
Frequency Identification technology (RFID).
3) Inventory management: Military logistics
management system provides graphical interface to users,
collects information and refreshes data automatically and
periodically, calculates the threshold value of inventory
with the assistance of intelligent analysis service, and
advises manager to apply for material while inventory is
under threshold value.
4) Monitoring and control of warehouse’s
surroundings: Military logistics management system will
give an alarm while incident happens such as in-break,
fire and leak of dangerous materials, sense the
temperature and humidity of warehouses and activate
adjustments automatically while temperature or humidity
is out of normal scope.
4. Transportation management
Transportation management is provided to military
transportation agency, which includes vehicle monitoring,
transportation planning and routing planning.
1) Vehicle monitoring: Military logistics management
system provides a graphical interface to users to monitor
vehicle on electronic map with the application of GPS and
the assistance of GPS support service.
2) Transportation planning: Military logistics
management system provides assistance to users to select
transportation mode and vehicles according to destination,
material type, material amount and material bulk &
weight.
3) Routing planning: Military logistics management
system gives advice about routing planning to
commander, and provides guidance to vehicles while
some selected routes are interrupted.
5. Distribution management
Distribution management is provided to distribution
center, which includes distribution planning and loading
planning [15].
1) Distribution planning: Distribution center may
distribute one batch materials to several combat troops
and demand included several types of materials which are
applied by one combat troop may be grouped in different
batches, so distribution planning is one of the most
important tasks of distribution center. Military logistics
management system provides assistance to distribution
center by making distribution plans automatically based
on contrasting received materials with combat troops’
demands.
2) Loading planning: Military logistics management
system makes loading decisions that include loading
orders and loading modes based on intelligent analysis
service.
6. Military logistics operations monitoring and
control
This function is provided to military logistics
command. Military logistics management system records
and reviews the operation process to the commander, so
the commander can adjust the plan while emergency
happens.
IV. CONCLUSION
Military logistics management system which is based
on Internet of Things aims at improving the capability of
information collection, information processing and
information using. Sensing layer provides functions of
information collection and collaborative information
processing; Network layer provides the function of
information transmitting just-in-time; Application layer
provides functions which include decision-making
assistant,
procurement
management,
warehouse
management, transportation management and distribution
management to each department of military logistics. To
achieve the objective, it needs not only to solve the
technical problems, but also to solve those problems such
as standardization of material code, network security and
maximization of economic benefit.
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