Information in intralogistics

Information describes the meaningful content of a message that is of value to the recipient. The recipient can be either a human or a machine. The information sent or received does not contain any irrelevant or redundant transmissions.

In the following, digital information that can be sent as data via a network, stored on data carriers and processed and output with computers and control systems or machines is of particular importance.

Information from goods receipt to goods issue

Goods are constantly on the move in intralogistics. Countless processes line the path of the goods from goods receipt to goods issue; information must be in the right place at the right time for intralogistics processes to run smoothly. The ability to network and process vast amounts of information means that process and warehouse systems can be linked and optimized. In logistical terms, this is referred to as “targeted information” that is actually required for the respective process.

In intralogistics, information is divided into two segments. On the one hand, there is the operational area with its production factor; on the other hand, there is the strategic area with the competitive factor, for example when considering ECREfficient Consumer Response.

In the future, information will also be provided to the industry via cloud computing, which in turn requires a rethink in practice: Future areas of application such as driverless transport systems (see also AGVs on TUP), sensor-actuator systems in factories, conveyor systems or the “smart” power grid require extremely low end-to-end response times, i.e. well under ten milliseconds, in addition to a high and stable bandwidth. Real-time applications, such as those being pushed in the tactile Internet, are kept locally in the distribution centers to avoid latencies.

Information in the future

Information and data will continue to influence logistics processes and control them “intelligently”. Information itself is constantly adapting to its technical environment, regardless of size, content, structure/formatting or the applications themselves. It is and remains the raw material for every industrial process. In the future, a company’s knowledge management (knowledge management based on accumulated know-how) in particular will benefit from the processing of individual pieces of information. This is also because it makes it possible to merge different databases with different ERP and warehouse management systems.

It will no longer just be about key figures in general. Trends, changes and new challenges will also be processed in more detail thanks to the data collected, making logistics more transparent for all trades involved. Of course, the latter inevitably leads to new technical challenges, including increased data protection measures.

More information is also available under master data.

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