Smart Warehouse Management System: Architecture, Real-Time Implementation and Prototype Design

Abstract

The world has witnessed the digital transformation and Industry 4.0 technologies in the past decade. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of automation and digitalization in certain areas of the manufacturing industry; in particular, warehouse automation often has challenges in design and successful deployment. The effective management of the warehouse and inventory plays a pivotal role in the supply chain and production. In the literature, different architectures of Warehouse Management Systems (WMSs) and automation techniques have been proposed, but most of those have focused only on particular sections of warehouses and have lacked successful deployment. To achieve the goal of process automation, we propose an Internet-of-Things (IoT)-based architecture for real-time warehouse management by dividing the warehouse into multiple domains. Architecture viewpoints were used to present models based on the context diagram, functional view, and operational view specifically catering to the needs of the stakeholders. In addition, we present a generic IoT-based prototype system that enables efficient data collection and transmission in the proposed architecture. Finally, the developed IoT-based solution was deployed in the warehouse of a textile factory for validation testing, and the results are discussed. A comparison of the key performance parameters such as system resilience, efficiency, and latency rate showed the effectiveness of our proposed IoT-based WMS architecture.

Benefícios e desafios da mudança de um warehouse management

“…A armazenagem, por ser primordial no processo logístico de uma organização, demanda um gerenciamento moderno. Nesse contexto, a utilização de sistemas e processos aplicados à movimentação e estocagem é fundamental, rompendo a visão tradicional de que um armazém seja simplesmente um local para guardar produtos (ARBACHE, 2015;KHAN;HUDA;ZAMAN, 2022;RAMAA;SUBRAMANYA;RANGASWAMY, 2012).…”

“…Os armazéns e centros de distribuição já foram tidos como uma parte das empresas que raramente adicionavam valor e geravam altos custos. Porém, o fenômeno da globalização, que fez com que muitas empresas transferissem as suas plantas fabris para países onde os custos eram menores, bem como o crescimento do e-commerce e aumento da exigência por eficiência e qualidade de atendimento fizeram com que os armazéns passassem a serem vistos como um elo vital dentro da cadeia de suprimentos (KHAN; HUDA; ZAMAN, 2022;PAOLESCHI, 2019;RAMAA;SUBRAMANYA;RANGASWAMY, 2012). As organizações passaram a perceber, portanto, que a atividade de armazenagem eficiente pode significar diferenciação competitiva e consequente crescimento na rentabilidade (RICHARDS, 2011).…”

“…Na busca por competitividade e eficiência, as empresas têm adotado, cada vez mais, a Tecnologia da Informação para melhor gerenciar a área logística e proporcionar um melhor atendimento ao cliente (ANDIYAPPILLAI, 2019;KHAN;HUDA;ZAMAN, 2022;MONTEIRO;BEZERRA, 2003). Os sistemas do gênero WMS (Warehouse Management Systems), segundo Monteiro e Bezerra (2003) podem proporcionar grande ganho de produtividade às atividades logísticas das organizações por meio da economia de tempo nas operações de estocagem, transporte, embarque e desembarque de mercadorias, e de controle de estoque.…”

An Efficient Approach to Investigate the Tradeoff between Double Handling and Needed Capacity in Automated Distribution Centers

“…At first, the location of the distribution center can be investigated [13]. Moreover, the smart warehouse management system plays a vital role [14]. In addition, the design of the system provides the greatest opportunity for enhancement.…”

Design of Automated Warehouse Storage Scheme in Crop Genebank

“…The Warehouse Management System (WMS) and Warehouse Control System (WCS) are the main software equipment in the automated crop genebank. The WMS provides a realtime view of the whole process of seeds storage, including input and output flow, inventory tracking, order management, etc [12]. It is connected to the Genebank information management system and should include four basic functional modules: Storage, Inventory, Distribution, and Statistics.…”