Introduction
Auxiliary warehouse is a special warehouse next to the production line or workshop/unit of the smart factory. The construction of auxiliary warehouses has become a core facility for component management and supply in smart factories, urgently needing active promotion and widespread adoption. The efficiency and precision of component supply in factories will directly affect the efficiency and quality of smart manufacturing. Traditional manufacturing factories mostly rely on manual methods for logistics operations, which cannot meet the efficiency and quality requirements for component supply in smart manufacturing. Therefore, the construction of auxiliary smart warehouses has become a key facility to support the smooth operation of smart factories, ensuring efficient, high-quality, and low-cost manufacturing for multi-batch mass customization production. IEEE Std 3145™-2024 helps accumulate the development of auxiliary smart warehouses, and its cover is shown in Figure 1.
Overview of the Standard
The purpose of this standard is to support the standardized design and construction of auxiliary warehouses in a smart factory setting with discrete manufacturing. Standardized auxiliary warehouses can play an important role in increasing the efficient operation of smart factories. In terms of scope, this standard defines general technical requirements of auxiliary warehouses in smart factories. The standard specifies technical requirements for facility, equipment, system, safety, and fault handling, as well as space layout and intelligent algorithm requirements.
Besides, the main technology or domain addressed by the standard is the systematic and general technical requirements for auxiliary warehouses, especially requirements for intelligent algorithms. Specifically, the standard normalizes space layout requirements, facility technical requirements, equipment technical requirements, intelligent algorithms requirements, system technical requirements, safety technical requirements, and technical requirements for fault handling of the auxiliary warehouse.
The standard is relevant to the industries with smart factories setting with discrete manufacturing. What is more, the case study method is adopted. Two case studies of the auxiliary warehouse in smart factories are considered: namely the communications industry and the automotive industry. Best practices with industry characterizations of these case studies are recorded and summarized corresponding to the content of the standard. The overview of the standard is shown in Figure 2.
Key Features and Benefits
From the theoretical perspective, current industry standards focus on smart factory construction, defining the configuration of basic intelligent production facilities in a smart factory. There is no standard for the definition and use of auxiliary warehouses in smart factories. A standard is needed to promote the transformation from manual warehouse operation to smart warehouse operation and thereby enabling improved smart factory operation efficiency. This standard helps fill this gap.
From the practical perspective, the standard can guide the construction and operation of general technical requirements for auxiliary warehouses. Therefore, it can provide a good reference for companies who attempt to build their smart factories setting with discrete manufacturing. In addition, auxiliary warehouses can help support the smooth operation of smart factories, ensuring efficient, high-quality, and low-cost manufacturing for multi-batch mass customization production. What is more, besides the general requirements in the text, the tailor-made practices of the communications industry and the automotive industry are provided.
Adoption and Impact
IEEE Std 3145™-2024 has risen the notice of many big-name companies such as Haier group, JD Logistics, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd, and Anshan Iron and Steel Group Co., Ltd after publishment.
These companies provided many constructive feedback to the Working Group and claimed that IEEE Std 3145™-2024 has played a good role in guiding them to complete the construction of smart factories. Many requirements such as intelligent algorithms requirements are adopted by them. Besides, the cases of the communications industry and the automotive industry in the Annex of the standard are all good examples, indicating that the standard is general and influential.
Future Developments
IEEE Std 3145™-2024 is an active standard now. Specifically, IEEE Std 3145™-2024 was published on 2024-10-25.
In the future, the IEEE Computer Society Smart Manufacturing Standards Committee (IEEE C/SM) will promote the application of the standard, and make the standard benefit more companies. Besides, the IEEE C/SM will commit to accumulating the practice experience and help improve the future update of the standard. (The public website of the IEEE C/SM is as follows: https://sagroups.ieee.org/smsc/).
The working group of IEEE Std 3145™-2024 has the following membership: Ansteel Group Co., Ltd., Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co., Ltd., COSCO Shipping Project Logistics Co., Ltd., Haier Internet of Clothing (Tianjin) Intelligent Ecological Research Institute, Hebei Hongyu Communication Equipment Co., Ltd., Hebei Huatong Wires & Cables Group Co., Ltd., Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., JD Logistics, KSEC Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd., RRS Supply Chain Technology Co., Ltd., Shandong Chambroad Logistics Co., Ltd., Shenzhen SF Taisen Holdings (Group) Inc., Tianjin University, Thinkgo IOT Technology Co., Ltd. We thank them for their great efforts, and sincerely hope more companies can participate in our working group for future update of the standard.
Conclusion
IEEE Std 3145™-2024 supports the standardized design and construction of auxiliary warehouses in a smart factory setting with discrete manufacturing. The key aspects of the standard include general technical requirements for auxiliary warehouses, such as space layout requirements, facility technical requirements, equipment technical requirements, intelligent algorithms requirements, system technical requirements, safety technical requirements, and technical requirements for fault handling of the auxiliary warehouse.
The standard can guide the construction and operation of general technical requirements for auxiliary warehouses. Therefore, it can provide a good reference for companies who attempt to build their smart factories setting with discrete manufacturing. Because, auxiliary warehouses can help support the smooth operation of smart factories, ensuring efficient, high-quality, and low-cost manufacturing for multi-batch mass customization production. What is more, besides the general requirements in the text, the tailor-made practices of the communications industry and the automotive industry are provided as well in the Annex of the standard, which are very practicable.
The readers can refer to this standard, which can help them construct their smart factories in practice. Besides, we sincerely hope more companies can participate in our working group for future update of the standard. We will appreciate it a lot for your valuable suggestions and/or participation in the future. The link for the full text is as follows:
https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/10735144
Disclaimer: The authors are completely responsible for the content of this article. The opinions expressed are their own and do not represent IEEE’s position nor that of the Computer Society nor its Leadership.
