Cloud-based production logistics synchronisation service infrastructure for customised production processes

Under the customised production mode, the uncertainty of orders, resources, and processes cause the production system to inevitably be affected by various dynamics. In Industry 4.0 deployment, production logistics synchronisation (PLS) requires production systems to support synchronised operation among multiple units in the internet of things environment, thereby ensuring the optimal operation of the system. This means that enterprises need to dynamically optimise hardware/software resource configuration and execution plans for execution units. These all require a lot of capital and technology investment, which ordinary enterprises can hardly afford. Therefore, how to provide low-cost, high-quality flexible resources and synchronised decision support have become the two key challenges in achieving PLS. Then the cloud-based PLS service infrastructure (CPLSS) is proposed. The CPLSS is oriented towards the synchronised operation requirements of customised production systems and adopts an integrated service mode to provide reconfigurable hardware/software resources and synchronised decision support services for the resource service life cycle. A real-life case study of applying CPLSS solution in an air-conditioning industry has been conducted. The implementation results show that the proposed CPLSS solution can reduce operating costs and improve the efficiency of finished product warehousing.