Ahead of singles day, JD.com has announced that its logistics park in Beijing, China, is now using 5G for operations. The smart logistics park aligns with JD Logistics’ industrial IoT (IIoT) strategy, which will see the company apply 5G at all its logistics parks to enable enhanced communication.
The bandwidth offered by 5G will enable JD to dramatically increase the efficiency of its IIoT fulfillment capacities at its Beijing center, facilitating instantaneous communication between employees and smart machines while enabling holistic monitoring of the site’s operations.
The facility’s newly implemented monitoring system will detect and analyze any problems occurring in the warehouse in real time. It will also enable real-time monitoring of location and routes for forklifts and provide alerts if something abnormal arises.
The 5G system will also greatly improve the efficiency of operations in the facility through smart parking, which guides incoming vehicles to the most appropriate parking space or docking bay, and the digital docking bay, which can do real-time monitoring of truck loading and uploading goods.
“The launch of JD’s 5G-powered smart logistics park in Beijing is an exciting step in the realization of the IIoT at scale,” said Wenming Zhe, chief architect of logistics R&D and head of 5G-powered smart logistics park projects at JD Logistics. “The low latency, high speed and ability to support a broad spectrum of simultaneous connections provided by 5G networks creates an unprecedented level of real-time connectivity, significantly improving the efficiency of JD’s fulfillment operations, which is key to providing the best customer service in the business.”