The volatile and complex nature of military supply chains requires militaries to effectively monitor supplies and make timely decisions to ensure the success of combat operations, especially in the face of unexpected supply chain disruptions caused by severe weather and terrorist attacks. Although technologies such as frequency identification, next-generation wireless communications, and wireless networking protocols are used in the military supply chain, these technologies are not enough to guarantee end-to-end visibility of the entire supply chain. At the same time, digital technologies such as the Internet of Things, cloud computing, application programming interfaces, machine learning, augmented and virtual reality, big data, analytics, and pervasive computing play an important role in improving visibility and ensuring effective supply chain management. Therefore, the introduction of digital twin concepts through these technologies creates digital replicas of the entire supply chain, enabling full end-to-end visualization using real-time data to ensure effective tracking, monitoring and reporting of all supply chain activities. This report examines digital twin technology and its application to end-to-end visibility into the military supply chain, identifying digital twin tracking and monitoring capabilities that will enable the military to make timely adjustments in the event of unexpected supply chain disruptions, thereby improving supply chain management.
Keywords: digital twin, military supply chain, visualization, tracking, monitoring
The complex nature of the military supply chain (MSC) requires the military to effectively monitor supplies and make timely decisions to ensure the success of combat operations; This is especially important in the face of unexpected supply chain disruptions caused by severe weather and terrorist attacks, for example. This has forced military logistics planners to redesign supply networks to more proactively simulate, track and report on all supply chain activities. Thus, introducing the concept of end-to-end supply chain visibility can help supply chains become more transparent. To realize this concept, the military uses technologies such as radio frequency identification, next-generation wireless communications, and wireless networking protocols, however, cybersecurity issues, incomplete information displays, and other technical challenges make these technologies insufficient to guarantee effective end-to-end visualization. Visibility is important for the supply chain to help reduce theft or loss of goods, replace goods in transit, and build consumer confidence.
Recently, the introduction of digital twins has enhanced the visibility of the supply chain. This concept is enabled by multiple digital technologies, such as the Internet of Things, cloud computing, application programming interfaces (APIs), machine learning, augmented and virtual reality, and more. These technologies not only enhance supply chain visibility, but also provide real-time supply chain insights, giving logistics staff the confidence to control the supply chain from all sides. A supply chain digital twin is a model that shows the health of your supply network at any point in time, enabling end-to-end supply chain visibility and improving supply chain resilience and contingency plan availability. Scholars Husseini, Ivanov and Durki point out that digital twins can be used to monitor "transportation, inventory, demand and capacity" in supply chains, thereby empowering planning and timely decision-making.
In the military, digital twins stand out from emerging technologies due to their ability to generate cost-effective solutions and improve effectiveness and quality. Time is a key element of the military, and digital twins will help improve systems and support decision-makers to make quick judgments when needed.
This report aims to explore the applications and benefits of digital twin technology in the military supply chain. The report will explain which areas are already using digital twins and which require further attention in the future.
Existing technologies for military supply chain visualization
1. Frequency Emission Identification (RFID)
Frequency emission identification is a small tag with an integrated circuit chip and antenna that responds to radio waves emitted by frequency emission recognition readers, so as to realize the transmission, processing and storage of data. Frequency identification was first used during World War II, when radio waves were used to retrieve information stored in Allied tags to determine whether military aircraft were friends or foes. The technology is then used in other areas to automate product certification and merchandise tracking, addressing or reducing the negative impact of management errors or attacks on supply chain weaknesses. Frequency emission identification enables supply chain visualization through radio waves, identifying automatically tagged items at transportation nodes and ensuring that information is collected. The military uses frequency identification to locate and direct freight and automatically identify and locate logistics supplies. Take the 2001 conflict in Iraq, where, according to U.S. officials, information from satellites, frequency identification and other systems was a huge aid in asset tracking and visualization. The article "Application of General Technologies in Iran's Regional Military Logistics System" studies the application of frequency emission identification and other general technologies in the supply system of Iranian regional garrisons, and the results show that frequency identification and other technologies improve the information accuracy, speed and processing efficiency of the supply system. However, the article "The Strategic Value of Frequency Emission Identification in Supply Chain Management" points out that the challenges of adopting frequency emission identification include technical risks, barcode popularization and privacy. Other challenges include technology, patency, infrastructure issues and the conversion of barcodes into frequency identification electronic tags. Figure 1 shows the process of tracking military assets using frequency identification.
Figure 1. Military asset tracking
2. Next Generation Wireless Communication (NGWC)
The new generation of wireless communications, also known as wireless sensor networks, was initiated by the U.S. Army Logistics Innovation Agency and is currently used by the U.S. Department of Defense to track and monitor the supply of military supplies and equipment during overseas logistics operations. Other applications of the network include monitoring friendly forces, equipment, and ammunition, where commanders can continuously monitor the status of friendly forces, as well as the specifics and availability of equipment and ammunition on the battlefield. With a coverage radius of 20 miles, wireless sensor networks are larger than radio frequency identification, and transmit faster and more securely. However, the technology is limited by low-energy communication networks, storage space or computing power, scalability, etc., and has latency issues. Figure 2 shows the military application of a wireless sensor network.
Figure 2. Military applications for wireless sensor networks
3. Wireless Network Protocol (RuBee) technology
Wireless networking protocol is the commercial name for the technology, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers has designated its official name Long Wavelength Identification (LWID). Wireless networking protocol technology provides visibility, so more information is available in addition to tracking products. Due to the wider reading range, higher reading accuracy, and longer battery life of the wireless networking protocol, information can be read using this technology even in adverse environments such as water and metal. The U.S. Navy, together with Lockheed Martin and Visible Assets, has developed a new weapons maintenance system called the Wireless Networked Protocol Weapon Fire Counter that remotely manages, diagnoses and tracks weapons and ammunition, saving the Navy millions of dollars. The article Improving the Visualization of Transit and Theater Assets in the Canadian Armed Forces Supply Chain Network presents a comprehensive model of asset visualization, tracking and monitoring of the Canadian Armed Forces Supply Chain Network. However, wireless networking protocol technology has a low read rate and is not suitable for supply chain networks. Figure 3 shows some of the wireless networking protocol labels. Table 1 summarizes the limitations of each of these three technologies.
Figure 3. Wireless networking protocol label
Table 1. Summary of enabling technology limitations
Digital twin concept
In 2003, Greaves first proposed the concept of a digital twin in the University of Michigan's Product Lifecycle Management course. In 2011, NASA developed the first usable digital twin to perform analysis and simulation to predict aircraft structural performance (see Figure 4). Digital twins are bridges between the physical and digital worlds, allowing users to understand the past, present, and future of data and intelligence integration processes with a single interface. With the help of real-time data, digital twins are able to simulate, optimize, and predict potential outcomes. Because scenario testing is possible by simply adjusting parameter values, digital twins can make multiple predictions in a digital environment, compared to a very limited number of real-world experiments.
Figure 4. Visualization of aircraft digital twins
Benefits of using digital twins to visualize the military supply chain
The military has several ways to secure its supply chain and improve forecasting in a variety of environments, one of which is to gain better end-to-end visibility. To do this, the military can create a digital twin that visualizes possible disruptions in the supply chain to improve decision-making. Digital twins, one of several technologies that the military will use in the future, will provide cost-effective solutions and improve the effectiveness and quality of decision-making. As the article "Digital Defense is a Mirror World" points out, the application of digital twins provides a sense of readiness for military operations when it comes to tracking people, equipment, weapon systems, and supplies such as water, food, and fuel in real time. The U.S. military is also trying to use digital twin capabilities to verify the integrity of its semiconductor industry supply chain to better protect its semiconductor industry.
Digital twins for supply chain visualization
1. Internet of Things
IoT refers to the connection between objects and networks, and aims to enable human-to-device or device-to-device communication through embedded systems interaction. As long as the device has the required data, the sensors can communicate with each other. Sensors enable digital twins to analyze and calculate physics questions. IoT facilitates the visualization of end-to-end assets in the military supply chain, ensuring that supplies arrive at the right place at the right time, helping decision-makers get up-to-date and accurate information about the location and current status of critical military supplies (food, fuel, weapons, equipment, and spare parts).
2. Machine learning
Machine learning is a computer system that combines elements of computer science and statistics to automatically improve its performance through learning. Machine learning architectures create a digital twin that leverages real-time data for analysis and decision-making with the help of predictive analytics.
3. Cloud computing
Cloud computing allows shared networks to access computer resources belonging to third parties and allows users to access resources from anywhere. These resources include data storage, databases, computing power, data analysis and processing, and so on. The advantage of cloud computing is that users do not need to have hardware that provides large storage space, but they need to pay for the services they use.
4. Application programming interface
Application programming interfaces allow interaction between applications such as databases, networks, and IoT sensors. As a result, data can be efficiently transferred between the cloud, devices, and other systems. However, there are security risks associated with using public application programming interfaces, as demonstrated by the 2015 leakage of Facebook accounts linked to personal phone numbers.
5. Augmented and virtual reality
Virtual reality simulates the real world to create a virtual world, while augmented reality provides an information layer for the real world. These technologies provide a visualization platform that enables people to inspect digital twins via 2D screens or 3D devices. The data provided and processed by the Internet of Things, cloud computing, application programming interfaces, and machine learning to create digital twins can be visualized in time through augmented and virtual reality. Figure 5 shows the enabling process of digital twin technology.
Figure 5. Digital twin enabling technology
Implementation and application of digital twins in military supply chain visualization
Supply chain digital twins support data-based decisions about physical supply chains. Digital twins can mirror physical transportation, inventory, demand, and capacity data of the physical supply chain at any point in time for supply chain planning and real-time control. Using a range of techniques such as simulation, optimization, and data analysis, the military can create a digital twin of the supply chain, as shown in Figure 6, that will always show the state of the supply chain network in real time. In the military, digital twins can be used to test new models during aircraft production, predict equipment failures, and reduce the manufacturing time of weapons and aircraft, maintain hardware, and assist in emergency decision-making. Table 2 summarizes the application of digital twin technology in the military field.
Figure 6. Supply chain digital twin
Table 2. Summary of the application areas of digital twins in the military
Conclusions and future developments
Digital twins have great potential to provide end-to-end visibility into the entire supply chain process. As long as real-time data is used, the digital twin is always up to date with developments, mapping the conditions or state of the physical process. Driven by technologies such as the Internet of Things, cloud computing, machine learning, application programming interfaces, and augmented and virtual reality, digital twins assist in the visualization and analysis of processes. By creating digital twins, militaries can gain end-to-end visibility into supply chains to improve forecasting, ensure timely decisions in the event of supply chain disruptions, and ultimately protect supply chains. However, despite the great potential of digital twins, there is still little literature on the practical application of digital twins in end-to-end visualization of military supply chains. Therefore, this report recommends that research on digital twins in the field of military supply chains should be strengthened in the future to achieve end-to-end visibility of the supply chain and effectively manage unplanned supply chain disruptions.