The PLA at Home and Abroad - Strategic Studies Institute - U.S. Army

Within the overall context of informationalized
warfare, the adaptation of information technology to
logistics has, so far, concentrated on improving inventory
visibility and management; standardization,
which would enhance networking of logistics information;
tracking of material and equipment throughout
the distribution process; and information management.
These areas are weaknesses, not only within the
military, but also throughout China’s growing commercial
logistics structure, which could eventually
help benefit the military’s adaptation of information
technology, as improvements are made within the
nation-wide logistics system.
Among the technologies of particular interest to
the Chinese, which are often based on the study of
foreign (often U.S. military) logistics technology and
application, are:
• Bar coding (跳码) and Radio Frequency Identification
(RFID) (射顿识别) 76 —Logistics Command
College (后勤指挥学院) and its Military
Logistics Lab (解放军事物流工程实验至) in Beijing;
GLD Logistics Science Research Institute
(Beijing) (总后后勤科学研究所); and Unit 86599
(Beijing).
• Intelligent Card (IC) (非接触式IC卡) 77 —Department
of Air Materials, Xuzhou Air Force College,
Xuzhou.
Linked through Global Positioning Systems (GPS),
these commercial off-the-shelf technologies, which are
already widely used by international civilian and military
logistics systems, can assist the military to monitor
the location of equipment, shipping containers, vehicles,
palletized supplies and material, for example,
from their production through distribution to the end
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