Patent Application
20190347698
This application is based on and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2018-090331, filed on 9 May 2018, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to a value management server, a value management method, and a non-transitory computer readable medium recording a program that manage the values of goods such that devices and/or components possessed by each enterprise are set as goods that can be used by other enterprises.
Conventionally, for example, in a factory or the like that uses an industrial machine such as a machine tool or an industrial robot, when a device and/or a component that is a portion of the device (hereinafter the device and/or the component is also referred to as the part) that forms the industrial machine is, for example, broken, the part is ordered. For example, patent document 1 discloses a component order system for ordering online a component of a device within the factory from a component supplier outside a factory. Patent document 2 discloses an automatic component order method of a molding machine for timely and reliably ordering a consumable item and a consumable component of the molding machine.
For a part among parts that has a relatively high possibility that the part will not be able to be used, a consumable item, and the like, spare items (hereinafter the spare items are also referred to as spare parts) are previously stored in a factory or the like, and when they cannot be used, the spare parts that are stored are used.
In general, a part is not ordered until the part cannot be used. Hence, it takes time to deliver the part, and thus in the meantime, a device cannot be operated. When the spare part is previously possessed, even if the part cannot be used, the spare part is used, and thus it is possible to rapidly operate the device. However, since a storage place for the spare part is needed, it is unrealistic to possess spare items for all parts. When spare parts are possessed for some parts, it is problematic to determine for what parts spare parts are to be possessed. Furthermore, when a part whose spare part is not possessed cannot be used, the part is ordered and is waited for until the part is delivered.
An object of the present invention is to provide a value management server, a value management method, and a non-transitory computer readable medium recording a program in which parts (devices and/or components) possessed as goods by an enterprise serving as an economic entity are registered as goods that can be used by other enterprises, in which the values of the goods are managed and in which thus within a range of the total sum of the values of all the goods registered by the enterprise the goods registered by the other enterprises can be used.
(1) A value management server (for example, a “server 1” that will be described later) of the present invention registers devices and/or components possessed by a plurality of economic entities (for example, “enterprises” that will be described later) as goods (for example, “spare parts” that will be described later) that can be used by all the economic entities and manages the devices and/or components, and includes: a storage unit (for example, a “storage unit 20” that will be described later) that stores at least the identification information of the registered economic entities and the identification information and the quantities of the registered goods; a value calculation unit (for example, a “value calculation unit 13” that will be described later) that calculates, based on at least the identification information of the registered goods, the values of the registered goods; a first output unit (for example, a “first output unit 14” that will be described later) that outputs the values calculated by the value calculation unit as the usable values of the registered economic entities to the registered economic entities; and a second output unit (for example, a “second output unit 15” that will be described later) that outputs the goods that are stored in the storage unit and that are registered as shared goods by all the economic entities.
(2) Preferably, the value management server described in (1) includes a ratio calculation unit (for example, a “ratio calculation unit 12” that will be described later) that calculates a ratio corresponding to the quantity of a good having the same identification information as the registered good in the goods registered as the shared goods by all the economic entities, and the value calculation unit calculates the value of the registered good from at least the identification information of the registered good and the ratio.
(3) Preferably, in the value management server described in (1) or (2), the storage unit further stores information on the storage places of the registered goods, and the second output unit further outputs the information on the storage places of the goods.
(4) Preferably, the value management server described in any one of (1) to (3) includes a notification unit (for example, a “notification unit 16” that will be described later) that provides, when a usage request for the good is received from the economic entity that desires to use the good, notification to the economic entity that possesses the good.
(5) Preferably, in the value management server described in (4), the notification unit provides the notification to the economic entity that possesses the good on condition that the value of the good for that the usage request received does not exceed the usable value of the goods possessed by the economic entity that desires to use the good.
(6) Preferably, in the value management server described in any one of (1) to (5), a usage request for the good from the economic entity that possesses the good to the economic entity that desires to use the good is a loan of the good from the economic entity that possesses the good to the economic entity that desires to use the good.
(7) Preferably, in the value management server described in any one of (1) to (6), the economic entity that possesses the good and the economic entity that desires to use the good are made to conceal each other.
(8) Preferably, the value management server described in (7) includes an IOU receiving unit (for example, a “borrowing processing unit 17” that will be described later) that receives, from the economic entity that desires to use the good, an IOU for the good.
(9) Preferably, the value management server described in (8) includes an IOU issuing unit (for example, a “borrowing processing unit 17” that will be described later) that issues the IOU to the economic entity that possesses the good.
(10) A value management method of the present invention is a value management method of using a computer (for example, a “server 1” that will be described later) so as to register devices and/or components possessed by a plurality of economic entities as goods that can be used by all the economic entities and to manage the devices and/or components, and includes: a storage step of storing at least the identification information of the registered economic entities and the identification information and the quantities of the registered goods; a value calculation step of calculating, based on at least the identification information of the registered goods, the values of the registered goods; a first output step of outputting the values calculated in the value calculation step as the usable values of the registered economic entities to the registered economic entities; and a second output step of outputting the goods that are stored in the storage step and that are registered as shared goods by all the economic entities, and all the steps are performed by the computer.
(11) A non-transitory computer readable medium recording a program of the present invention makes a computer function as: a storage means that stores at least the identification information and the quantities of goods where devices and/or components possessed by a plurality of economic entities are registered as the goods that can be used by all the economic entities and the identification information of the economic entities that register the goods; a value calculation means that calculates, based on at least the identification information of the registered goods, the values of the registered goods; a first output means that outputs the values calculated by the value calculation means as the usable values of the registered economic entities to the registered economic entities; and a second output means that outputs the goods that are stored in the storage means and that are registered as shared goods by all the economic entities.
According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a value management server, a value management method, and a non-transitory computer readable medium recording a program in which parts devices and/or components) possessed as goods by an enterprise serving as an economic entity are registered as goods that can be used by other enterprises, in which the values of the goods are managed and in which thus within a range of the total sum of the values of all the goods registered by the enterprise the goods registered by the other enterprises can be used.
An outline of an embodiment of the present invention will first be described. The present embodiment relates to a system for managing the values of goods such that parts (devices and/or components) that serve as goods possessed (owned) by a plurality of enterprises (economic entities) and that are related to an industrial machine including a machine tool or an industrial robot are set as goods that can be used by other enterprises. More specifically, the present embodiment relates to a system (hereinafter referred to as a “spare part sharing system”) that manages spare parts (goods) possessed (owned) by a plurality of enterprises (economic entities) and that mediates in the loan of the spare parts between the enterprises based on the values of the managed spare parts.
The configuration of a spare part sharing system 100 in the present embodiment will be described.
The server 1 and the terminals 4 are connected together through a network N so as to be able to communicate with each other. The network N is, for example, the Internet, a VPN (Virtual Private Network), or a public telephone network. There is no limitation to a specific communication method in the network N, which one of a wired connection and a wireless connection is used, and the like.
The server 1 will then be described.
The storage unit 20 will first be described before the description of the individual function units of the control unit 10. The storage unit 20 is a storage de vice, such as a hard disk or a semiconductor memory element, that stores programs, data, and the like necessary for the operation of the server 1. The storage unit 20 includes a program storage unit 21, a part data storage unit 22, an enterprise data storage unit 23, a part price storage unit 24, and a loan part management unit 25. The program storage unit 21 is a storage region in which programs and the like executed by the control unit 10 are stored. The program storage unit 21 stores programs 21p for executing the individual function units of the control unit 10.
The part data storage unit 22 is a storage region in which information on the spare parts possessed by the enterprises is stored. As shown in
The enterprise data storage unit 23 is a storage region in which the information of the individual enterprises is stored. The information of the individual enterprises stored in the enterprise data storage unit 23 is previously registered when the individual enterprises start to utilize the spare part sharing system 100. As shown in
The loan part management unit 25 is a storage region in which information on the loan of the part data stored in the part data storage unit 22 is stored. As shown in
The storage unit 20 also stores a spare part table, an address table, and the like. The spare part table is a table in which the names of the spare parts and the part codes are associated with each other. In the spare part table, various types of specifications (such as specifications, failure occurrence rates, and management costs) of the spare parts may be stored. The address table is a table in which the addresses and the address codes are associated with each other. The individual storage units described above are examples.
The individual function units included in the control unit 10 shown in
The ratio calculation unit 12 calculates a ratio corresponding to the total quantity of the same spare part as a spare part registered by the part registration unit 11 in all the spare parts stored in the part data storage unit 22 and stores it in the storage unit 20. The ratio calculated by the ratio calculation unit 12 can be utilized as a ratio indicating the rarity of each spare part when the “total value” of the spare part that will be described later is calculated. As the ratio corresponding to the total quantity of the same spare part as the spare part registered by the part registration unit 11, for example, a value obtained by multiplying the total quantity of the spare part by 0.01 may be adopted. As will be described later, this ratio is subtracted from the value of the spare part, and thus it is possible to provide a configuration in which as the total quantity of the spare part is increased, the total value is lowered.
The value calculation unit 13 calculates the value of each spare part registered by the part registration unit 11. Specifically, as the value calculation unit 13, for example, a value calculation unit may be adopted that multiplies the market price of the spare part by a failure occurrence rate. In this way, the value of a spare part with a high failure occurrence rate can be calculated to be high for the reason that the frequency of use of the spare part is high. By contrast, the value of a spare part with a low failure occurrence rate can be calculated to be low for the reason that the frequency of use of the spare part is low. Hence, the value that is more suitable to the real situation can be calculated.
As another example of the value calculation unit 13, a value calculation unit may be adopted in which, on the market price, consideration is given to a management cost for storage of the spare part. For example, the management cost differs between a spare part that needs to be stored in a clean room and a spare part that is stored in a warehouse. Since an extra management cost is needed for the spare part that needs to be stored in a clean room, the value of the spare part can be calculated to be high. The value calculation unit 13 is not limited to these examples. The market price of a good may be adopted as the value of the good without being changed. Based on the specifications and the like of a spare part, a calculation method may be arbitrarily set.
As described previously, in the value calculation unit 13, the “total value” that is a relative value with consideration given to the total quantity of the same spare part as the spare part registered by the part registration unit 11 may be calculated. The value with consideration given to the total quantity of the same spare part is particularly referred to as the “total value”. By contrast, the value described above that is determined by the specifications and the like of the spare part itself is referred to as a “basic value”. In the following description, when the “basic value” and the “total value” are not distinguished, they are simply referred to as the “value”.
Specifically, as the value calculation unit 13 that calculates the “total value,” the following example can be mentioned. In the value calculation unit 13, for example, assuming that the basic value is A and that the total quantity of the same spare part is B, the following formula is used as a predetermined formula, and thus the total value X that is the value of one registered spare part may be calculated.
X=A−B×0.01 (formula 1)
Here, “B×0.01” is the ratio that is calculated by the ratio calculation unit 12 and is stored in the storage unit 20. (Formula 1) is an example, and the formula for calculating the total value X that is the value of one registered spare part is not limited to this formula. The formula may be set as necessary according to the specifications and the like of a good.
The first output unit 14 outputs the value calculated by the value calculation unit 13 to the terminal 4 that inputs the spare part information. The first output unit 14 may output the value of the spare part registered by the part registration unit 11. The first output unit 14 may also output a usable value obtained by summing up the values of individual spare parts, including already registered spare parts, that are registered by the enterprise as a usable value owned by the enterprise. The second output unit 15 outputs information on the spare parts stored in the part data storage unit 22 to all the terminals 4. The information output by the second output unit 15 is information that is registered in the spare part sharing system 100 and that is related to the spare parts that can be loaned by the individual enterprises.
When the notification unit 16 receives a usage request from an enterprise (hereinafter also referred to as a “loanee enterprise”) that desires to use a spare part, that is, that desires to receive the loan of a spare part, the notification unit 16 provides notification to the terminal 4 of an enterprise (hereinafter also referred to as a “loaner enterprise”) that possesses the spare part and that loans it. Here, the notification unit 16 receives the usage request within the range of a usable value possessed by the loanee enterprise. When the loan of the spare part is established, the borrowing processing unit 17 performs, between the terminal 4, processing such as support for producing an IOU and the delivery thereof. The communication unit 30 is a communication control device that transmits and receives data to and from the terminal 4.
The terminal 4 is, for example, a personal computer (PC) that is owned by each enterprise. The terminal 4 may be a portable terminal such as a tablet terminal or a smartphone. The terminal 4 includes a control unit, a storage unit, an input unit, a display unit, a communication unit, and the like (all of which are not shown). Each enterprise uses the terminal 4 to communicate with the server 1, and thereby performs various types of processing such as the registration of spare parts, the inquiry of spare parts, and the loan of spare parts that will be described later.
The devices included in the spare part sharing system 100 described above can be individually realized by hardware, software or a combination thereof. Here, the realization by software means that a computer reads and executes programs (applications) so as to achieve the realization. As a specific example, the server 1 can be realized by incorporating programs (applications) for realizing the present embodiment into a general server.
A basic way of thinking about the value management and the loan of spare parts in the spare part sharing system 100 will then be described.
In a shared region 31, value regions 32, 33, and 34 of the individual enterprises are shown. The values of all the spare parts registered by the company A are shown as a usable value in the value region 32. The values of all the spare parts registered by the company B are shown as a usable value in the value region 33, and the values of all the spare parts registered by the company C are shown as a usable value in the value region 34. Here, the calculated values do not identify the spare parts. By the sizes of the value regions 32, 33, and 34, the magnitudes of the usable values are found. Each enterprise can receive the loan of spare parts possessed by the other enterprises within the range of the usable value of the spare parts registered by the enterprise. For example, since the usable value of the company A is larger than the usable value of all the spare parts registered by the company B, if the company A receives the loan of all the spare parts registered by the company B, the company A can receive the loan of all the spare parts. However, by contrast, even if the company B receives the loan of all the spare parts registered by the company A, the company B can receive the loan of spare parts only within the range of the usable value of the spare parts registered by the company B among the spare parts registered by the company A.
The usable values of the individual enterprises indicated by the value regions 32, 33, and 34 are not proportional to the numbers of registered spare parts. As described previously, as the basic price of the registered spare part is increased, the value tends to be increased. Furthermore, a configuration may be adopted in which as the failure occurrence rate of the part is increased, the frequency of use thereof is increased, and in which thus the value thereof is increased. Furthermore, a configuration may be adopted in which as the management cost of the part is increased, the value thereof is increased. As the value, the “total value” is applied, and thus when the registered spare parts are not registered by other enterprises, the spare parts are rare, whereby the values thereof can be increased. The values are increased, and thus the usable value obtained by summing up these values is increased.
Processing in the server 1 will then be described.
The server 1 and the terminal 4 are first connected together so as to communicate with each other, for example, in the terminal 4, the user of the terminal 4 inputs login information from the initial screen that is not shown so as to start login, and thus in S10 of
In S11, the control unit 10 performs authorization, and when the authorization is achieved, the control unit 10 (the first output unit 14) outputs, for example, a menu screen 50 shown in
In S12 of
Here, the spare part registration processing will be described with reference to
In S31 of
In S34, the control unit 10 (the part registration unit 11) performs registration processing. Specifically, the control unit 10 registers the information on the spare part input into the detail input region 51b shown in
In S36, the control unit 10 (the first output unit 14) outputs, for example, a registration result screen 52 shown in
A description will be given with reference back to
In S15, the control unit 10 (the first output unit 14, the second output unit 15) outputs, for example, a shared part screen 53 shown in
The user of the terminal 4 checks, from the list of the detail list region 53b, whether or not the spare part desired to be loaned is present, and when the spare part desired to be loaned is present, the user checks the quantity and the storage place. Here, the user preferably looks for a spare part in a storage place close to a facility that desires to receive the loan of the spare part. The spare part is delivered from the storage place to a destination specified by the loanee enterprise. Hence, in order to reduce a cost and time for the delivery, it is preferable to look for the storage place close to the destination specified by the loanee enterprise. Then, when the record of the spare part desired to be loaned is found, the user of the terminal 4 inputs the quantity of the spare part to be loaned into the number of spare parts desired to be used in the record and selects the button 53d. Here, the user of the terminal 4 checks, with reference to the usable value displayed in the value display region 53c, whether or not the value of the spare part desired to be used falls within the range of the usable value and inputs the usage request. A configuration may be adopted in which the control unit 10 determines whether or not the value is usable based on the value of the spare part where the number of spare parts desired to be used is input and the usable value, and only when the value is usable the button 53d is enabled.
In S16 of
Here, the loan processing will be described with reference to
In S41 of
In S43, the control unit 10 determines whether or not the IOU is received from the loanee enterprise. When the IOU is received (S43: yes), the control unit 10 transfers the processing to S44. On the other hand, when the IOU is not received (S43: no), the control unit 10 stays in the present processing until the reception of the IOU. In S44, the control unit 10 (the borrowing processing unit 17) produces the IOU so as to issue it to the loaner enterprise. Thereafter, the control unit 10 transfers the processing to S18 of
In S18 of
The loanee enterprise that receives the loan is obliged to purchase the same part as the spare part loaned so as to return it. In this way, the loan flag of the part data storage unit 22 is changed to “0”, and thus the loan state is cancelled such as by deletion of the corresponding record from the loan part management unit 25.
As described above, in the spare part sharing system 100, the server 1 manages the spare parts of the individual enterprises and mediates in the loan processing. Hence, each enterprise utilizes the spare part sharing system 100 so as to be able to receive, from other enterprises, the loan of the spare parts that are not possessed by the enterprise. Consequently, the enterprise can receive the spare parts earlier than the enterprise orders and waits for them. The mechanism described above is established, and thus it is possible to provide an opportunity to resister the spare parts possessed by each enterprise in the server 1. The loan can be performed within the range of the usable value of the spare parts registered by each enterprise, and thus it is possible for each enterprise to be provided an opportunity to possess a certain number of spare parts.
When the “total value” is applied as the value of the spare part, it corresponds to the total quantity of the same spare part as the registered spare part among all the spare parts registered as spare parts. Hence, the total value of the spare part in which a small number of spare parts are registered can be increased.
Furthermore, since concealment is ensured for provision of the IOU, the loan of a spare part can be performed without internal information related to the manufacturing of a product in each enterprise being noticed.
The programs used in the present invention are stored with various types of non-transitory computer readable media and can be supplied to a computer. The non-transitory computer readable media include various types of tangible storage media. Examples of the non-transitory computer readable media include magnetic recording media (for example, a flexible disk, a magnetic tape, and a hard disk drive), magneto-optical recording media (for example, a magneto-optical disc), a CD-ROM (Read Only Memory), a CD-R, a CD-R/W, and semiconductor memories (for example, a mask ROM, and a PROM (program able ROM), an EPROM (Erasable PROM), a flash ROM, and a RAM (random access memory)). The programs may also be supplied to the computer with various types of transitory computer readable media. Examples of the transitory computer readable media include an electrical signal, an optical signal, and electromagnetic waves. The transitory computer readable media can supply the programs to the computer through a wired communication path such as an electric wire or an optical fiber or a wireless communication path.
Although the embodiment described above is a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the scope of the present invention is not limited to only the embodiment described above, and various modifications are made without departing from the spirit of the present invention such that the present invention can be practiced.
Although in the embodiment discussed above the description is given of the example where the user who wants to receive the loan of a spare part desires to use the spare part stored in a storage place close to a place in which the spare part is needed by the enterprise of the user, there is no limitation to this configuration. For example, a configuration may be adopted in which the place where the spare part is needed by the enterprise of the user is input such as by selection and in which thus a spare part stored in a storage place close thereto is selected by the server or is output to a position where the spare part is easy to see.
Although in the description of the embodiment discussed above the enterprise serving as the economic entity utilizing the spare part sharing system 100 is an enterprise using an industrial machine, there is no limitation to this description. For example, specialists such as a system integrator and an MTB may be included.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018-090331 | May 2018 | JP | national |
