Server device, information processing method, and storage medium

Abstract

A server device (1) includes: a storage device (12) configured to store a plurality of pieces of product information on a plurality of products of a company; and a control unit (11). The control unit (11) is configured to: assume each company in the supply chain is a target company, receive, from an account of the target company, any of: (i) a first request to link second product information about an upstream product of a company upstream of the target company in the supply chain to first product information about a target product of the target company, and (ii) assigning termination information indicating an end point end to a second request of the first product information, creating a product tree showing a relationship between products of the company by reflecting each of the received requests, executing information processing related to the created product tree, and outputting a result of executing the information processing.

Description

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2023-011322, filed on January 27, 2023, which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Background Art 1. Field of the Invention

[0003] The present disclosure relates to a server device, an information processing method and a storage medium. The present disclosure relates to a supply chain.

[0004] 2. Description of Related Technology

[0005] A system for sharing information between multiple companies forming a supply chain is known. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2017-500663 (JP2017-500663A) discloses a system for visualizing a supply chain. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The present disclosure provides for the collection of information about a supply chain.

[0007] One aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure relates to a server device, comprising: a storage device configured to store, for each company in a supply chain, a plurality of product information regarding a plurality of products of the company; and a control unit. The control unit is configured to, assuming that each company in the supply chain is a target company, receive from an account of the target company any one of the following: (i) linking second product information regarding an upstream product of an upstream company of the target company in the supply chain to first product information regarding a target product of the target company, and (ii) assigning termination information indicating a terminal end to the second request for the first product information, creating a product tree showing the relationship between the products of the company by reflecting each received request, performing information processing related to the created product tree, and outputting a result of performing the information processing.

[0008] One aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure relates to an information processing method performed by a server device, the server device including a storage device configured to store, for each company in a supply chain, a plurality of product information about a plurality of products of the company. The information processing method includes: assuming that each company in the supply chain is a target company, receiving any of the following from an account of the target company: (i) linking second product information about an upstream product of an upstream company of the target company in the supply chain to a first request for first product information about a target product of the target company, and (ii) assigning termination information indicating a terminal end to the second request for the first product information, creating a product tree showing the relationship between the products of the company by reflecting each received request, performing information processing related to the created product tree, and outputting a result of performing the information processing.

[0009] One aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure relates to a storage medium that stores instructions for causing an information processing device to perform a function. The information processing device is configured to communicate with a server device that is configured to store product information about a plurality of products of a company. The function includes: after accessing the server device (1) using an account of a target company, sending to the server device any one of the following: (i) linking second product information about an upstream product of an upstream company of the target company in a supply chain to a first product information about a target product of the target company, and (ii) assigning termination information indicating a terminal end to the second request for the first product information.

[0010] One aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure relates to a server device, comprising: a storage device configured to store, for each company in a supply chain, a plurality of product information regarding a plurality of products of the company; and a control unit. The control unit is configured to, assuming that each company in the supply chain is a target company, receive from an account of the target company any one of the following: (i) a first request linking second product information regarding an upstream product of an upstream company of the target company in the supply chain to first product information regarding a target product of the target company, and (ii) a second request assigning termination information indicating a terminal end to the first product information, and, in response to each request received from the company, save the link information and the termination information in the storage device.

[0011] Another aspect may relate to a program for causing a computer to execute the above method, or a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing the program.

[0012] According to the present disclosure, information about the supply chain can be collected. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] Features, advantages, and technical and industrial significance of exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals represent like elements, and in which:

[0014] Figure 1 A supply chain according to a first embodiment is shown;

[0015] Figure 2 shows the relationships between products supplied by the supply chain;

[0016] Figure 3 shows an outline of the processing performed between the company terminal and the server device;

[0017] Figure 4 is a hardware configuration diagram of a server device according to the first embodiment;

[0018] Figure 5 is a hardware configuration diagram of a company terminal according to the first embodiment;

[0019] Figure 6 is a software configuration diagram of the server device according to the first embodiment;

[0020] Figure 7 is a software configuration diagram of a company terminal according to the first embodiment;

[0021] Figure 8 An example of product information generated by a product information generating unit is shown;

[0022] Figure 9A shows an example of a screen output by the authority setting unit;

[0023] Figure 9B An example of permission information generated by the authority setting unit based on input information is shown;

[0024] Figure 10 An example of a user interface including a list of products as link destination candidates is shown;

[0025] Figure 11 shows the flow of processing performed by the server device;

[0026] Figure 12 Showing product information for multiple links;

[0027] Figure 13 The product tree and the amount of CO2 emitted in each process are shown;

[0028] Figure 14 An example of a screen showing a product tree output as an image is shown;

[0029] Figure 15An example of a product tree is shown where products without access rights are hidden;

[0030] Figure 16 is a sequence diagram showing processes performed by the server device and the company terminal in the first to third stages;

[0031] Figure 17 is a sequence diagram showing processing performed by the server device and the company terminal in the fourth stage;

[0032] Figure 18 is a software configuration diagram of a server device according to a second embodiment;

[0033] Figure 19 is a software configuration diagram of a company terminal according to the second embodiment;

[0034] Figure 20 is a sequence diagram showing processing performed by a server device and a company terminal in the second embodiment; and

[0035] Figure 21 is a sequence diagram showing processing executed by a server device and a company terminal in the third embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] In recent years, there have been demands to track the amount of greenhouse gases emitted when manufacturing products such as cars and batteries, i.e., to track carbon footprints.

[0037] Assume that a product is supplied by a supply chain that includes multiple companies. In one example, at least some companies in the supply chain (intermediate suppliers) can receive components from one or more upstream companies, produce in-house products using the received components, and deliver the produced in-house products to the companies in the next step (downstream companies). The upstream company can directly produce in-house products and deliver the produced in-house products to the companies in the next step. Some companies in the supply chain can directly deliver products received from other companies to different companies (i.e., participate in distribution). Multiple companies repeat this process and obtain the final product in the final step.

[0038] In the case of automotive product acquisition, the supply chain may consist of an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and multiple suppliers. The OEM may be the company that assembles the final product (the most downstream company), and the supplier may be the company that supplies the components, materials, and subassemblies used to produce the product. Companies in the supply chain can be identified based on the product.

[0039] In the following description, components produced by suppliers will be referred to as "products," and the resulting product will be referred to as the "final product." In one example, the final product may be supplied to a consumer. Suppliers and OEMs in the supply chain will be referred to simply as "companies." The various levels of the supply chain will be referred to as "tiers."

[0040] For example, in order to calculate the total amount of greenhouse gases emitted in conjunction with the manufacture of a final product in such a system, it is necessary to clarify the product supply relationships between multiple companies. This is because, unless the relationships between the multiple products that make up the final product are clear, it is difficult to correctly calculate the total amount of greenhouse gases emitted in multiple steps. To address this issue, for example, a process is required to generate a tree (hereinafter referred to as a "product tree") showing the supply relationships between the multiple products that make up the final product.

[0041] Each company except the most downstream company can provide information indicating its product supply relationship with multiple companies. However, unless there is a direct business relationship, it is generally difficult to know which companies belong to the supply chain. Therefore, as the number of levels in the supply chain increases, it becomes difficult for the most downstream company to understand which companies exist at which levels in the supply chain and how many companies exist. In such cases, it is difficult to correctly determine whether the information collected from the companies belonging to the supply chain is complete (i.e., whether the product tree is complete). The server device of the present disclosure solves this problem.

[0042] A server device according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes: a storage device configured to store, for each company in a supply chain, a plurality of product information regarding a plurality of products of the company; and a control unit. The control unit is configured to: assuming that each company in the supply chain is a target company, receive from an account of the target company any one of the following: (1) linking second product information regarding an upstream product of an upstream company of the target company in the supply chain to first product information regarding a target product of the target company, and (2) assigning termination information indicating a termination end to the second request for the first product information, create a product tree showing a relationship between the products of the company by reflecting each received request, perform information processing related to the created product tree, and output a result of the performed information processing.

[0043] In a supply chain, companies on the upstream side deliver products to companies on the downstream side. In one example, the most downstream company is the company that assembles the final product (the OEM). Focusing on certain levels in the supply chain, the company on the upstream side is defined as the upstream company, and the company on the downstream side is defined as the downstream company. The products of the upstream company will be referred to as "upstream products," and the products of the downstream company will be referred to as "downstream products." Upstream products can be considered to be products that constitute (incorporate) downstream products.

[0044] The server device of the present disclosure can receive a request (first request) to link multiple product information (i.e., upstream product information and downstream product information) from the account of the target company, generate link information in response to the first request, and store the generated link information. Link information is information indicating the link relationship between information about downstream products and information about upstream products. By repeating this process, the server device can create a product tree associated with the final product. However, when the number of companies in the supply chain increases, it is difficult to determine whether the multiple product information required to create the product tree is complete.

[0045] Therefore, the server device according to the present disclosure receives either a first request or a request (a second request) for information indicating the end point of a product tree from the target company's account, and reflects the received request in the product tree. Therefore, it is possible to determine whether the product tree is finally complete (whether information indicating interrelationships for all product information is complete). The second request can only be received if the node associated with the target product is a leaf node.

[0046] The information processing related to the product tree may include a process of determining whether to assign termination information to a plurality of product information about all products associated with a leaf node. The process of outputting a result of performing the information processing may include a process of outputting a result of the determination.

[0047] The first request may include information indicating whether linking has been completed for the target product. The information processing related to the product tree may include a process of determining whether linking has been completed for a plurality of product information items related to all products associated with nodes other than leaf nodes. Accordingly, the process of outputting the result of performing the information processing may include a process of outputting the result of the determination.

[0048] The information processing related to the product tree may include the following processing: determining whether the product associated with the leaf node of the product tree is a temporary terminal end product that is temporarily located at the terminal end due to the failure to receive the first request and the second request. In this case, the processing of outputting the result of executing the information processing may include the processing of outputting an alert to the account of the company associated with the temporary terminal end product. In addition, the processing of outputting the result of executing the information processing may include the following processing: giving a notification about the reminder to the account of the temporary terminal end company that has the authority to make each request for product information about the temporary terminal end product. In addition, the processing of outputting the result of executing the information processing may include the following processing: when the most downstream company is not permitted to view the product information about the temporary terminal end product, identifying the product information that the most downstream company is permitted to view, and giving a notification about the request for the reminder to the account of the company having the determined product information.

[0049] The information processing related to the product tree may include a process of generating a tree diagram showing the product tree. In this case, the process of outputting the result of performing the information processing may include a process of outputting the generated tree diagram.

[0050] Information processing related to a product tree may include repeatedly transferring and integrating a plurality of traceability-related information included in a plurality of product information, from a most upstream product belonging to the product tree as a leaf node to a product of interest belonging to the product tree as a root node. In this case, outputting a result of executing the information processing may include outputting a result of integrating the plurality of traceability-related information.

[0051] The information processing related to the product tree may include a process of collecting a plurality of position information included in the plurality of product information. In this case, the process of outputting the result of performing the information processing may include a process of outputting the collected plurality of position information.

[0052] Specific embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Unless otherwise specified, the hardware configuration, module configuration, functional configuration, etc. described in each embodiment are not intended to limit the technical scope of the present disclosure to these configurations.

[0053] First embodiment

[0054] The information processing system according to this embodiment provides information about products supplied by a supply chain including multiple companies. Information about products is generally information about traceability. Companies belonging to the supply chain can be appropriately determined based on the attributes of the product, etc.

[0055] First, the structure of the supply chain will be described. Figure 1 An example of a supply chain according to the present embodiment is shown. Figure 1 The supply chain shown in consists of the OEM company and multiple supplier companies. Figure 1 In this example, consider a supply chain for manufacturing cars or car-related products (such as batteries). The OEM company assembles the final product. Supplier companies (Companies A through C) supply the components, materials, and subassemblies used to manufacture the final product. Each supplier company produces one or more products and delivers them to a company at a lower level. The companies repeat this process, and at the final step, the final product is obtained (i.e., the OEM company).

[0056] In the hierarchy of the supply chain of this embodiment, the side that delivers the product will be referred to as the "upstream side", and the side that purchases the product and produces the new product will be referred to as the "downstream side". The company on the upstream side will be referred to as the "upstream company" in this article, and the company on the downstream side will be referred to as the "downstream company" in this article. The products produced by the upstream company will be referred to as the "upstream product", and the products produced by the downstream company will be referred to as the "downstream product". The downstream product incorporates the upstream product. In this embodiment, the hierarchy in the supply chain will be referred to as "layer". Layer 0 is the lowest level for assembling the final product (corresponding to the OEM company), and transitions to the upstream side in the order of layer 1, layer 2, and layer 3. Depending on the level of interest, a downstream company can become an upstream company. For example, company B in layer 2 is a downstream company relative to layer 3, but an upstream company relative to layer 1. Therefore, the definition of upstream and downstream companies can vary from level to level.

[0057] Figure 2 This diagram shows the relationships between products supplied by a supply chain. The supply relationships between the multiple products that make up final product X are represented by a tree diagram. In this example, final product X is produced by assembling products A1, B1, C1, D1, and so on. Product A1 is produced by assembling products A11, A12, A13, and so on. In this way, the relationships between the multiple products that make up a final product can be represented by a tree diagram, in which each product serves as a node. The tree diagram for a particular final product will be referred to as a "product tree" below.

[0058] The server device 1 according to this embodiment collects information about multiple products produced by the company (hereinafter referred to as "product information") and information for linking multiple product information from terminals associated with the company (company terminals 2), and generates a product tree based on this information. The product information includes information related to traceability (for example, information on greenhouse gas emissions; hereinafter referred to as "traceability-related information"). By tracing the product tree, carbon footprints, etc. can be tracked.

[0059] like Figure 1 As shown in , the information processing system according to the present embodiment includes a server device 1 and a plurality of company terminals 2 .

[0060] The company terminal 2 is associated with the companies that make up the supply chain. Any number of terminals can be associated with each company. The terminals associated with the target company can include terminals of companies that perform operations related to the target company (e.g., agency companies).

[0061] Server device 1 collects information used to generate a product tree from company terminal 2 and generates the product tree based on the collected information. Server device 1 can perform traceability-related processing (typically, processing for calculating carbon dioxide emissions) based on the generated product tree. The results of the processing can be transmitted to company terminal 2.

[0062] Next, we will refer to Figure 3 An outline of a process for generating a product tree by the server device 1 is described. Figure 3 The outline of the processing performed between the company terminal 2 and the server device 1 is shown. Figure 3 In the example of , it is assumed that there are downstream company A and upstream company B at any level. It is assumed that company B produces product B and delivers it to company A, and company A produces product A by using product B. That is, in Figure 3 In the example above, Product B is a child node of Product A in the product tree.

[0063] To generate the product tree, the company terminal 2 associated with each company transmits information about the products produced by the company to the server device 1. In this example, the company terminal 2 associated with company A transmits product information about product A (referred to as "product information A") to the server device 1. Similarly, the company terminal 2 associated with company B transmits product information about product B (referred to as "product information B") to the server device 1. The product information of each company is stored in the server device 1.

[0064] The operation for linking multiple pieces of product information stored in server device 1 is performed by company terminal 2. In one example, the person in charge of a downstream company logs into server device 1 from company terminal 2 using the downstream company's account and selects an upstream product to link with the downstream product, which is an internal product. In this way, multiple pieces of product information are linked from the downstream product to the upstream product. Based on this selection, server device 1 links the multiple pieces of product information to each other.

[0065] However, if all products in the supply chain and all information about the products are presented as options for selecting a product to be linked, the confidentiality of information about the companies that make up the supply chain and about the products produced by the companies will be lost. In addition, it may be inappropriate to disclose the entire product tree to one supplier.

[0066] Therefore, the server device 1 according to the present embodiment invests the downstream company with the authority to access the product information of the upstream product in advance in response to a request from the upstream company. The server device 1 permits reference from the downstream company within the scope of the invested authority.

[0067] exist Figure 3In the example shown in Figure 2, company terminal 2 associated with upstream company B sends a request (information) to server device 1 for "granting company A access to product information B." Upon receiving a link request from company terminal 2 associated with company A, server device 1 provides a list of only the product information to which company A is granted access, and prompts company A to select the product information to link. When company terminal 2 associated with company A requests a reference to a product tree, server device 1 provides a product tree to company terminal 2, hiding information except for the information to which company A is granted access. This allows information about unrelated companies and products to be hidden.

[0068] Hardware Configuration

[0069] Next, the hardware configuration of devices constituting the system will be described. Figure 4 An example of a hardware configuration of the server device 1 according to the present embodiment is schematically shown. The server device 1 is a computer including a control unit 11 , a storage unit 12 , a communication module 13 , and an input / output device 14 .

[0070] The server device 1 may be a computer including a processor (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU) or a graphics processing unit (GPU)), a main storage device (e.g., a random access memory (RAM) or a read-only memory (ROM)), and an auxiliary storage device (e.g., an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), a hard disk drive, or a removable medium). An operating system (OS), various programs, various tables, and the like are stored in the auxiliary storage device. The programs stored in the auxiliary storage device are executed so that various functions (software modules) can be implemented to meet predetermined purposes described later. Some or all of the functions may be implemented as hardware modules by hardware circuits such as an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or a field-programmable gate array (FPGA).

[0071] The control unit 11 is an arithmetic unit that realizes various functions of the server device 1 by executing a predetermined program. The control unit 11 can be realized by a hardware processor such as a CPU, for example. The control unit 11 may include a RAM, a read-only memory (ROM), a cache memory, and the like.

[0072] The storage unit 12 is a device for storing information and is composed of a storage medium such as RAM, a magnetic disk, or a flash memory. The storage unit 12 stores programs to be executed by the control unit 11, data to be used by the programs, and the like. A database is constructed in the storage unit 12 and stores a plurality of product information collected from the company terminal 2 and a plurality of company-related account information. Details will be described later.

[0073] The communication module 13 is a communication interface for connecting the server device 1 to the network. The communication module 13 may include, for example, a network interface board and a wireless communication interface for wireless communication. The server device 1 can perform data communication with other computers (e.g., the company terminal 2) via the communication module 13.

[0074] The input / output device 14 is a device for receiving input operations performed by the operator and presenting information to the operator. Specifically, the input / output device 14 includes input devices such as a mouse and a keyboard, and output devices such as a display and a speaker. The input / output device can be an integrated device such as a touch panel display.

[0075] In the specific hardware configuration of the server device 1, any component can be appropriately omitted, replaced or added according to the embodiment. For example, the control unit 11 may include multiple hardware processors. The hardware processor may be a microprocessor, an FPGA, a GPU, etc. The input / output device 14 can be omitted, or an input / output device other than the input / output device shown (for example, an optical drive) can be added. The server device 1 can be composed of multiple computers. In this case, the hardware configurations of the computers may be consistent with each other, or may be inconsistent with each other.

[0076] Figure 5 An example of the hardware configuration of the company terminal 2 according to the present embodiment is schematically shown. The company terminal 2 is a computer including a control unit 21, a storage unit 22, a communication module 23, and an input / output device 24.

[0077] Similar to the server device 1, the company terminal 2 can be a computer including a processor (e.g., a CPU or GPU), a primary storage device (e.g., RAM or ROM), and a secondary storage device (e.g., an EPROM, a hard disk drive, or a removable medium). Some or all functions (software modules) can be implemented as hardware modules using hardware circuits such as ASICs or FPGAs.

[0078] The control unit 21 is an arithmetic unit that realizes various functions (software modules) of the company terminal 2 by executing a predetermined program. The control unit 21 can be realized by, for example, a hardware processor (such as a CPU). The control unit 21 can include RAM, read-only memory (ROM), cache memory, etc.

[0079] The storage unit 22 is a device for storing information and is composed of a storage medium such as a RAM, a magnetic disk, or a flash memory. The storage unit 22 stores programs to be executed by the control unit 21, data to be used by the programs, and the like.

[0080] The communication module 23 is a communication interface for connecting the company terminal 2 to the network. The communication module 23 may include, for example, a network interface board and a wireless communication interface for wireless communication. The company terminal 2 can perform data communication with other computers (e.g., the server device 1) via the communication module 23.

[0081] The input / output device 24 is a device for receiving input operations performed by the operator and presenting information to the operator. Specifically, the input / output device 24 includes input devices such as a mouse and a keyboard, and output devices such as a display and a speaker. The input / output device can be an integrated device such as a touch panel display.

[0082] In the specific hardware configuration of the company terminal 2 , similarly to the server device 1 , any component may be omitted, replaced, or added as appropriate according to the embodiment.

[0083] Software Configuration

[0084] Next, the software configuration of the devices constituting the system will be described. Figure 6 The software configuration of server device 1 according to this embodiment is schematically shown. In this embodiment, control unit 11 includes four software modules: information collection unit 111, permission setting unit 112, linking unit 113, and information provision unit 114. These software modules are implemented by control unit 11 (CPU) executing programs stored in storage unit 12. The information processing performed by information collection unit 111, permission setting unit 112, linking unit 113, and information provision unit 114 is synonymous with the information processing performed by control unit 11.

[0085] The information collection unit 111 receives product information transmitted from the company terminal 2 and stores the product information in the storage unit 12. The permission setting unit 112 receives information for setting permission to access the product information (hereinafter referred to as "permission information") from the company terminal 2. The permission setting unit 112 sets permission to access the product information stored in the storage unit 12 based on the received information.

[0086] Linking unit 113 interacts with company terminal 2 to obtain information from company terminal 2 for linking multiple product information items. Based on the obtained information, linking unit 113 writes information indicating the link relationships among the multiple product information items stored in storage unit 12. Linking unit 113 receives a request to assign termination information and, in response to the request, assigns the termination information to the product information stored in storage unit 12. A product tree is formed by reflecting the links and terminations. Specifically, the product tree is formed by storing the link information and termination information in storage unit 12. Linking unit 113 generates a product tree based on the results of the links and terminations.

[0087] The information providing unit 114 performs information processing related to the product tree and outputs the results of the information processing. The information processing related to the product tree may include processing for calculating the traceability of the product tree. Outputting the results of the information processing may include processing for providing information about the generated product tree to the company terminal 2. In one example, the information providing unit 114 generates information about the product tree and outputs the generated information about the product tree.

[0088] In this embodiment, the storage unit 12 includes multiple logical storage areas. Different access rights can be set for each storage area, such as an area accessible to Company A, an area accessible to Company B, and an area accessible to both Company A and Company B. The permission setting unit 112 sets access rights by storing product information received from the company terminal 2 in the appropriate storage area. The specific processing method will be described later.

[0089] Storage unit 12 stores account information. In this embodiment, an operator at each company logs into server device 1 via company terminal 2 using their company account to interact with server device 1. Account information refers to the accounts associated with each company that makes up the supply chain. Logging in using an account is an example of a company accessing server device 1. The method for accessing server device 1 is not limited to this example and can be selected appropriately depending on the embodiment.

[0090] Figure 7The software configuration of the company terminal 2 according to this embodiment is schematically shown. In this embodiment, the control unit 21 includes four software modules: a product information generation unit 211, a permission setting unit 212, a link request unit 213, and an information acquisition unit 214. These software modules are implemented by the control unit 21 (CPU) executing programs stored in the storage unit 22. The information processing performed by the product information generation unit 211, the permission setting unit 212, the link request unit 213, and the information acquisition unit 214 is synonymous with the information processing performed by the control unit 21.

[0091] The product information generation unit 211 generates information (product information) about products of a company associated with the company terminal 2 . Figure 8 An example of product information generated by product information generation unit 211 is shown. Product information can be input by the device operator. In this embodiment, product information includes the following fields: company identifier (ID), company name, product ID, and product name. The company ID and company name are the identifier and name of the company that produces the target product (i.e., the company using company terminal 2). The product ID and product name are the identifier and name of the target product.

[0092] The product information also includes link-related information. Link-related information is information used to identify upstream products that are linked to the target product. In this embodiment, the link-related information includes the following fields: "Upstream Product Information," "Termination Flag," and "Link Completion Flag."

[0093] The upstream product information field stores information identifying product information associated with upstream products linked to the target product (i.e., products required for producing the target product and incorporated into the target product). The upstream product information field is used when server device 1 links products. When generating product information, the target product is typically not linked to upstream products. Therefore, the upstream product information field does not need to store a value indicating an upstream product.

[0094] The termination flag field stores a flag indicating whether the target product is a leaf node in the product tree, that is, a node located on the most upstream (terminal end) side. In the present embodiment, a plurality of company terminals 2 send a plurality of product information. Therefore, the flag is used to determine whether the upstream product is linked to a specific product in the product tree or no more products are linked to the specific product (whether the target product is located on the most upstream side). That is, when the server device 1 finally completes the link between the products, the termination flag field is used. When generating product information, the link relationship of the target product is basically not finally completed. Therefore, the termination flag field can store "0 (currently not terminated)". In order to finally generate the product tree, the status of the product information of each company stored in the server device 1 is set to "linked to the upstream product" or "the termination flag is set to 1".

[0095] The link completion flag field stores a flag indicating whether the target product has been linked to an upstream product. In this embodiment, a specific product in the product tree can be linked to multiple upstream products. Examples of this include the case where product C is produced by using product A and product B as components. When the target product is located at an intermediate node rather than a leaf node, it is difficult to determine whether the link is completed or whether another product can be further linked based solely on the presence or absence of the link destination product. Without this determination, the product tree cannot be finalized. The link completion flag is used to identify this. That is, the link completion flag is status information indicating whether all links are completed. That is, the link completion flag field is used when the server device 1 finalizes the link between products. When generating product information, there is basically no finalization of the link relationship of the target product. Therefore, the link completion flag field can store "0 (further linking can occur)".

[0096] By referring to the termination flag of the product information at the leaf node and the link completion flag of the product information at the intermediate node, it can be determined whether the product information is finally completed. The flag stored in the termination flag field (termination flag) is an example of "termination information".

[0097] The product information also includes traceability related information. In one example, the traceability related information may include the amount of materials (e.g., upstream products) used per production volume of the product, information about the recycling rate of predetermined raw materials, the amount of greenhouse gases emitted when the product is produced, due diligence related information, or a combination thereof. Examples of predetermined raw materials include lithium, nickel, cobalt, lead, and graphite. The recycling rate can be expressed directly, or it can be expressed indirectly, for example, by a combination of the total usage and the amount of recycled material used. These values ​​are associated with the process of producing the target product. In Figure 3In the example of , the traceability-related information in product information A stores the amount of greenhouse gases emitted during the production of product A. The traceability-related information in product information A does not include information about the process until the production of upstream products (for example, the amount of greenhouse gases emitted until upstream product B is produced).

[0098] The traceability related information can be appropriately selected according to the embodiment. In one example, greenhouse gas emissions (carbon footprint) can include emissions in scope 1, scope 2, and scope 3. Scope 1 can cover direct greenhouse gas emissions. Scope 2 can cover indirect emissions together with the use of electricity, heat, and steam supplied by other companies. Scope 3 can cover indirect emissions other than emissions in scope 1 and scope 2. In one example, due diligence related information can be a technical document about a product containing target raw materials (e.g., cobalt, natural graphite, lithium, or nickel), which indicates that responsible mineral source obligations have been fulfilled for the amount of raw materials contained in the product, smelter, etc. In another example, due diligence related information can include a score indicating the extent to which the obligation has been fulfilled.

[0099] The product information generating unit 211 acquires such information via the operator of the company terminal 2 , and transmits it to the server device 1 at an arbitrary timing.

[0100] The authority setting unit 212 specifies downstream companies that are permitted to access product information transmitted from the company terminal 2 to the server device 1 . Figure 9A 2 shows an example of a screen output by the authority setting unit 212. As shown in the figure, the authority setting unit 212 receives designations of downstream companies that are permitted to access any internal product. Figure 9B The diagram shows an example of permission information generated by permission setting unit 212 based on input information. Permission setting unit 212 transmits permission information to server device 1 at arbitrary timings. Permission information is an example of a "permission command." Access rights can be set for each product information item, or for each item in the product information ("Permitted Items" in the diagram). This allows for partial disclosure, where the existence of a product is disclosed but specific information such as the materials used and the quantities used is not disclosed.

[0101] Figure 9A The company list presented on the screen may be a list of companies that have had past transaction records with the company of interest. Therefore, the server device 1 may store data regarding past transactions (transaction data) for each company and generate a company list based on the transaction data. The transaction data may include, for example, an identifier for the target product, an identifier for the company that produced the product, and a transaction date.

[0102] Link request unit 213 requests server device 1 to link the internal product information sent to server device 1 to an upstream product. In one example, link request unit 213 first sends the company ID and product ID of the company of interest to server device 1 and requests a link to the product information associated with the product ID. Server device 1 generates a user interface that includes a list of product information that the target company is permitted to access (i.e., link destination candidates) and provides the generated user interface to company terminal 2. Figure 10 An example of a user interface including a list of products to which a target company is permitted to access is shown.

[0103] Figure 10 The product list presented in may be a list of products that have past transaction records with the company of interest. The server device 1 may also generate a list based on stored transaction data.

[0104] Then, the link request unit 213 prompts the operator to select an upstream product to be linked from the list. The link request unit 213 sends a pair of the identifier of the link source product (downstream product) and the identifier of the link destination upstream product to the server device 1. In response, the server device 1 can link multiple product information.

[0105] When there is no upstream product to be linked to the target product, it can be done, for example, by marking Figure 10 This fact is clearly indicated by the check box indicated by reference number 1001 in the [unclear text]. In this case, the plurality of product information is not linked, and server device 1 sets the termination flag of the corresponding product information to "1." When there is an upstream product to be linked to the target product, that is, when the node associated with the target product is not a leaf node, the marking operation is prohibited.

[0106] When no further linking is performed for the target product, it can be marked Figure 10 The check box indicated by reference number 1002 in the figure clearly indicates this fact. In this case, the server device 1 sets the link completion flag of the corresponding product information to "1". When the termination flag is set to "1", the corresponding product information is the end point and is therefore excluded from the link target. In this case, the link completion flag can be handled in any way. In one example, in response to the termination flag being set to "1", the link completion flag can be set to "1". In another example, when the termination flag is set to "1", the link completion flag can remain at "0" and be ignored.

[0107] In this manner, the link request unit 213 issues (1) a request to link the target product with the upstream product, or (2) a request to assign a termination flag indicating that the target product is the end point of the supply chain. When declaring completion of the link, the link request may include a request to assign a link completion flag indicating that no further linking occurs for the target product. Request (1) is an example of a "first request," and request (2) is an example of a "second request." Thus, the server device 1 can finally complete the state of the product tree.

[0108] The information acquisition unit 214 requests the server device 1 to provide a product tree, and outputs the information sent from the server device 1 .

[0109] Details of processing

[0110] Next, details of processing executed by the server device 1 and the company terminal 2 will be described. Figure 11 There is shown an example of the flow of processing executed by the server device 1 based on a request from the company terminal 2. The processing executed by the server device 1 can be roughly divided into the following four stages.

[0111] (1) The first stage is to receive product information sent from the company terminal 2 and store the received product information

[0112] (2) The second stage is to receive the permission information sent from the company terminal 2 and set the authority to access the product information based on the received permission information.

[0113] (3) The third stage is to link multiple product information by interacting with the company terminal 2

[0114] (4) The fourth stage provides information about the product tree based on the link results

[0115] exist Figure 11 In the example, Company A is the downstream company, and Company B is the upstream company. The product produced by Company A will be referred to as "Product A," and the product produced by Company B will be referred to as "Product B." Product information associated with Product A will be referred to as "Product Information A," and product information associated with Product B will be referred to as "Product Information B."

[0116] In the first stage, the information collecting unit 111 of the server device 1 acquires product information from the product information generating unit 211 of the company terminal 2. Figure 11In the example shown in FIG. 1 , server device 1 acquires product information A from company terminal 2 associated with company A, and acquires product information B from company terminal 2 associated with company B. Information collection unit 111 stores product information A in a storage area (hereinafter referred to as "storage area A") to which only company A is permitted to access. Information collection unit 111 stores product information B in a storage area (hereinafter referred to as "storage area B") to which only company B is permitted to access. In this way, information collection unit 111 stores product information sent from any company in a dedicated storage area to which only that company is permitted to access.

[0117] In the second stage, the authority setting unit 112 of the server device 1 receives permission information from the authority setting unit 212 of the company terminal 2, and sets the authority to access the product information based on the received permission information. Figure 9B As shown in , the permission information is information that associates a product with a company that is permitted to access product information of the product.

[0118] exist Figure 11 In the example shown in FIG. 1 , it is assumed that permission setting unit 112 receives permission information indicating that downstream company A is permitted to access product information B of an upstream company. In this case, permission setting unit 112 copies product information B stored in storage area B to a storage area (hereinafter referred to as "storage area AB") to which both companies A and B are permitted to access. Thus, both companies A and B can access product information B. If no access permission is set for a specific item in the product information, that item is excluded from being copied to storage area AB.

[0119] In the following description, a storage area to which only a specific company is permitted to access will be referred to as a “dedicated storage area,” and a storage area to which a plurality of companies are permitted to access will be referred to as a “shared storage area.”

[0120] In this manner, server device 1 copies product information in response to receiving the permission information from company terminal 2. That is, company terminal 2 transmits the permission information to server device 1 to copy the product information identified by the permission information from the target company's dedicated storage area to a shared storage area accessible to downstream companies.

[0121] In the third stage, the link unit 113 of the server device 1 receives a link request from the link request unit 213 of the company terminal 2 and links a plurality of product information based on the received link request.

[0122] First, the link unit 113 receives a link request from the company terminal 2. The link request is sent from the company terminal 2 of the downstream company. Figure 11In the example of , it is assumed that the company terminal 2 of company A sends a link request. The link request includes the company ID and product ID of the target product. The link unit 113 acquires product information stored in a storage area accessible to the company and generates a list of the acquired product information. Figure 11 In the example of , company A can access product information B stored in storage area AB. Therefore, product information B can be selected as a link destination in the company terminal 2 of company A.

[0123] The link request unit 213 of the company terminal 2 presents this list to the operator and prompts the operator to select a product to link. In this example, Product A and Product B are the connection targets. For example, the operator inputs information indicating that Product B is an upstream product of Product A via the input / output device 24. The link request unit 213 transmits data (link data) for linking the upstream product (Product B) and the downstream product (Product A) to the link unit 113.

[0124] As reference Figure 8 As described above, product information includes fields related to the product to be linked (link-related information). Based on the link data, linking unit 113 stores information associated with product information B (i.e., the upstream product) in the link-related information of product information A. For example, the link-related information stores the identifier of the upstream product and the identifier of the company that produces the upstream product.

[0125] The link-related information may store, for example, a pointer to link destination product information. Figure 12 This figure shows an example of linking multiple product information items via pointers. The arrows in the figure represent pointers. For example, the pointer indicates the address of the product information associated with an upstream product. Through the above process, the downstream product information is used as the parent node, and the upstream product information is used as the child node, forming a tree structure.

[0126] No further linking is performed at the end point of the product tree. In this case, the link request unit 213 sends data indicating that the product is the end point of the tree, instead of sending link data. Figure 10 In the example of , when the check box indicated by reference number 1001 is marked, data indicating that the product is the end terminal of the tree is transmitted. When receiving the data, the link unit 113 sets "1" in the termination flag field of the corresponding product information.

[0127] When it is clear that no further linking occurs for the target product, the link request unit 213 sends data clearly indicating this fact in the link data. Figure 10In the example shown in FIG. 1 , when the checkbox indicated by reference number 1002 is checked, data indicating that no further linking will occur for the product is transmitted. Upon receiving the data, the linking unit 113 sets "1" in the link completion flag field of the corresponding product information. When the termination flag is set, both flags may be set to "1."

[0128] That is, in the third phase, the link request unit 213 issues one of the following requests to the server device 1 .

[0129] (A) “Request to designate a link destination upstream product (including a request to set a link completion flag)” (first request)

[0130] (B) "Request to set the termination flag" (Second Request)

[0131] When all companies belonging to the supply chain have been linked or the termination flag has been assigned, the product tree of the final product is completed. This product tree can be formed by any process. In one example, companies can execute the third stage indiscriminately (called the "shotgun method"). With this method, since there is no need to manage the execution of the third stage, the processing load on the server device 1 can be reduced. In another example, the third stage can be executed sequentially from the most upstream company (called the "bucket brigade method"). In this case, after the link in layer N-1 is completed, the server device can allow the link in layer N or the setting of the termination flag. With this method, the completion of the product tree can be easily managed.

[0132] In the fourth stage, the information providing unit 114 of the server device 1 generates information about the product tree based on the stored multiple product information and outputs the information about the product tree. Generating information about the product tree refers to the following processing: after forming links between nodes by linking multiple product information, various types of information about the product (for example, information about traceability and an image showing the link relationship between products in a tree diagram) are generated. This process for generating information about the product tree is an example of information processing about the product tree. In order to generate information about the product tree, it is necessary to link all product information and set the termination flag of all leaf nodes to "1". When such conditions are met, the information providing unit 114 can generate information appropriately.

[0133] As reference Figure 2 As described above, the product tree in this embodiment is a tree diagram showing the supply relationship between multiple product information in the supply chain. The information providing unit 114 can generate an image showing the tree diagram based on the multiple product information.

[0134] When generating information about the product tree, the information providing unit 114 integrates a plurality of traceability-related information defined in a plurality of product information and outputs the result of the integration.

[0135] Will refer to Figure 13 To describe the integration of multiple traceability related information. Figure 13 The figure shows the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted during the production of the products X and the various processes used to produce them. For example, suppose that the production process of product A12 in the figure emits E A12 [g] of CO2. It is also assumed that this product is composed of three upstream products, A121 to A123. The upstream products included in a particular product will also be referred to as "incorporated products." The total amount of CO2 emitted until a particular target product is produced can be obtained by repeating the following process from the most upstream product at a leaf node to the target product: while referencing product information between companies at two adjacent hierarchical levels, the CO2 emissions associated with the upstream products are transferred to the downstream products.

[0136] exist Figure 13 In the example shown in Figure 2, when the target product is A12, the total amount of carbon dioxide emitted until product A12 is produced can be calculated by summing the CO2 emissions associated with the incorporated products (upstream products A121-A123) and the CO2 emissions associated with product A12. That is, the integrated CO2 emissions of product A12 are as follows.

[0137] I A12 =E A12 +E A121 XU A121 +E A122 XU A122 +E A123 XU A123 [g]

[0138] In this expression, E A121 、E A122 and E A123 are the CO2 emissions per unit when producing products A121, A122, and A123, respectively. In addition, U A121 、U A122 and U A123 These are the amounts of products A121, A122, and A123 used in the production of product A12, respectively. This usage is an example of the amount of material used per unit of product production in traceability-related information. The CO2 emissions of the final product (the product of the most downstream company) can be calculated by performing the above calculations sequentially, from the product of the most upstream company to the final product.

[0139] The same applies to the case where the target product is product A1. When the target product is A1, the total amount of carbon dioxide emitted in the manufacturing activities until product A1 is produced can be calculated by integrating the CO2 emissions associated with product A1 and the CO2 emissions associated with the incorporated products A11, A12, A13, and A14.

[0140] The integrated value may be stored in the storage unit 12 separately from the product information, or may be included as part of the product information. That is, the product information associated with the product A12 may store the E as a separate value for the emissions in the process. A12 and I as the integrated emissions A12 Both.

[0141] When integrating downstream products, the traceability-related information after integration is reused. By executing this process at each level starting from the most upstream side, traceability-related information (e.g., cumulative CO2 emissions) is sequentially transmitted downstream. When the traceability-related information is finally transmitted to the final product, traceability-related information (e.g., total CO2 emissions) associated with the entire period leading up to the final product's production can be obtained.

[0142] The product information referenced when integrating multiple traceability-related information can be stored in both the dedicated storage area and the shared storage area. In this case, it is preferable to reference the product information stored in the dedicated storage area. This is because items that downstream companies are not permitted to reference may be omitted from the product information stored in the shared storage area.

[0143] When storing target product information in both a dedicated storage area and a shared storage area, it is preferred to write the integrated result to the shared storage area. This is because if the integrated result is written to the dedicated storage area, the downstream company cannot refer to the integrated result. By writing the integrated result to the shared storage area, the downstream company with access rights can refer to the integrated result. The downstream company can refer to the integrated result, but cannot refer to the traceability related information specific to the upstream product (for example, the amount of CO2 emissions during the production process of the upstream product) because the downstream company cannot refer to the integrated result unless the upstream company gives permission (for example, in Figure 9A Otherwise, it is not written to the shared memory area.

[0144] In this way, when generating information about the product tree, the information providing unit 114 repeats the following process from the most upstream side to the most downstream side: sequentially integrating multiple traceability-related information defined in multiple product information. In the above example, carbon dioxide emissions are illustrated as the integration target, but traceability-related information that serves as an integration target can also include recycling rates related to predetermined raw materials, due diligence-related scores, and so on. When the traceability-related information is numerical, integration can be performed through numerical calculation. When the traceability-related information is non-numerical information (for example, due diligence-related information), integration may simply be information collection.

[0145] Traceability-related information does not need to be included in product information. For example, product information may include information indicating the location of traceability-related information for the corresponding product (hereinafter referred to as "location information," typically an address or pointer). In this case, integration may be the collection of location information included in product information.

[0146] The information providing unit 114 may output the generated product tree in an image format. The information providing unit 114 may also output traceability related information associated with any product. Figure 14 An example of a screen displaying a product tree as an image is shown. The displayed screen includes an image of a tree diagram showing the supply relationships between the products that make up the final product. When any product is selected, traceability-related information associated with that product or an integrated result of multiple traceability-related information associated with the entire period leading up to the product's production (e.g., total CO2 emissions from the most upstream side) can be viewed. This information can be output via the input / output device 14 of the server device 1 based on operations performed by the operator of the server device 1.

[0147] The information providing unit 114 can provide the generated product tree to the company terminal 2 (information acquiring unit 214) in response to a request from the company terminal 2. It may be inappropriate to disclose the entire product tree to a specific company. Therefore, when providing the product tree to the company terminal 2 associated with a specific company, the information providing unit 114 can perform processing to conceal the scope of the product tree that the company is not authorized to access.

[0148] exist Figure 13 In the example shown in Figure 1, information provision unit 114 receives a product tree disclosure request from company terminal 2 associated with the company that produces product A12. Assume that this company is granted access only to products A121, A122, and A123. In other words, this company cannot access product information other than those for these three products and downstream product A1. In this case, information provision unit 114 provides company terminal 2 with a product tree that hides information about multiple products for which the company does not have access rights.

[0149] Figure 15 An example of a product tree in which products without access rights are hidden is shown. In this example, a product tree is displayed in which detailed information (or existence) is hidden for undisclosed products.

[0150] In the case where the existence of a product is disclosed but access rights are not granted only to specific items in the corresponding product information, only the specific items are hidden, as shown by the dotted lines in the figure. In the example shown, the carbon dioxide emissions when producing product A121 are hidden.

[0151] Even if the tree includes products (or items) for which no access rights are granted, multiple traceability-related information is integrated without being affected. In the example shown, the CO2 emissions of product A121 are hidden, but the process of calculating the total CO2 emissions of product A12 is not affected.

[0152] Processing Flow

[0153] Next, we will refer to Figure 16 and Figure 17 The flow of processing executed by the server device 1 and the company terminal 2 is described. Figure 16 It is a sequence diagram corresponding to the first to third stages.

[0154] In one example, when the operator of each company logs into the server device 1 via the company terminal 2 by using the account of the corresponding company, the interaction between the server device 1 and the company terminal 2 starts. In this example, it is assumed that the operator of each company logs into the server device 1 by using the account of the company.

[0155] In step S11, the product information generation unit 211 of the company terminal 2 first obtains internal product information via the operator and transmits the obtained product information to the server device 1. The transmitted product information is received by the server device 1 (information collection unit 111) and stored in the storage unit 12 (step S12). At this time, the information collection unit 111 stores the product information in a storage area that is only accessible to the company that produces the corresponding product.

[0156] In step S13, the authority setting unit 212 of the company terminal 2 receives input of information (permission information) for specifying a downstream company that is permitted to access the product information sent in step S11 via the operator. In this step, a reference Figure 9A The user interface screen described above is used to specify any combination of a product and a downstream company that is permitted to access product information. The input permission information is sent to the server device 1.

[0157] In step S14, the authority setting unit 112 of the server device 1 grants the authority to access the target product information based on the received permission information. Figure 11 As described above, the authority setting unit 112 grants any company the authority to access any product information by copying the target product information to a storage area to which multiple companies are granted access. When there is no storage area with appropriate access rights, a process of creating a new storage area and granting access rights to the appropriate company can be performed.

[0158] When copying product information in this step, additional information can be assigned. For example, product information generated by an upstream company may include a product number. Because the product number is used by the upstream company, it may not be used by the downstream company as is. For example, the product number that the downstream company intends to use can be added as additional information to the copied product information.

[0159] In step S15, the link request unit 213 of the company terminal 2 transmits data (link request) for requesting the server device 1 to link the product information transmitted to the server device 1 to the upstream product. The link request includes the company ID of the company and the product ID of the target product.

[0160] In step S16, the server device 1 (link unit 113) generates a list of products that the target company is permitted to access, and provides a user interface screen including the list to the company terminal 2. The list of products that the target company is permitted to access can be extracted from a plurality of product information stored in a storage area that the company is permitted to access. In this step, the server device 1 can provide a reference to the company terminal 2. Figure 10 Describes the user interface screen to specify any combination of a product and the upstream products to be linked to it.

[0161] In step S17, the link request unit 213 of the company terminal 2 receives a designation of a combination of a target product and an upstream product to be linked to the target product from the operator. The link request unit 213 generates data (link data) indicating the association between the upstream product and the downstream product, and transmits the generated link data to the server device 1.

[0162] In step S18, the linking unit 113 of the server device 1 updates the stored plurality of product information based on the link data to reflect the details of the links between the plurality of product information. The plurality of product information can be linked by storing information (identifier, pointer, etc.) about the upstream product in the link-related information in the product information of the downstream product.

[0163] If there are no downstream companies, the processing of steps S13 and S14 can be omitted. Similarly, if there are no upstream companies (when there is no link destination for the target product), a process of setting a termination flag can be executed instead of requesting the linking of multiple product information. In this case, the processing of steps S15 to S18 is omitted.

[0164] Figure 17 This is a sequence diagram corresponding to the fourth stage. In step S21, the company terminal 2 (information acquisition unit 214) first requests the server device 1 to provide information about the product tree. This request includes, for example, an identifier of the target product. The target product can be a final product or any other product (intermediate product).

[0165] The server device 1 (information providing unit 114) that has received the request determines whether the product tree is finally completed (step S22). In this step, when the following conditions are met, it is determined that the product tree is finally completed.

[0166] (Condition 1) For multiple product information at all leaf nodes, the termination flag is set to "1"

[0167] The production tree is finally completed when the termination flags are set for all leaf nodes.

[0168] When even one of the leaf nodes in the product tree does not satisfy the above conditions, further linking may occur for the target product. In this case, the server device 1 (information providing unit 114) may return the determination result to the company terminal 2 and then terminate the process.

[0169] Next, server device 1 (information providing unit 114) generates information about the product tree through the above process (step S23). At this point, information providing unit 114 integrates the traceability-related information defined in the multiple product information items from the most upstream side to the most downstream side. The results of the integration are reflected in each product information item.

[0170] In step S24, based on the access rights granted to the target company, information for which the target company has no access rights is hidden. For example, if the existence of another company's product information is not disclosed to a specific company, the existence of the product information is hidden. If only a specific item in the product information is not disclosed, the details of the item are hidden. Information about the hidden product tree is provided to the company terminal 2 (information acquisition unit 214) and output.

[0171] In the embodiment described above, a system for collecting multiple pieces of product information from company terminals 2 and generating a product tree receives designations from each company terminal 2 regarding downstream companies permitted to access information about internal products, and based on these designations, links are created for the multiple pieces of product information. Access to this information is controlled by storing it in multiple storage areas to which each company is granted access. When the product tree is provided to each company terminal 2, information hiding is performed within the scope of each company's access rights. This configuration enables information collection across the entire supply chain while maintaining confidentiality.

[0172] The server device 1 according to the present embodiment stores information indicating whether each product information is the end point of the product tree. Therefore, the server device 1 can determine whether the product tree is complete.

[0173] Modification of the First Embodiment

[0174] In the first embodiment, the product tree is determined to be complete when the termination flag is set to "1" for multiple product information at all leaf nodes. However, for products linked at intermediate nodes, further linking may occur. For example, when a specific downstream product is linked to an upstream product, it may further link to a second upstream product and subsequent upstream products.

[0175] In consideration of such a situation, determination may be made in step S22 by using the following conditions in addition to condition 1.

[0176] (Condition 2) For a plurality of product information at all nodes except the leaf node, the link completion flag is set to "1"

[0177] By using both condition 1 and condition 2, you can ensure that the product tree is eventually completed.

[0178] Second embodiment

[0179] In the first embodiment, the server device 1 stores a plurality of account information of a plurality of companies in the supply chain, and the company terminal 2 logs into the server device 1 by using the plurality of account information.

[0180] When a company frequently joins and leaves a supply chain, there's a chance that account information won't be registered with server device 1 at the appropriate time. For example, if a downstream company wishes to link an internal product to an upstream product, but the upstream company's account information isn't registered in the system, the linking process won't work. This is because the company lacks both product information associated with the upstream product and access permissions for the upstream product. To address this issue, a second embodiment registers the account information of a new company joining the supply chain based on a request from a company already participating.

[0181] Figure 18 The software configuration of the server device 1 (control unit 11 ) according to the second embodiment is shown. Figure 19 The software configuration of the company terminal 2 (control unit 21) according to the second embodiment is shown. In the second embodiment, the server device 1 (control unit 11) further includes a software module for the management unit 115. This functional module can be implemented by the control unit 11 (CPU) executing a program stored in the storage unit 12. In the second embodiment, the company terminal 2 (control unit 21) further includes a software module for the management unit 215. This functional module can be implemented by the control unit 21 (CPU) executing a program stored in the storage unit 22.

[0182] Figure 20 This is a sequence diagram illustrating the processing performed by server device 1 and company terminal 2 in the second embodiment. The company terminal associated with the downstream company will be referred to as "company terminal 2A," and the company terminal associated with the upstream company will be referred to as "company terminal 2B." It is assumed that the upstream company participates in the supply chain, but its account information is not registered in server device 1.

[0183] When a downstream company wishes to link an in-house product to an upstream product, it needs to first register the account information of the upstream company in the server device 1 and then prompt the operator of the upstream company to register the product information and license information of the upstream product.

[0184] In step S31, company terminal 2A (management unit 215) first sends a participation petition to server device 1. The petition includes information identifying the upstream company and the upstream company's contact information (e.g., email address). Upon receiving the petition, server device 1 (management unit 115) sends a participation request to the designated address (step S32). The petition includes instructions for registering account information.

[0185] The participation request is received by the company terminal 2B (management unit 215). The management unit 215 of the company terminal 2B outputs guidance to the operator based on the received participation request, and receives a reply from the operator including whether to participate in the system. This reply is sent to the server device 1 (management unit 115).

[0186] If the reply indicates "Participation is possible", the server device 1 (management unit 115) generates account information associated with the upstream company, notifies the account information to the company terminal 2B, and notifies the result to the company terminal 2A (step S34). If the reply indicates "Participation is not possible", the server device 1 (management unit 115) notifies the result to the company terminal 2A.

[0187] The company terminal 2A outputs the result received from the server device 1 (step S35). Thus, the operator of the downstream company can know whether the upstream company participates (or does not participate) in the system. For example, the upstream company can register product information, register license information, or link product information by using the registered account information.

[0188] Third embodiment

[0189] In the first embodiment, the server device 1 determines whether the status of the product tree is finalized in step S22. In the third embodiment, when the status of the product tree is not finalized, the server device 1 sends an alarm to the company terminal 2 associated with the product causing this situation.

[0190] In the third embodiment, when the server device 1 determines in step S22 that the status of the product tree is not finalized, it executes Figure 21 , rather than terminating the process. Figure 21 is a sequence diagram of processing executed when the server device 1 determines in step S22 that the status of the product tree is not finally completed.

[0191] In step S41, server device 1 first identifies a temporary end-of-term product. A temporary end-of-term product is a product that is located at a leaf node of the product tree and may no longer be a leaf node in the future. Specifically, a temporary end-of-term product is a product that is located at a leaf node and has a termination flag other than "1."

[0192] In step S42, the server device 1 identifies the company terminal 2 to which the alert is to be sent. The company to which the alert is to be sent is a company having the authority to make the first and second requests for product information of the temporary terminal end product, and is generally a company that produces the temporary terminal end product.

[0193] In step S43, the server device 1 generates an alarm and sends it to the company terminal 2 identified in step S42. The alarm includes a guide indicating that the status of the target product has not been finally completed. The alarm requests (demands) a process of "setting a termination flag" or "completing the linking of the upstream product". Completing the linking of the upstream product includes not only linking the upstream product (for example, using Figure 10 ), and includes a statement that no further linking is to be performed (eg, marking a checkbox 1002).

[0194] In step S44, company terminal 2, having received the alert, outputs the details of the alert. Having viewed the details of the alert, the operator of company terminal 2 accesses server device 1 and performs operations to finalize the status of the target product. If the upstream company producing the link destination product is not participating in the system, a participation application can be sent to the upstream company as described in the second embodiment.

[0195] According to the third embodiment described above, the server device 1 can provide a reminder of the status of the finalized product tree.

[0196] In this embodiment, the company that produces the temporary end-point product is exemplified as the company to which the alert is sent. However, the alert can be sent to any other company, as long as it has permission to make the first and second requests for the product information of the temporary end-point product. For example, the company associated with the product information that constitutes the product tree can be a virtual company, or its name and existence can be hidden. In this case, the alert can be sent to the company that manages the existence of such company.

[0197] The company to which the alert is sent does not need to be authorized to make both the first and second requests for product information of a provisional end-point product. For example, if there is a first company with authorization for product information of a provisional end-point product and a second company that manages it, an alert can be sent to the second company. In this case, the company receiving the alert can issue a reminder to the first company under its management regarding the finalization of the product. Data indicating the relationship between such companies can be stored in server device 1.

[0198] In the present embodiment, the determination as to whether the product tree is finally completed (step S22) is made based on a request from the company terminal 2, but this determination may be made proactively by the server device 1. For example, this determination may be made periodically, and when it is determined that the product tree is finally completed, this fact may be notified to any company terminal 2 (for example, a company terminal 2 associated with the OEM company that finally assembles the product).

[0199] A determination as to whether the product tree is finalized can be made in response to a request from company terminal 2 associated with the most downstream company (the OEM product company). In this case, company terminal 2 associated with the most downstream company can send an alert to the target company. However, in this case, there is a possibility that the most downstream company is not granted access to the designated temporary end-point product. In this case, the most downstream company has no way of knowing to which company to send the alert.

[0200] One solution is to relay the alarm via other companies on the path between the temporary terminal end product and the most downstream company. Specifically, the product tree is traced in the direction from the leaf node associated with the temporary terminal end product to the root node to identify the most upstream product information that the most downstream company is permitted to access. When the product information that the most downstream company is permitted to access can be identified, an alarm is sent to the account of the company with the product information (the company that is permitted to view). The company that receives the alarm relays the alarm to the company on the upstream side. Therefore, the alarm can be delivered to the company that has authority over the temporary terminal end product. Using this method, each company can take measures to finally complete the product tree based on the instructions from the most downstream company.

[0201] In this embodiment, the server device 1 generates an alarm in response to the presence of a temporary end-end product (i.e., a product that is located at a leaf node but has its termination flag unset). However, an alarm may be generated in response to the presence of a product that has not yet been linked. For example, when a product that is located at a node other than a leaf node and has its link completion flag unset may be processed similarly to a temporary end-end product.

[0202] Revise

[0203] The above embodiments are merely illustrative, and the present disclosure may be modified appropriately without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. For example, the processes and devices described in the present disclosure may be combined as needed as long as no technical contradiction occurs.

[0204] In the description of the embodiment, the server device 1 stores the product information in the database, but the product information may be stored in a manner other than the database.

[0205] The description of the embodiment involves a server device 1 completing a product tree by executing stages 1 through 4. However, the role of server device 1 can be distributed across multiple company terminals 2. For example, product information can be stored in a distributed database using a blockchain infrastructure. In this case, multiple company terminals 2 can construct a product information database. In this case, smart contracts can be used to execute the processes in each stage. For example, the second stage can be executed in response to permission information being written to the database using a specific company account. The third stage can be executed in response to a link request being written to the database using a specific company account.

[0206] The storage area storing multiple product information may be distributed among multiple company terminals 2. In this case, the dedicated storage area may be provided only in the company terminal 2 of the corresponding company. The shared storage area may be distributed among multiple company terminals 2 related to sharing.

[0207] The description of the embodiments relates to an example in which adjacent companies in a supply chain are permitted to access any product information. However, companies that are not adjacent in the supply chain can share product information. For example, when companies that do not have a direct business relationship need to share information for the purpose of legal compliance, these companies can share specific product information. Even in this case, as in the first embodiment, a shared storage area is set up to which companies are granted access, and the required data is copied. The shared storage area can be generated based on the permission of the company whose product information will be referenced. A secret key can be used to control access to the dedicated storage area and the shared storage area. In this case, electronic authentication of access control can be performed through a public key infrastructure. When a blockchain infrastructure is used for each storage area, access control can be performed through a smart contract.

[0208] In the description of the embodiment, the second stage is started by sending permission information from the company terminal 2 of the upstream company to the server device 1. However, the second stage can be started by the company terminal 2 of the downstream company. In this case, the company terminal 2 of the downstream company can send information (permission request) for requesting permission to access the upstream product to the server device 1, and the company terminal 2 of the upstream company can generate permission information in response thereto. The company terminal 2 of the downstream company can send the permission request and the link data to the server device 1 at the same time. When the downstream company can identify the link destination product (by product number, etc.), the link data can be sent from the downstream company before the granting of access rights.

[0209] The setting of access rights to the storage area can be implemented by the operating system of the server device 1, or by any other authentication system. For example, a public key cryptography system can be used. When the system is implemented using a blockchain infrastructure, access rights can be granted using electronic keys.

[0210] In the description of the embodiment, the stage in which server device 1 receives product information about an upstream product and the stage in which server device 1 receives license information associated with the product information are described separately, but both can be received simultaneously. In the description of the embodiment, the stage in which server device 1 receives product information about a downstream product and the stage in which server device 1 receives a link request associated with the product information are described separately, but both can be received simultaneously.

[0211] In the above embodiments, the companies in the supply chain are described as companies that produce products. However, the companies in the supply chain do not need to be companies that produce products. For example, companies that transport, import, store or wholesale products can also be included in the companies that make up the supply chain. In one example, some companies can be companies that do not perform the manufacturing process, such as trading companies, sales agents or import agents, and can receive products from companies at a higher level (upstream companies) and deliver products to companies at a lower level (downstream companies).

[0212] In the above embodiment, assuming the supply chain for automotive products, the OEM is described as the most downstream company, and companies that supply components, materials, and subassemblies are described as suppliers. However, the companies in the supply chain are not necessarily limited to these companies. The companies at each stage can be appropriately determined based on the product, etc. The manufacturing activities performed by a company until the final product is obtained can be appropriately determined according to the embodiment and can include all activities that can be performed until the final product is obtained, such as excavation, machining, assembly, transportation, and storage.

[0213] In the above embodiment, access control for each company is achieved by providing a dedicated storage area and a shared storage area. However, the method for achieving access control is not limited to such an example. Any method can be used for access control.

[0214] The embodiment is described with respect to a form in which an upstream company grants a downstream company access to product information (second stage) and then the downstream company requests the server device 1 to link a plurality of product information (third stage). However, these processes may be executed continuously based on a request from a downstream company.

[0215] For example, the company terminal 2 of the downstream company sends a request (hereinafter referred to as a "disclosure request") including information for specifying a combination of a downstream product and an upstream product to be linked to the server device 1. This request is for requesting the upstream company to grant permission to access the upstream product and for requesting the server device 1 to link multiple product information.

[0216] The server device 1 that receives the disclosure request transmits the disclosure request to the company terminal 2 of the upstream company, and in response thereto, the company terminal 2 of the upstream company executes Figure 16 In one example, the server device 1 that has received the license information performs the processing of step S14 without waiting for the link request and also performs the processing of step S18. That is, the disclosure request may include a link request. In step S18, the server device 1 performs processing for linking the plurality of product information identified by the disclosure request. In this way, the server device 1 may omit the processing of step S14. Figure 16 Partial processing shown in .

[0217] In another example, server device 1 may notify the downstream company's company terminal 2 of the result of automatically executing step S18. Alternatively, before automatically executing step S18, server device 1 may send a notification to the downstream company's company terminal 2 requesting permission to execute step S18. Server device 1 may execute step S18 based on a permission response from the downstream company's company terminal 2. In yet another example, even when a disclosure request has already been made, server device 1 may execute step S18 in response to a link request from the downstream company's company terminal 2. That is, the disclosure request need not include a link request.

[0218] In the description of the embodiments, it is assumed that the upstream company and the downstream company are different companies, that is, the upstream and downstream products are produced by different companies. In the above embodiments, the most upstream company can be the upstream company, and the most downstream company can be the downstream company. Each company other than the most upstream company and the most downstream company can be both an upstream company and a downstream company. Therefore, in the second stage, the company terminal 2 of each company can set its company (target company) as the upstream company and send a permission command to the server device 1, which includes the designation of the downstream company that is permitted to access product information regarding internal products. The internal product is an example of the first target product of the target company, and the product information regarding the internal product is an example of the first product information regarding the first target product. In response, the server device 1 can set access rights. In the third stage, the company terminal 2 of each company can set its company as the downstream company and send a termination flag setting request or a link request to the server device 1, which includes the selection of product information to be linked to the product information regarding the internal product from among multiple product information items that the company is permitted to access by its upstream company. In this case, the internal product is an example of the second target product of the target company, and the product information regarding the internal product is an example of the second product information regarding the second target product. In response to this, server device 1 may process the link or termination flag. The first target product (the target to which access is permitted) and the second target product (the target to which the link or termination flag is assigned) may be the same or different. When the first target product and the second target product are the same, the first product information and the second product information may be the same. When the first target product and the second target product are different, the first product information and the second product information may be different.

[0219] The above embodiment shows an example of calculating CO2 emissions (product carbon footprint (CFP) value). The CFP value can be calculated using the following calculation formula.

[0220] CFP value of layer N-1 = CFP value measured inside layer N-1 + Σ k(CFP value of company k (tier N) × usage u in tier N-1) k )

[0221] In this formula, the "CFP value of layer N-1" indicates the integrated result of the CFP value of the upstream company (company k (layer N)) and the CFP value of the company of interest. The internally measured CFP value indicates the CFP value included in the product information of each company. When layer N is the most upstream company, the "CFP value of layer N" is the CFP value included in the product information of that company. In other cases, the "CFP value of layer N" is the integrated result of the CFP value of the upstream company (layer N+1) and the CFP value included in the product information of the company of interest. When layer N is set to the most upstream company (end-end company) and the calculation is repeated until N=1, the CFP value of the layer 0 product (=final product) can be obtained.

[0222] In the above embodiment, the server device 1 may calculate the recycling rate and due diligence (score) together with or instead of calculating the CO2 emission amount (CFP value). The recycling rate may be calculated by the following calculation formula.

[0223] “(Recycling rate of target substance in layer N-1 products) = {(Total usage in layer N-1) × (Recycling rate in layer N-1) + Σ k (Total usage in company k (tier N) × Recycling rate in company k (tier N) × Usage in tier N-1 u k )}÷{total usage in layer N-1+Σ k (Total usage in company k (tier N) × usage in tier N-1 u k )}={recycled material usage in layer N-1+Σ k (Amount of recycled materials used in company k (tier N) × amount used in tier N-1 u k )}÷{total usage in layer N-1+Σ k (Total usage in company k (tier N) × usage in tier N-1 u k )}”

[0224] The recycled material usage indicates the amount of recycled material used in the target substance. Similar to the CFP value, the recycling rate of the target substance in the final product can be calculated by performing a sequential calculation starting from the most upstream company (the final end company). By performing a calculation similar to the calculation of the CFP value and the recycling rate, a due diligence score (DD score) can be integrated. In one example, the DD score (integrated result) in the final product can be obtained by replacing the CFP value with the DD score and performing a sequential calculation starting from the most upstream company (the final end company).

[0225] In the above embodiment, the traceability-related information of each company (layer N-1) other than the most upstream company does not need to be stored in the shared storage area between the company and its downstream companies, and the integration results of each company (the CFP value of layer N-1 and the recycling rate of the target substance in the layer N-1 product) can be stored in the shared storage area between the company and its downstream company (layer N-2). Therefore, the traceability-related information (integration result) of the final product can be obtained without disclosing the traceability-related information of each company.

[0226] In the above embodiment, it is assumed that each company places an order for a specific material from one company. However, in the above embodiment, the order format of each company is not limited to such an example. At least some companies belonging to the supply chain can place orders for the same product from multiple upstream companies and selectively use the obtained upstream products for internal products. Figure 13 In the example of , product A11_1, product A11_2 or product A11_3 in layer 2 can be selectively used for product A1 in layer 1. In this case, the server device 1 can save the link relationship of each pattern for use. In the above example, the server device 1 can save multiple link information of product A1 in layer 1, such as pattern 1 "product A11_1 in layer 2, ...", pattern 2 "product A11_2, ...", and pattern 3 "product A11_3, ...". In response to this, the server device 1 can perform calculation (integration) of traceability related information for each pattern. In one example, the server device 1 can output the calculation results for each pattern. In another example, the server device 1 can calculate statistics such as the maximum value, minimum value, mean value, variance, standard deviation and median of the calculation results based on the calculation results, and output the calculated statistics.

[0227] In the above embodiment, the traceability related information (particularly, the CFP value) may consist of primary data, or may consist of secondary data (inventory data). The primary data is a measurement value, and the secondary data is a reference value to be used when no measurement value is obtained. In this case, the calculation (integration) of the traceability related information may include calculating the primary data ratio of the traceability related information obtained for the final product. The primary data ratio may be calculated by a simple ratio calculation, or may be calculated by a weighted calculation that involves replacing the CFP value with the primary data ratio of each company in the above CFP value calculation formula and performing sequential calculation starting from the most upstream company.

[0228] A process described as being performed by a single device may be performed by multiple devices in cooperation. Alternatively, a process described as being performed by different devices may be performed by a single device. In a computer system, the hardware configuration (server configuration) that implements a function can be flexibly changed.

[0229] The present disclosure may be embodied so that a computer program that realizes the functions described in the above embodiments is supplied to a computer and read and executed by one or more processors of the computer. The computer program may be provided to the computer by being stored in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that is connectable to a system bus of the computer, or may be provided to the computer via a network. Examples of non-transitory computer-readable storage media include: any type of disk or disc (such as a magnetic disk (floppy (registered trademark) disk and hard disk drive (HDD) etc.) and optical disk (compact disk ROM (CD-ROM), digital versatile disk (DVD) and Blu-ray disc etc.)), read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), EPROM, electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), magnetic card, flash memory, optical card, and any type of medium suitable for storing electronic instructions.

Claims

1. A server device (1), comprising: a storage device (12) configured to store, for each company in the supply chain, a plurality of product information about a plurality of products of the company; as well as a control unit (11), Wherein, the control unit (11) is configured as follows: Assuming that each company in the supply chain is a target company, receiving from an account of the target company any one of: (i) a first request for linking second product information about an upstream product of an upstream company of the target company in the supply chain to first product information about a target product of the target company, and (ii) assigning termination information indicating a termination end to the second request for the first product information, Create a product tree showing the relationship between the company's products by reflecting each received request, Perform information processing related to the created product tree, and Outputs the results of executing information processing.

2. The server device (1) according to claim 1, wherein: The linking includes associating the target product as a parent node on the product tree and associating the upstream product as a child node on the product tree; The information processing related to the product tree includes determining whether to assign termination information to a plurality of product information about all products associated with leaf nodes of the product tree; and Outputting the result of executing the information processing includes outputting the result of determining whether the termination information is assigned.

3. The server device (1) according to claim 2, wherein: The first request includes a designation as to whether the linking has been completed for the first product information; The control unit (11) is further configured to assign status information indicating whether the linking has been completed to the first product information in response to a designation included in the first request; The information processing related to the product tree further includes referring to a plurality of status information assigned to a plurality of product information on all products associated with nodes other than leaf nodes of the product tree, and determining whether the linking has been completed for the plurality of product information on all products; and Outputting the result of executing the information processing includes outputting a result of determining whether the linking has been completed.

4. The server device (1) according to claim 1, wherein: The linking includes associating the target product as a parent node on the product tree and associating the upstream product as a child node on the product tree; Information processing related to the product tree includes: Identify the products associated with the leaf nodes of the product tree, and determining whether any one of a first request and a second request has been received for product information about each identified product to check whether there is a temporary terminal-end product which is a product temporarily located at the terminal end due to non-reception of the first request and the second request; and Outputting the result of performing the information processing includes outputting an alert to an account of a temporary terminal end company having authority to make each request for product information about the temporary terminal end product when the result of the checking shows that the temporary terminal end product exists.

5. The server device (1) according to claim 1, wherein: The linking includes associating the target product as a parent node on the product tree and associating the upstream product as a child node on the product tree; The product information includes setting information indicating a company that is permitted to view the product information; Information processing related to the product tree includes: In response to a request from an account of the most downstream company, identifying a product associated with a leaf node of a target product tree to which the target end product belongs as a root node, and determining whether any one of a first request and a second request has been received for a plurality of product information on all identified products to check whether there is a temporary terminal end product which is a product temporarily located at the terminal end due to non-reception of the first request and the second request; and The result of outputting the execution information processing includes: when the result of the check shows that the temporary terminal end product exists, performing at least one of the following: (A) giving a notification about the reminder to the account of the temporary terminal end company that has the authority to make each request for product information about the temporary terminal end product; and (B) when the most downstream company is not permitted to view the product information about the temporary terminal end product, identifying the product information that the most downstream company is permitted to view by tracing the target product tree from the leaf node associated with the temporary terminal end product that the most downstream company is not permitted to view to the root node, and giving a notification about the request for the reminder to the account of the company that is permitted to view the identified product information.

6. The server device (1) according to claim 1, wherein: The linking includes associating the target product as a parent node on the product tree and associating the upstream product as a child node on the product tree; as well as Receiving each request includes prohibiting receipt of the second request when the node associated with the target product is not a leaf node on the product tree to which the target product belongs.

7. The server device (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein: The information processing related to the product tree includes generating a tree diagram showing the product tree; and Outputting the result of executing the information processing includes outputting the generated tree diagram.

8. The server device (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein: Product information includes traceability related information; The linking includes associating the target product as a parent node on the product tree and associating the upstream product as a child node on the product tree; The information processing related to the product tree includes: repeating the transmission and integration of a plurality of traceability-related information included in a plurality of product information on a plurality of products belonging to the product tree, starting from an upstreammost product belonging to the product tree as a leaf node, as termination information is assigned to the product of interest belonging to the product tree as a root node; and Outputting a result of executing the information processing includes outputting an integrated result of the plurality of traceability-related information.

9. The server device (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein: Product information includes location information in traceability related information; The information processing related to the product tree includes collecting a plurality of position information included in a plurality of product information about related products belonging to the product tree; as well as Outputting the result of executing the information processing includes outputting the collected plurality of position information.

10. An information processing method performed by a server device (1), the server device comprising a storage device (12), the storage device being configured to store, for each company in a supply chain, a plurality of product information about a plurality of products of the company, the information processing method comprising: Assuming that each company in the supply chain is a target company, receiving any of the following from an account of the target company: (i) a first request for linking second product information about an upstream product of an upstream company of the target company in the supply chain to first product information about a target product of the target company, and (ii) assigning termination information indicating a termination end to the second request for the first product information; creating a product tree showing relationships between the company's products by reflecting each received request; Perform information processing related to the created product tree; as well as Outputs the results of executing information processing.

11. The information processing method according to claim 10, wherein: The linking includes associating the target product as a parent node on the product tree and associating the upstream product as a child node on the product tree; The information processing related to the product tree includes determining whether to assign termination information to a plurality of product information about all products associated with leaf nodes of the product tree; and Outputting the result of executing the information processing includes outputting the result of determining whether the termination information is assigned.

12. The information processing method according to claim 11, in, The first request includes a specification as to whether the link has been completed for the first product information, The information processing method further includes assigning, in response to a designation included in the first request, status information indicating whether the linking has been completed to the first product information, wherein the information processing related to the product tree further includes: referring to a plurality of status information assigned to a plurality of product information on all products associated with nodes other than leaf nodes of the product tree, and determining whether the linking has been completed for the plurality of product information on all products; and Wherein, outputting the result of executing the information processing includes outputting the result of determining whether the linking has been completed.

13. The information processing method according to claim 10, wherein: The linking includes associating the target product as a parent node on the product tree and associating the upstream product as a child node on the product tree; Information processing related to the product tree includes: Identify the products associated with the leaf nodes of the product tree, and determining whether any one of a first request and a second request has been received for product information about each identified product to check whether there is a temporary terminal-end product which is a product temporarily located at the terminal end due to non-reception of the first request and the second request; and Outputting the result of performing the information processing includes outputting an alert to an account of a temporary terminal end company having authority to make each request for product information about the temporary terminal end product when the result of the checking shows that the temporary terminal end product exists.

14. The information processing method according to claim 10, wherein: The linking includes associating the target product as a parent node on the product tree and associating the upstream product as a child node on the product tree; The product information includes setting information indicating a company that is permitted to view the product information; Information processing related to the product tree includes: In response to a request from an account of the most downstream company, identifying a product associated with a leaf node of a target product tree to which the target end product belongs as a root node, and determining whether any one of a first request and a second request has been received for a plurality of product information on all identified products to check whether there is a temporary terminal end product which is a product temporarily located at the terminal end due to non-reception of the first request and the second request; and The execution result of the output information processing includes: when the result of the check shows that the temporary terminal end product exists, performing at least one of the following items: (A) giving a notification about the reminder to the account of the temporary terminal end company that has the authority to make each request for product information about the temporary terminal end product; and (B) when the most downstream company is not permitted to view the product information about the temporary terminal end product, identifying the product information that the most downstream company is permitted to view by tracing the target product tree from the leaf node associated with the temporary terminal end product that the most downstream company is not permitted to view to the root node, and giving a notification about the request for the reminder to the account of the company that is permitted to view the identified product information.

15. The information processing method according to claim 10, wherein: The linking includes associating the target product as a parent node on the product tree and associating the upstream product as a child node on the product tree; as well as Receiving each request includes prohibiting receipt of the second request when the node associated with the target product is not a leaf node on the product tree to which the target product belongs.

16. The information processing method according to any one of claims 10 to 15, wherein: The information processing related to the product tree includes generating a tree diagram showing the product tree; and Outputting the result of executing the information processing includes outputting the generated tree diagram.

17. The information processing method according to any one of claims 10 to 16, wherein: Product information includes traceability related information; The linking includes associating the target product as a parent node on the product tree and associating the upstream product as a child node on the product tree; The information processing related to the product tree includes: repeating the transmission and integration of a plurality of traceability-related information included in a plurality of product information on a plurality of products belonging to the product tree, starting from an upstreammost product belonging to the product tree as a leaf node, as termination information is assigned to the product of interest belonging to the product tree as a root node; and Outputting a result of executing the information processing includes outputting an integrated result of the plurality of traceability-related information.

18. The information processing method according to any one of claims 10 to 17, wherein: Product information includes location information in traceability related information; The information processing related to the product tree includes collecting a plurality of position information included in a plurality of product information about related products belonging to the product tree; as well as Outputting the result of executing the information processing includes outputting the collected plurality of position information.

19. A storage medium storing instructions for causing an information processing device to execute a function, the information processing device being configured to communicate with a server device (1), the server device being configured to store a plurality of product information regarding a plurality of products of respective companies in a supply chain, the function comprising: After accessing the server device (1) using the account of the target company, any one of the following is sent to the server device (1): (i) linking second product information about an upstream product of an upstream company of the target company in the supply chain to a first request for first product information about the target product of the target company, and (ii) assigning termination information indicating a terminal end to the second request for the first product information.

20. A server device (1), comprising: a storage device (12) configured to store, for each company in the supply chain, a plurality of product information about a plurality of products of the company; as well as a control unit (11), Wherein, the control unit (11) is configured as follows: Assuming that each company in the supply chain is a target company, receiving any one of the following from an account of the target company: (i) linking second product information about an upstream product of an upstream company of the target company in the supply chain to first product information about a target product of the target company, and (ii) assigning termination information indicating a termination end to the second request for the first product information, and In response to each request received from a company, link information and termination information are stored in the storage device (12).

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