Server apparatus, information processing method, and non-transitory storage medium

Abstract

A server device includes: a memory device including a dedicated storage area and configured to store a plurality of pieces of product information of a plurality of companies, a supply chain including an upstream company and a downstream company; and a control unit configured to: issue, to an upstream company, a key indicating a write permission to a dedicated storage area of a downstream company; receiving, from an upstream company, a designation to a downstream company, the designation being a designation for permitting access to a plurality of first product information regarding an upstream product; writing the plurality of pieces of first product information into a dedicated storage area of a downstream company by using a key issued from the downstream company; receiving a link request from an account of the downstream company, the link request including a selection of first product information to be linked to second product information about the downstream product; and generating link information indicating the link relationship.

Description

Background Art

[0001] 1. Technical Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates to a server device, an information processing method and a non-transitory storage medium.

[0003] 2. Description of Related Technology

[0004] A system for sharing information between a plurality of companies constituting a supply chain is known. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-171146 (JP2004-171146A) discloses a system for sharing product information between adjacent suppliers. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present disclosure provides a server device, an information processing method, and a non-transitory storage medium for collecting information about a supply chain.

[0006] The server device according to the first aspect of the present disclosure includes: a memory device including a dedicated storage area associated with a company and configured to store, for each company in a supply chain, a plurality of product information about a plurality of products of the plurality of companies by storing the plurality of product information about the plurality of products of the plurality of companies in the associated dedicated storage area, the supply chain including an upstream company and a downstream company defined between companies in a pair of adjacent layers; and a control unit configured to execute, between the companies in the pair of adjacent layers: issuing a key indicating a write permission to the dedicated storage area of ​​the downstream company to the upstream company in response to a request from an account of the downstream company; and receiving a write request from the account of the upstream company. Receive a designation of a downstream company, which is a designation for permitting access to multiple first product information about multiple upstream products of the upstream company; in response to the permission for access, write the multiple first product information into a dedicated storage area of ​​the designated downstream company by using a key issued from the designated downstream company; receive a link request from an account of the downstream company, the link request including a selection of first product information to be linked to second product information about the downstream products of the downstream company from among the multiple first product information written in the dedicated storage area of ​​the downstream company; and generate link information in response to the received link request, the link information indicating the relationship of the link specified by the link request.

[0007] An information processing method according to a second aspect of the present disclosure is performed by a server device including a memory device configured to store a plurality of product information on a plurality of products of a plurality of companies for respective companies in a supply chain and a control unit. The information processing method includes: between companies in a pair of adjacent layers, in response to a request from an account of a downstream company, issuing a key indicating write permission for a dedicated storage area of ​​the downstream company to the upstream company, the supply chain includes an upstream company and a downstream company defined between the companies in the pair of adjacent layers, the memory device includes a dedicated storage area associated with the company, and the multiple product information of the multiple companies are stored in the associated dedicated storage area; receiving a designation of the downstream company from the account of the upstream company, which is a designation for permitting access to multiple first product information about the upstream products of the upstream company; in response to the permission for access, writing the multiple first product information into the dedicated storage area of ​​the designated downstream company by using the key issued from the designated downstream company; receiving a link request from the account of the downstream company, the link request including selection of first product information to be linked to second product information about the downstream products of the downstream company from the multiple first product information written in the dedicated storage area of ​​the downstream company; and generating link information in response to the received link request, the link information indicating the relationship of the link specified by the link request.

[0008] According to the third aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory storage medium stores instructions, which can be executed by one or more processors in an information processing device of a target company, the information processing device is configured to communicate with a server device, and the instructions cause the one or more processors to perform functions, the functions including: assuming that the target company acts as a downstream company, issuing a first key indicating write permission for a dedicated storage area of ​​the target company to an upstream company of the target company, or sending a request to the server device to issue a first key to the upstream company of the target company, the server device including a memory device, the memory device being configured to store information about multiple companies for each company in the supply chain multiple product information of multiple products of the target company, the supply chain includes an upstream company and a downstream company defined between companies in a pair of adjacent layers, the memory device includes a dedicated storage area associated with the multiple companies; assuming that the target company acts as an upstream company, receives a designation of a downstream company of the target company, which is permitted to access multiple first product information about the first target product of the target company; and in response to the receipt of the designation, writes the multiple first product information into the dedicated storage area of ​​the designated downstream company by using a second key issued from the designated downstream company, or causes the server device to write the multiple first product information into the dedicated storage area of ​​the designated downstream company.

[0009] Another aspect relates to a program for causing a computer to execute the above method, or a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing the program.

[0010] According to the present disclosure, information about the supply chain can be collected. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] 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:

[0012] Figure 1 A supply chain according to a first embodiment is shown;

[0013] Figure 2 shows the relationships between products supplied by the supply chain;

[0014] Figure 3 shows an outline of the processing performed between the company terminal and the server device;

[0015] Figure 4 is a hardware configuration diagram of a server device according to the first embodiment;

[0016] Figure 5is a hardware configuration diagram of a company terminal according to the first embodiment;

[0017] Figure 6 is a software configuration diagram of the server device according to the first embodiment;

[0018] Figure 7 is a software configuration diagram of a company terminal according to the first embodiment;

[0019] Figure 8 An example of product information generated by a product information generating unit is shown;

[0020] Figure 9A shows an example of a screen output by the authority setting unit;

[0021] Figure 9B An example of permission information generated by the authority setting unit based on input information is shown;

[0022] Figure 10 An example of a user interface including a list of products as link destination candidates is shown;

[0023] Figure 11 shows the flow of processing performed by the server device;

[0024] Figure 12 Showing product information for multiple links;

[0025] Figure 13A The product tree and the amount of CO2 emitted in each process are shown;

[0026] Figure 13B A method for delivering integration results is shown;

[0027] Figure 14 An example of a screen showing a product tree output as an image is shown;

[0028] Figure 15 An example of a product tree is shown where products without access rights are hidden;

[0029] Figure 16 is a sequence diagram showing processes performed by the server device and the company terminal in the second and third stages;

[0030] Figure 17 is a sequence diagram showing processing performed by the server device and the company terminal in the fourth stage; and

[0031] Figure 18 is a flowchart of the key issuance process in the second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0032] 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.

[0033] 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.

[0034] 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.

[0035] 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."

[0036] 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.

[0037] Each company except the most downstream company can provide information indicating the product supply relationship with multiple companies. Since information such as the company's business partners, detailed information about internal products, and material suppliers is highly confidential, it is not preferable to disclose this information to all unrelated companies. That is, the existing system has the problem of difficulty in tracking carbon footprints while maintaining confidentiality. This problem is not limited to the case of collecting information about carbon footprints. In each case of collecting any information about a product, such as other traceability-related information (for example, recycling rates of raw materials or due diligence information) or other information about the product (for example, components or identification information), this problem may occur. The server device of the present disclosure solves such a problem.

[0038] 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 items regarding a plurality of products of a plurality of companies; and a control unit. The supply chain includes an upstream company and a downstream company defined between companies in a pair of adjacent layers. The storage device includes a dedicated storage area associated with each company. The plurality of product information items of the plurality of companies are stored in the associated dedicated storage area. The control unit is configured to perform, between the companies in this pair of adjacent layers: in response to a request from the account of the downstream company, issuing a key indicating write permission to the dedicated storage area of ​​the downstream company to the upstream company; receiving, from the account of the upstream company, a designation of a downstream company that is permitted to access multiple first product information about multiple upstream products of the upstream company; in response to permission for access, writing multiple first product information into the dedicated storage area of ​​the designated downstream company by using the key issued from the designated downstream company; receiving a link request from the account of the downstream company, the link request including a selection of first product information to be linked to second product information about the downstream products of the downstream company from among the multiple first product information written in the dedicated storage area of ​​the downstream company; and in response to the received link request, generating link information indicating the relationship of the link specified by the link request.

[0039] In a supply chain, a company on the upstream side delivers products to a company on the downstream side. The most downstream company is the company that assembles the final product (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 as products that constitute (incorporate into) downstream products. Information about upstream products will be referred to as "first product information", and information about downstream products will be referred to as "second product information".

[0040] The server device according to the present disclosure stores multiple product information for each company and performs processing for linking multiple product information (processing for associating downstream products with upstream products) based on the link request obtained from each company's account. The link request is a request for linking multiple product information (i.e., upstream product information and downstream product information). The control unit generates link information in response to the link request and stores it in the storage device. The link information is information indicating the link relationship between the information about the downstream product and the information about the upstream product. By repeating this process, the server device can create a product tree associated with the final product.

[0041] When a downstream company producing a downstream product specifies the upstream product to which the downstream product is linked, multiple product information items can be linked. When there are multiple suppliers, a method for selecting an upstream product from a list is conceivable. However, from the perspective of information protection, listing information on all companies and all products in the supply chain is not preferred.

[0042] Therefore, the server device according to the present disclosure enables an upstream company to pre-designate downstream companies that are permitted to access information about internal products (first commodity information), and discloses only the product information that is permitted to be accessed to the downstream companies. The downstream companies select (or designate) the product information to be linked to the internal products from among the plurality of product information that the upstream company permits access to.

[0043] When access permission is issued, the control unit copies a plurality of first product information stored in the dedicated storage area of ​​the upstream company (i.e., a storage area to which only the upstream company is permitted to access) to a storage area to which only the downstream company is permitted to access. To achieve this, the control unit, in response to a request from the downstream company, issues a key indicating write permission for the dedicated storage area of ​​the downstream company to the upstream company in advance, and writes the plurality of first product information into the storage area by using the key in response to the request from the upstream company. The product information copied to the dedicated storage area of ​​the downstream company can be referenced from the account of the downstream company. Through this process, the upstream company can grant the downstream company permission to access specific product information.

[0044] By using a server device according to the present disclosure, the supply relationship of products between companies can be clarified. In the server device according to the present disclosure, the product information of the upstream company is written into the dedicated storage area of ​​the upstream company and the dedicated storage area of ​​the designated company (usually the designated downstream company), and is not written into the dedicated storage areas of other companies. Therefore, only the upstream company and the designated company can be permitted to access information about internal products, thereby ensuring the confidentiality of product information. The product information of the upstream company is shared between the upstream company and the designated company by writing it into the dedicated storage area of ​​the designated company using the key of the designated company. Therefore, there is no need to provide a storage area shared between the upstream company and the designated company in order to share product information. As a result, storage area management is facilitated. The present disclosure does not exclude the provision of a shared storage area. In another form, a storage area shared between two or more companies can be provided for any purpose.

[0045] The product information stored in the server device may include traceability-related information. Traceability-related information may typically be digital information, such as greenhouse gas emissions, recycling rates of raw materials, or scores related to due diligence. Multiple traceability-related information (digital information) collected from a company may be integrated by any arithmetic processing. Traceability-related information does not need to be limited to such a format. In another example, traceability-related information may include document information, such as technical documentation related to due diligence. In this case, the integration of multiple traceability-related information may include the collection of multiple document information.

[0046] Based on the above content, the control unit can be configured to further perform: obtaining multiple traceability-related information included in the product information of one or more incorporated products and the product information of the target product, wherein the one or more incorporated products are included in the target product and are identified from the link information related to the target product; integrating the multiple traceability-related information obtained for the one or more incorporated products and the target product; and outputting the integration result.

[0047] For any target product (usually a final product, but it can be any other product), the control unit obtains a plurality of traceability-related information about the arbitrary target product and the incorporated product, and integrates the obtained plurality of traceability-related information. An incorporated product is one or more products included in the target product and produced on the upstream side of the target product. When the target product is a layer 0 product, the incorporated product is a product in layer 1 or higher (such as layer 1 or layer 2). An incorporation relationship can also be established within the incorporated product included in the target product, as in the case of a layer 2 product for a layer 1 product. By integrating a plurality of traceability-related information, it is possible to track information on greenhouse gas emissions, etc. while targeting any level in the supply chain.

[0048] A plurality of traceability-related information can be integrated by repeating the following processing: (A) in a product tree to which a target product belongs as a root node, between companies in a pair of adjacent layers, within a range from the most upstream product belonging to the product tree as a leaf node to the target product, a process of transmitting the traceability-related information of an upstream product to a downstream product; and (B) integrating the transmitted traceability-related information of the upstream product and the traceability-related information derived from the downstream product, and obtaining the result of the integration as the traceability-related information of the downstream product. The control unit can store the result of the integration in a dedicated storage area of ​​the downstream company. By repeating this process, the control unit continuously performs the process of integrating the traceability-related information of the upstream product and the traceability-related information derived from the downstream product from the upstream side to the downstream side of the supply chain. Therefore, a plurality of traceability-related information can be integrated according to the product tree, and an integration result of a plurality of traceability-related information for the target product can be obtained (i.e., information about the target product with respect to the target traceability item can be derived).

[0049] 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 and other specific configurations described in each embodiment are not intended to limit the technical scope of the present disclosure to these configurations.

[0050] First embodiment

[0051] 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.

[0052] First, the structure of the supply chain will be described. Figure 1 An example of a supply chain according to this embodiment is shown. Figure 1 In the example, suppose we obtain products related to cars. Figure 1The 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).

[0053] 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.

[0054] Figure 2 The relationship between products supplied by the supply chain is shown. The supply relationship between multiple products that make up the final product X is represented by a tree diagram. In this example, the final product X is produced by assembling products A1, B1, C1, D1, etc. Product A1 is produced by assembling products A11, A12, A13, etc. In this way, the relationship between multiple products that make up the final product can be represented by a tree diagram in which each product serves as a node. The tree diagram of a specific final product will be referred to as a "product tree" hereinafter. In one example, the final product X is a battery to be installed on a battery electric vehicle (BEV). In another example, the final product X can be a car or a car-related product, such as an automotive assembly.

[0055] In a supply chain, the layer depth of all upstream companies is not necessarily the same. Figure 2In the example of , the companies producing products A111, A121, A122, A123, B1, C1, and D1 are the most upstream companies. Among these companies, the companies producing products B1, C1, and D1 are in layer 1, and the companies producing products A111, A121, A122, and A123 are in layer 3. In this case, the layer depth in the entire supply chain can be calculated based on the deepest most upstream company. That is, the layer depth of the supply chain can be defined as the number of layers from the most downstream company to the deepest most upstream company. Figure 2 In the example of , the layer depth of the supply chain can be calculated as "4". Therefore, when the layer depth of the supply chain is specified as 3 or greater, and the deepest upstream company is at the third level or higher ( Figure 2 Some of the most upstream companies can be in the second level ( Figure 2 (The layer depth of all upstream companies may be 3 or greater.) In this embodiment, the supply chain may have three or more layers.

[0056] 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 .

[0057] 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, information related to carbon footprints, etc. can be tracked.

[0058] 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).

[0059] Server device 1 collects information used to generate a product tree from company terminals 2 and generates a 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. Server device 1 can also transmit the results of the processing to any company terminal 2.

[0060] 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 3In 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.

[0061] 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.

[0062] 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.

[0063] 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.

[0064] 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.

[0065] exist Figure 3 In 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.

[0066] Hardware Configuration

[0067] 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 .

[0068] 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).

[0069] 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.

[0070] 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.

[0071] 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.

[0072] 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.

[0073] 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.

[0074] 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.

[0075] 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.

[0076] 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.

[0077] 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.

[0078] 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.

[0079] 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.

[0080] 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.

[0081] Software Configuration

[0082] 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.

[0083] 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 permission information. A specific method for setting permission to access specific product information for a specified company will be described later.

[0084] The linking unit 113 acquires information for linking a plurality of product information from the company terminal 2 by interacting with the company terminal 2. The linking unit 113 performs processing for writing information indicating a link relationship of a plurality of product information stored in the storage unit 12 based on the acquired information.

[0085] 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.

[0086] 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 only to Company A and an area accessible only to 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.

[0087] 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.

[0088] Figure 7 The 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.

[0089] 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.

[0090] 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."

[0091] 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.

[0092] 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".

[0093] 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)".

[0094] 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".

[0095] 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 3 In 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).

[0096] 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.

[0097] 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.

[0098] 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 An example of a screen output by permission setting unit 212 is shown. As shown in the figure, permission setting unit 212 receives designations of downstream companies that are permitted to access any internal product. With the exception of the most downstream and most upstream companies, each company using company terminal 2 can be both a downstream and upstream company. Permission setting unit 212 operates when a company using company terminal 2 performs work as an upstream company.

[0099] Figure 9BThe 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 timing. 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.

[0100] 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.

[0101] Link request unit 213 requests server device 1 to link internal product information sent to server device 1 to an upstream product. Link request unit 213 operates when a company using company terminal 2 performs work as a downstream company. 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 server device 1 to link the product information associated with the product ID. Server device 1 generates a user interface that lists 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.

[0102] 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.

[0103] 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.

[0104] When there is no upstream product to be linked to the target product, it can be done, for example, by marking Figure 10This 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.

[0105] 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.

[0106] In this manner, the link request unit 213 issues (1) a link 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 the completion of the link is declared, the link request may include a request to assign a link completion flag indicating that no further linking will occur for the target product. Thus, the server device 1 can finally complete the state of the product tree.

[0107] 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 .

[0108] Details of processing

[0109] 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.

[0110] (1) The first stage is to receive product information sent from the company terminal 2 and store the received product information

[0111] (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.

[0112] (3) The third stage is to link multiple product information by interacting with the company terminal 2

[0113] (4) The fourth stage provides information about the product tree based on the link results

[0114] 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."

[0115] 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 11 In the example of , the server device 1 obtains product information A from the company terminal 2 associated with company A, and obtains product information B from the company terminal 2 associated with company B. The 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. The 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, the information collection unit 111 stores product information sent from an arbitrary company in a dedicated storage area to which only that company is permitted to access. 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."

[0116] In the second phase, the permission setting unit 112 of the server device 1 interacts with multiple company terminals 2 and, based on the interaction results, sets permissions for accessing multiple product information. The second phase can begin in response to a request sent from a company (downstream company) to be granted access rights. This request is a request from the upstream company to grant permission to access product information related to upstream products. This request will be referred to as a "disclosure request" hereinafter.

[0117] The permission setting unit 112 first receives a disclosure request from a company terminal 2 used by a downstream company ("2-1" in the figure). In one example, the disclosure request may include multiple information for identifying the downstream company (i.e., the company that has sent the disclosure request) and the upstream company (the company to which access rights are requested).

[0118] Next, the authority setting unit 112 requests the company terminal 2 of the upstream company specified by the disclosure request to input permission information. The company terminal 2 of the upstream company (authority setting unit 212) receives the permission information input by the operator and sends the acquired permission information to the server device 1 ("2-2" in the figure). Figure 9BAs shown in , the permission information associates a product with a company that is permitted to access product information about the product (ie, the permission information includes a plurality of information for identifying a specified product and a company that is permitted to access the product).

[0119] Next, the permission setting unit 112 issues a key for accessing the storage area associated with the company that sent the disclosure request. In this example, the permission setting unit 112 issues a key for accessing storage area A assigned to downstream company A to the account of upstream company B ("2-3" in the figure). The permission setting unit 112 then uses the key issued to the upstream company's account to copy product information B, owned by upstream company B and stored in storage area B, to storage area A ("2-4" in the figure).

[0120] exist Figure 11 In the example of FIG2 , 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 uses the key issued in (2-3) to copy product information B stored in storage area B to storage area A, to which only company A is permitted to access. Therefore, company A can access product information B. In this embodiment, company A is granted permission to access product information B through this process. When no access permission is set for a specific item in product information, that item is excluded from being copied to storage area A.

[0121] In this manner, the server device 1 copies the product information in response to receiving the license information from the company terminal 2 of the upstream company.

[0122] 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.

[0123] 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 11 In 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 (information about other company's products) stored in storage area A. Therefore, product information B can be selected as a link destination in company terminal 2 of company A.

[0124] 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 be linked ("3-1" in the figure). In this example, product A and product B are the connection targets. For example, the operator inputs information indicating that product B is the upstream product of product A via the input / output device 24. The link request unit 213 sends data (link data) for linking the upstream product (product B) and the downstream product (product A) to the link unit 113 ("3-2" in the figure).

[0125] 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, the linking unit 113 stores information associated with product information B (i.e., the upstream product) in the link-related information of product information A, thereby linking multiple product information ("3-3" in the figure). For example, the link-related information stores information indicating the link relationship, such as the identifier of the upstream product and the identifier of the company that produces the upstream product.

[0126] The format of the link related information can be changed as needed.In another example, the link related information can store link information, such as a pointer to link destination product information. Figure 12 An example of multiple product information being linked by pointers is shown. The arrows in the figure represent pointers. The pointers indicate the storage location of the information, such as the address of the product information associated with the upstream product.

[0127] Through the above process, a part of the tree structure is formed, in which the product information of the downstream product is placed as a parent node, and the product information of the upstream product is placed as a child node.

[0128] 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 end of the tree is transmitted. When receiving the data, the link unit 113 sets "1" in the end flag field of the corresponding product information (ie, sets the end flag).

[0129] 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 10 In 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."

[0130] That is, in the third phase, the link request unit 213 may issue one of the following requests to the server device 1 .

[0131] (A) "Request to designate a link destination upstream product (including a request to set a link completion flag)"

[0132] (B) "Request to set a termination flag"

[0133] 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.

[0134] 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.

[0135] 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.

[0136] 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.

[0137] Will refer to Figure 13A To describe the integration of multiple traceability related information. Figure 13AThe 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.

[0138] exist Figure 13A 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 to A123) and the CO2 emissions associated with product A12. That is, the integrated CO2 emissions of product A12 are as follows.

[0139] I A12 =E A12 +E A121 XU A121 +E A122 XU A122 +E A123 XU A123 [g]

[0140] 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.

[0141] 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.

[0142] 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.

[0143] 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.

[0144] In this embodiment, each company can only view its own dedicated storage area and does not have the authority to view the dedicated storage areas of other companies. Therefore, the process of integrating multiple traceability-related information is performed in each company's dedicated storage area. That is, the server device 1 refers to the information in each company's dedicated storage area and integrates the traceability-related information transmitted (written) from each company's upstream company with the traceability-related information of each company. At this time, the information providing unit 114 can transmit the obtained integration results (the traceability-related information of each company's products obtained through integration) to each company's downstream company (that is, write it into the dedicated storage area of ​​the downstream company).

[0145] Figure 13B An example of data flow is shown when the integration results up to the company of interest are copied to a dedicated storage area belonging to a company in a downstream adjacent layer. In this example, it is assumed that layer 1 company X1, layer 2 company X2, and layer 3 company X3 exist in the supply chain, and company X3 is the end-end company.

[0146] In the dedicated storage area of ​​company X3, product information related to company X3's products is stored together with traceability-related information. The information providing unit 114 reflects the traceability-related information in the product information of company X3 written into the dedicated storage area of ​​company X2. The information providing unit 114 then integrates the traceability-related information of company X3's products written into the dedicated storage area of ​​company X2 with the traceability-related information related to company X2's products, and reflects the integration result in the product information of company X2 written into the dedicated storage area of ​​company X1.

[0147] In this way, the information providing unit 114 can sequentially execute the following processes: transferring (writing) traceability-related information (the integration results of companies other than the most upstream company) using the downstream company's key, and integrating multiple traceability-related information into each company's dedicated storage area. With this configuration, the downstream company can reference the integration results of multiple traceability-related information up to the upstream company's upstream product in the downstream company's dedicated storage area. Thus, the integration results of multiple traceability-related information can be transferred between companies, and multiple traceability-related information about the target product can be obtained.

[0148] In this embodiment, except for the traceability related information of the most upstream company, there is no need to transmit traceability related information derived from the products of the upstream company to the downstream company between adjacent companies. That is, the server device 1 does not need to copy the traceability related information specific to the upstream product (for example, the amount of CO2 emissions in the production activities of the upstream product in the upstream company) to the dedicated storage area of ​​the downstream company unless permission is given by the upstream company (for example, in Figure 9A ). Therefore, it is possible to obtain traceability-related information (integration result) about the target product while ensuring the confidentiality of the traceability-related information derived from the products of each company except the most upstream company.

[0149] As described above, the server device 1 (information providing unit 114) sequentially performs the transmission and integration processing of the traceability-related information in each product information from the most upstream side to the most downstream side. Therefore, the information providing unit 114 can generate information about the product tree that includes the integration results of multiple traceability-related information.

[0150] In the above example, CO2 emissions are exemplified as an integration target. However, traceability-related information that could be an integration target could include recycling rates for pre-determined raw materials, scores related to due diligence, and so on. When the traceability-related information is numerical, integration can be performed through numerical calculations. When the traceability-related information is non-numerical (e.g., due diligence-related information), integration may simply be information collection.

[0151] 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.

[0152] 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.

[0153] 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.

[0154] exist Figure 13A 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.

[0155] Figure 15 An example of a product tree is shown in which products for which the target company lacks access rights are hidden. In this example, the product tree is displayed, with detailed information (or the existence thereof) hidden for undisclosed products. In this embodiment, product information (hidden) that the target company is not permitted to access is not written into the target company's dedicated storage area. Therefore, in response to the fact that the product information is not written into the target company's dedicated storage area, the information providing unit 114 can hide a portion of the corresponding product in the product tree and provide the target company with the product tree including this hidden information.

[0156] 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, it is possible to perform concealment processing on only the specific items, as shown by the dotted lines in the figure. In the example shown, the carbon dioxide emissions when producing product A121 are concealed.

[0157] Even if the tree includes products (or items) for which you do not have access rights, you can integrate multiple traceability-related information 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.

[0158] The concealment method is not limited to this method. In another example, when all product information is accessible, information providing unit 114 may generate a product tree that has not been concealed, and then perform concealment processing on each company's product tree based on the access rights granted to each company. Alternatively, information providing unit 114 may generate a product tree using the permissions of the corresponding company. For example, when company A requests a product tree, information providing unit 114 may generate at least a portion of the product tree by using company A's account and extracting information from a storage area that company A is permitted to access.

[0159] Processing Flow

[0160] 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 second and third stages.

[0161] 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.

[0162] As a prerequisite for this process, it is assumed that server device 1 acquires multiple product information items from multiple company terminals 2 associated with multiple companies and stores the acquired product information items. The company terminals used by downstream companies will be referred to as "company terminal 2A," and the company terminals used by upstream companies will be referred to as "company terminal 2B." The product information received by server device 1 (information collection unit 111) is stored in storage unit 12. At this point, information collection unit 111 stores the product information in a storage area (dedicated storage area) that only the companies that produce the corresponding products are permitted to access.

[0163] In step S11, the company terminal 2A used by the downstream company first generates a public request, which is used to request the upstream company to grant permission to access product information about the upstream product. The public request is received by the server device 1 (authority setting unit 112). In response to receiving the public request, the authority setting unit 112 of the server device 1 generates a key for accessing the dedicated storage area of ​​the downstream company (step S12). The key is assigned to the account of the upstream company. When the key has been generated, the authority setting unit 112 of the server device 1 sends a permission information input request to the company terminal 2B used by the upstream company. The permission information input request is a request by the upstream company to input permission information (i.e., to grant permission to access product information).

[0164] The operator of the upstream company that receives the input request identifies the product to which the company that sent the disclosure request can be granted access, and inputs the permission information via the company terminal 2B (step S13). In this step, the company terminal 2B can provide reference information. 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.

[0165] 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 writes (copies) the target product information into the dedicated storage area of ​​the downstream company by using the key issued to the account of the upstream company. Therefore, any company can be given the authority to access any product information.

[0166] 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.

[0167] In step S15, the link request unit 213 of the company terminal 2A transmits data (link request) for requesting the server device 1 to link the product information transmitted to the server device 1 to an upstream product. The link request includes the company ID of the company and the product ID of the target product.

[0168] 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 2A. The list of products that the target company is permitted to access can be extracted from a plurality of product information that the company is permitted to access. In this step, the server device 1 can provide a reference to the company terminal 2A. Figure 10 Describes the user interface screen to specify any combination of a product and the upstream products to be linked to it.

[0169] In step S17, the link request unit 213 of the company terminal 2A 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.

[0170] 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.

[0171] When a certain company has no upstream company (when the target product has no connection destination), the company terminal 2 of the company may perform processing to set a termination flag instead of sending a disclosure request. Figure 16 The processing shown in .

[0172] 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).

[0173] 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.

[0174] (Condition 1) For multiple product information at all leaf nodes, the termination flag is set to "1"

[0175] The production tree is finally completed when the termination flags are set for all leaf nodes.

[0176] 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.

[0177] 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 multiple traceability-related information defined in the multiple product information from the most upstream side to the most downstream side. The results of the integration are reflected in each product information.

[0178] 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.

[0179] In the embodiment described above, in a system that collects multiple pieces of product information from company terminals 2 and generates a product tree, each company terminal 2 receives designations of downstream companies that are permitted to access information about internal products, and based on these designations, multiple pieces of product information are linked. 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.

[0180] 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.

[0181] Modification of the First Embodiment

[0182] 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.

[0183] In consideration of such a situation, determination may be made in step S22 by using the following conditions in addition to condition 1.

[0184] (Condition 2) For a plurality of product information at all nodes except the leaf node, the link completion flag is set to "1"

[0185] By using both condition 1 and condition 2, you can ensure that the product tree is eventually completed.

[0186] Second embodiment

[0187] In the first embodiment, the server device 1 issues a key to the account of the upstream company and uses the key to control access to the dedicated storage area of ​​the downstream company (permit write). For example, the key can be managed by at least one of the operating system and middleware operating on the server device 1.

[0188] The control of access to the dedicated storage area of ​​the downstream company can be achieved by using various platforms. In a second embodiment, data is written into the dedicated storage area allocated to the downstream company by using an electronic certificate. The "key" illustrated in the first embodiment can be the electronic certificate itself, or a component of the electronic certificate (for example, a public key). The electronic certificate can be issued by a certification authority or by the company terminal 2 or server device 1 of the downstream company. The electronic certificate can be issued to any destination as long as the company can be identified in the supply chain.

[0189] In the first embodiment, server device 1 issues a key to the upstream company. In the second embodiment, server device 1 requests a certificate authority to issue an electronic certificate to be given to the upstream company. The electronic certificate may include the downstream company's public key and an electronic signature for the public key. By receiving the electronic certificate from the downstream company, the upstream company can obtain write permission to the downstream company's dedicated storage area and can verify the write permission (e.g., the public key) based on the electronic signature.

[0190] The upstream company uses the electronic certificate (key) of the downstream company obtained to write the product information about the upstream product into the dedicated storage area of ​​the downstream company. At this time, the upstream company can encrypt the product information about the upstream product by using the public key in the electronic certificate, and write the encrypted product information into the dedicated storage area of ​​the downstream company. The downstream company can decrypt the written information by using the private key generated in association with the public key. The "issuing a key indicating the write permission for the dedicated storage area to the upstream company" in the present disclosure may also include such a method. That is, the configuration of the key of the present disclosure is not particularly limited as long as it can indicate the write permission for the target dedicated storage area. In one example, the key can be data that simply indicates the write permission. In another example, in addition to the write permission as in the second embodiment, the key can also be used for other roles (encryption in the second embodiment). In this embodiment, the certificate authority issues an electronic certificate, but the electronic certificate can be issued by the company terminal 2 of the downstream company or by the server device 1.

[0191] Different electronic certificates can be issued to multiple upstream companies. In this case, server device 1 requests a certificate authority to issue an electronic certificate in response to a request from a downstream company. At this point, the certificate authority maintains the relationship between the issued electronic certificate and the upstream company to which it was issued. The certificate authority only provides the data used to verify the electronic certificate to the upstream company to which it was issued. Therefore, only the target upstream company is permitted to verify the authenticity of the electronic certificate. The electronic certificate issuance request can be given to the certificate authority from the company terminal 2 of the downstream company, or from server device 1. When server device 1 issues an electronic certificate, server device 1 can manage the aforementioned correspondence.

[0192] Figure 18 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing when an upstream company uses an electronic certificate to write data in a dedicated storage area allocated to a downstream company.

[0193] In step S31, a pair of private key and public key is first generated in association with the downstream company. The private key and public key can be generated by a certificate authority, the company terminal 2 of the downstream company, or the server device 1.

[0194] In step S32, a certificate authority is requested to issue an electronic certificate in response to a request from a downstream company. The issuance of an electronic certificate can be requested in association with the public key generated in step S31. In this step, it is possible to request the issuance of an electronic certificate for information other than the public key generated in step S31 (for example, another public key). In this case, step S31 can be omitted. The electronic certificate issuance request can be sent from the company terminal 2 to the certificate authority, or from the server device 1 that has received the request from the company terminal 2 to the certificate authority. The electronic certificate does not need to include a public key. In this case, any information can be designated as the target of the electronic signature.

[0195] When issuing electronic certificates to multiple upstream companies, the issuing destination can be specified for the certificate issuing authority in this step. In this case, the certificate issuing authority stores the corresponding relationship between the issued electronic certificates and the companies to which they are issued.

[0196] In step S33, the downstream company sets up its dedicated storage area so that data can be exchanged using the downstream company's public and private keys. For example, if each storage area is built using a blockchain infrastructure and the public key in the electronic certificate indicates write permission, a smart contract can be used to set the permission for writing data using the public key.

[0197] In step S34, the issued electronic certificate is sent to the company terminal 2 associated with the upstream company. The company terminal 2 associated with the upstream company verifies the authenticity of the received electronic certificate at any time. For example, the authenticity of the public key can be verified by decrypting the electronic signature in the electronic certificate using the public key and checking whether the obtained value matches the hash value of the public key. In the second embodiment, steps S33 and S34 are an example of the process of "issuing a key indicating write permission to the downstream company's dedicated storage area to the upstream company." The order of execution of steps S33 and S34 can be reversed.

[0198] In this embodiment, an electronic certificate is used as the key, but data other than the electronic certificate can be used as the key. In another example, the key can be a random string or a hash value.

[0199] Revise

[0200] 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.

[0201] 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.

[0202] 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.

[0203] The storage area storing a plurality of product information may be distributed among a plurality of company terminals 2. In this case, a dedicated storage area may be provided only in the company terminal 2 of the corresponding company.

[0204] The description of the embodiments involved an example where adjacent companies in the supply chain were granted access to any product information. However, non-adjacent companies in the supply chain can share product information. For example, when companies without direct business relationships need to share information for legal compliance purposes, they can share specific product information. Even in this case, as in the first embodiment, the required data can be written to a predetermined storage area by issuing a key to the target company's account. When a blockchain infrastructure is used for each storage area, access control using keys can be implemented through smart contracts.

[0205] Although Figure 16 The example shown in FIG. 1 shows a configuration in which the downstream company sends a disclosure request and the upstream company sends permission information in response, but the processing flow is not limited to this. For example, the upstream company may first send the permission information. In this case, server device 1 may determine whether a key has been generated based on instructions from the downstream company and, if a key has not yet been generated, request the downstream company to send a disclosure request.

[0206] 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 disclosure request related to the product information are described separately, but both can be received simultaneously.

[0207] 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).

[0208] 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.

[0209] In the description of the embodiment, the stage (second stage) in which the upstream company grants the downstream company the right to access product information based on the disclosure request sent from the downstream company and the stage (third stage) in which multiple product information are linked to each other are performed separately. However, these processes can be performed continuously.

[0210] For example, by including a link request in a disclosure request, the step of sending a link request can be omitted. In one example, the disclosure request may include a designation of an upstream product for which disclosure is requested. The upstream product may be specified by any method that can identify the upstream product, such as a product number, a product name, or a transaction record. In this case, the server device 1 can omit the processing of steps S15 to S18. In response to the disclosure permission made by the upstream company in step S14, the server device 1 can automatically perform processing for linking the multiple product information identified by the disclosure request. Alternatively, the server device 1 may inquire about the execution of the link processing from the account of the downstream company in response to the disclosure permission made by the upstream company, and perform the link processing in response to a reply from the account of the downstream company. In this way, the link processing can be omitted. Figure 16 . In this modification, the downstream company's link processing is performed based on the response from the upstream company. Therefore, the response from the upstream company can correspond to a permission response to the link request or a link instruction. Therefore, the disclosure request from the downstream company can be considered a link request, and the permission response from the upstream company can be considered a link permission or a link instruction.

[0211] In another example, the server device 1 may notify the company terminal 2 of the downstream company of the result of the automatically executed link processing. Alternatively, before automatically executing the link processing, the server device 1 may send a notification requesting permission to execute the link processing to the company terminal 2 of the downstream company. The server device 1 may execute the link processing based on the permission response from the company terminal 2 of the downstream company.

[0212] In the description of the embodiment, the server device 1 generates a key based on a disclosure request transmitted from the company terminal 2 of the downstream company, but the key may be generated directly by the company terminal 2 of the downstream company. In the description of the embodiment, in step S14, the authority setting unit 112 having received the permission information writes the product information about the upstream product into the dedicated storage area of ​​the downstream company, but the company terminal 2 of the upstream company may write the product information directly.

[0213] In the above embodiment, the company terminal 2 or server device 1 of the downstream company can generate a key at any timing and give the generated key to the upstream company regardless of the disclosure request. In this case, step S11 (disclosure request) can be omitted.

[0214] The number of keys indicating a company's write permissions can be appropriately set. In one example, a downstream company can generate a key common to all upstream companies and provide the generated key to the upstream companies. In another example, for at least some of the upstream companies whose product information is requested to be disclosed, the downstream company can generate a key that is different from the key used for other upstream companies.

[0215] The key may expire at any time. In one example, the key may be valid only once. In this case, a key may be generated each time the downstream company requests the upstream company to disclose information. In another example, the generated key may be used continuously. In this case, step S12 (key generation) may be omitted as long as the generated key is used continuously.

[0216] In the description of the embodiments, it is assumed that the upstream company and the downstream company are different companies, that is, the upstream products 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 permission information 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 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.

[0217] 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.

[0218] 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 )

[0219] 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.

[0220] 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.

[0221] “(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 )}”

[0222] 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).

[0223] 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 13A 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.

[0224] 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.

[0225] In the above embodiment, similar to traceability-related information, each company's link information (including a termination flag) can undergo a transfer and integration process from the most upstream company to the target company (typically the most downstream company). Thus, the integration results of multiple link information from the most upstream company to the company of interest are written into each company's dedicated storage area. Thus, each company can reference the product tree up to that company. The application targets of this modification of the transfer and integration process for link information are not limited to the access restriction configuration of the above embodiment. For example, in the storage unit 12 of the server device 1, in addition to each company's dedicated storage area, a shared storage area can also be set up between companies that share information. In this case, the upstream company can share product information about upstream products by writing the product information into a shared storage area between the upstream and downstream companies, rather than writing the product information about the upstream product into the downstream company's dedicated storage area using a key received from the downstream company. That is, in this configuration, writing the information into the downstream company's dedicated storage area using the downstream company's key can be replaced with writing the information into the corresponding shared storage area. The configuration for performing transfer and integration processing on link information can also be applied to such an access restriction configuration.

[0226] In the above embodiments, the link information (including the termination flag) of each company can be saved by any method. In another example, a storage area shared between all companies can be set in the server device 1 (storage unit 12), and the link information of each company can be saved in the storage area shared between all companies. In yet another example, the dedicated storage area of ​​each company may include a non-encrypted area, and the link information of each company can be stored in the non-encrypted area of ​​the dedicated storage area of ​​each company. Alternatively, the link information of each company can be saved in the encrypted area of ​​the dedicated storage area of ​​each company. As long as the link relationship of the product tree can be tracked on the system, the configuration and storage format of the link information are not particularly limited and can be appropriately selected according to the embodiment.

[0227] 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.

[0228] 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, comprising: a memory device including dedicated storage areas associated with companies and configured to store, for each company in a supply chain, a plurality of product information about a plurality of products of the plurality of companies by storing the plurality of product information about the plurality of products of the plurality of companies in the associated dedicated storage area, the supply chain including an upstream company and a downstream company defined between companies in a pair of adjacent layers; as well as A control unit configured to perform, between the companies in the pair of adjacent layers: In response to a request from the downstream company's account, issuing to the upstream company a key indicating write permission to the downstream company's dedicated storage area; receiving, from the account of the upstream company, a designation for the downstream company, the designation being a designation for permitting access to a plurality of first product information regarding a plurality of upstream products of the upstream company; In response to permission for access, writing the plurality of first product information into a dedicated storage area of ​​the designated downstream company by using a key issued from the designated downstream company; receiving a link request from an account of a downstream company, the link request including selection of first product information to be linked to second product information about a downstream product of the downstream company from among the plurality of first product information written in the dedicated storage area of ​​the downstream company; as well as In response to the received link request, link information is generated, the link information indicating a relationship of a link specified by the link request.

2. The server device according to claim 1, wherein The supply chain has a three-layer or more layer structure.

3. The server device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: Product information including traceability related information; and The control unit is configured to further perform: acquiring a plurality of traceability-related information included in product information of one or more incorporated products included in a target product and the product information of the target product, the one or more incorporated products being identified from link information related to the target product; integrating the plurality of traceability-related information obtained for the one or more incorporated products and the target product; as well as The result of the integration is output.

4. The server device according to claim 3, wherein: Traceability-related information includes information on greenhouse gas emissions; and The integrating of the plurality of traceability related information includes calculating a total amount of greenhouse gas emissions associated with manufacturing activities until the target product is manufactured by integrating greenhouse gas emissions of the one or more incorporated products and the target product.

5. The server device according to claim 3 or 4, wherein: Traceability-related information including recycling rates associated with intended raw materials; and The integrating of the plurality of traceability-related information includes calculating an overall recycling rate of the predetermined raw material in the target product by integrating recycling rates associated with the one or more incorporated products and the predetermined raw material in the target product.

6. The server device according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein: Traceability-related information including due diligence-related scores; and The integrating of the plurality of traceability-related information includes calculating an overall due diligence-related score for the target product by integrating the due diligence-related scores for the one or more incorporated products and the target product.

7. The server device according to any one of claims 3 to 6, wherein: The acquiring of the plurality of traceability-related information and the integrating of the plurality of traceability-related information include repeating the following operations: In the product tree to which the target product belongs as a root node, between the companies in the pair of adjacent layers, traceability related information of the upstream product is transmitted to the downstream products within a range from the most upstream product belonging to the product tree as a leaf node to the target product, Integrate the traceability-related information transmitted from upstream products with the traceability-related information originating from downstream products, and Obtaining the results of the integration as traceability related information for downstream products; Transmitting the traceability-related information of the upstream product to the downstream product includes writing the traceability-related information of the upstream product into an associated dedicated storage area of ​​the downstream company; as well as Integrating the transmitted traceability-related information of the upstream product and the traceability-related information derived from the downstream product includes integrating the traceability-related information of the upstream product and the traceability-related information derived from the downstream product stored in an associated dedicated storage area of ​​the downstream company.

8. The server device according to claim 7, wherein: The target product is a battery-related product.

9. An information processing method performed by a server device, the server device comprising a memory device and a control unit, the memory device being configured to store, for each company in a supply chain, a plurality of product information regarding a plurality of products of a plurality of companies, the information processing method comprising: Between companies in a pair of adjacent layers, issuing, in response to a request from an account of a downstream company, a key indicating write permission to a dedicated storage area of ​​the downstream company to the upstream company, the supply chain including the upstream company and the downstream company defined between the companies in the pair of adjacent layers, the memory device including dedicated storage areas associated with the companies, the plurality of product information of the plurality of companies being stored in the associated dedicated storage areas; receiving, from the account of the upstream company, a designation for the downstream company, the designation being a designation for permitting access to a plurality of first product information regarding upstream products of the upstream company; In response to permission for access, writing the plurality of first product information into a dedicated storage area of ​​the designated downstream company by using a key issued from the designated downstream company; receiving a link request from an account of a downstream company, the link request including selection of first product information to be linked to second product information about a downstream product of the downstream company from among the plurality of first product information written in the dedicated storage area of ​​the downstream company; as well as In response to the received link request, link information is generated, the link information indicating a relationship of a link specified by the link request.

10. The information processing method according to claim 9, wherein: The supply chain has a three-layer or more layer structure.

11. The information processing method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein: Product information including traceability related information; and The information processing method further includes: acquiring a plurality of traceability-related information included in product information of one or more incorporated products included in a target product and the product information of the target product, the one or more incorporated products being identified from link information related to the target product; integrating the plurality of traceability-related information obtained for the one or more incorporated products and the target product; and The result of the integration is output.

12. The information processing method according to claim 11, wherein: Traceability-related information includes information on greenhouse gas emissions; and The integrating of the plurality of traceability related information includes calculating a total amount of greenhouse gas emissions associated with manufacturing activities until the target product is manufactured by integrating greenhouse gas emissions of the one or more incorporated products and the target product.

13. The information processing method according to claim 11 or 12, wherein: Traceability-related information including recycling rates associated with intended raw materials; and The integrating of the plurality of traceability-related information includes calculating an overall recycling rate of the predetermined raw material in the target product by integrating recycling rates associated with the one or more incorporated products and the predetermined raw material in the target product.

14. The information processing method according to any one of claims 11 to 13, wherein: Traceability-related information including due diligence-related scores; and The integrating of the plurality of traceability-related information includes calculating an overall due diligence-related score for the target product by integrating the due diligence-related scores for the one or more incorporated products and the target product.

15. The information processing method according to any one of claims 11 to 14, wherein: The acquiring of the plurality of traceability-related information and the integrating of the plurality of traceability-related information include repeating the following operations: In the product tree to which the target product belongs as a root node, between the companies in the pair of adjacent layers, traceability related information of the upstream product is transmitted to the downstream products within a range from the most upstream product belonging to the product tree as a leaf node to the target product, Integrate the traceability-related information transmitted from upstream products with the traceability-related information originating from downstream products, and Obtaining the results of the integration as traceability related information for downstream products; Transmitting the traceability-related information of the upstream product to the downstream product includes writing the traceability-related information of the upstream product into an associated dedicated storage area of ​​the downstream company; as well as Integrating the transmitted traceability-related information of the upstream product and the traceability-related information derived from the downstream product includes integrating the traceability-related information of the upstream product and the traceability-related information derived from the downstream product stored in an associated dedicated storage area of ​​the downstream company.

16. The information processing method according to claim 15, wherein: The target product is a battery-related product.

17. A non-transitory storage medium storing instructions, wherein the instructions are executable by one or more processors in an information processing device of a target company, the information processing device being configured to communicate with a server device, and wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to perform functions, the functions comprising: Assuming that the target company acts as a downstream company, a first key indicating write permission for a dedicated storage area of ​​the target company is issued to an upstream company of the target company, or a request for issuing the first key to the upstream company of the target company is sent to the server device, the server device including a memory device configured to store, for respective companies in a supply chain, a plurality of product information regarding a plurality of products of a plurality of companies, the supply chain including an upstream company and a downstream company defined between companies in a pair of adjacent layers, the memory device including dedicated storage areas associated with the plurality of companies; Assuming that the target company acts as an upstream company and receives a designation of a downstream company of the target company, the designation is permitted to access a plurality of first product information about a first target product of the target company; as well as In response to receiving the designation, the plurality of first product information are written into the dedicated storage area of ​​the designated downstream company by using a second key issued from the designated downstream company, or the server device writes the plurality of first product information into the dedicated storage area of ​​the designated downstream company.

18. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 17, wherein: The function also includes sending a link request to the server device, causing the server device to generate link information, the link information indicating the link relationship specified by the link request, assuming that the target company acts as a downstream company, and the link request including selection of product information to be linked to second product information about a second target product of the target company from a plurality of product information written into a dedicated storage area of ​​the target company by an upstream company of the target company.

19. The non-transitory storage medium according to claim 17 or 18, wherein: The product information includes traceability related information.

20. The non-transitory storage medium according to any one of claims 17 to 19, wherein: The product in question is a battery-related product.

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