Used paper management system and used paper management method

Abstract

To provide a used paper management system and a used paper management method which reduce a difference between a shipping plan of used paper and a production plan in a used paper processing plant.SOLUTION: A used paper management system includes: a prospect plan generation section for obtaining the used paper stock amount in a first period as the future of used paper which is transported from each recovery base to a hub base so as to be stored there on the basis of storage amount result information indicating the amount of the recovered used paper stored at the recovery base for each of the different recovery bases, so as to generate a used paper stock prospect plan; a used paper stock prospect plan transmission section for transmitting the used paper stock prospect plan to a used paper processing plant terminal of a used paper processing plant for generating recycled materials from the used paper; a data acquisition section for receiving a production plan which is generated according to the used paper stock prospect plan and which indicates the amount of the used paper required for production of the recycled materials from the used paper processing plant terminal; and a stock instruction generation section for generating a stock value for each recovery base in a second period as the nearer future than the first period on the basis of the received production plan.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a waste paper management system and a waste paper management method. [Background technology]

[0002] Recycling of waste paper has been practiced for some time. In many cases, recycled waste paper is paper or cardboard with a recycling mark attached, generated by households and businesses. Such waste paper is clearly marked as eligible for collection by a recycling mark or the like, and collection routes are also established, including set collection dates and locations. Such waste paper is mainly recycled as a raw material for making recycled paper. For example, there is a recycling system that obtains raw material for making paper from waste paper (for example, Patent Document 1). On the other hand, there is waste paper that is difficult to use as a raw material for papermaking (difficult to recycle waste paper or hard-to-recycle waste paper). For example, difficult-to-recycle waste paper includes shredded paper, carbonless paper, sticker mounts, thermal paper, paper cups, laminated paper, foil-stamped paper containers, and wraps. For example, shredded paper is difficult to use as a raw material for papermaking because of its short fibers. Other difficult-to-recycle waste paper is processed with resins, special dyes, metals, etc. to give it functionality, and since the functional parts that have been added must be removed, it is not easy to use it as a raw material for papermaking. In this way, difficult-to-recycle waste paper is difficult to recycle. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2002-092268 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, the recycling system for hard-to-recycle wastepaper is not necessarily fully established, so it is difficult to collect hard-to-recycle wastepaper at collection points, and the amount of collected wastepaper is likely to fluctuate depending on market conditions. For example, there are multiple types of hard-to-recycle wastepaper, and depending on the type, the amount collected varies depending on the season, events, etc. Therefore, it is difficult to create a shipping plan for collecting wastepaper and shipping it to a recycling factory. Even if a shipping plan can be created, if the collection situation changes significantly as the shipping date approaches and the product cannot be shipped according to the shipping plan, it is possible that the recycling plant's requests will not be met. In that case, the production plan of the recycling plant may be affected as the production date approaches.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a wastepaper management system and method that reduces the difference between a wastepaper shipping plan and a production plan in a wastepaper processing plant. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, one aspect of the present invention is a wastepaper management system having a storage quantity actual memory unit that stores, for each different collection base, storage quantity actual information indicating the amount of collected wastepaper stored at the collection base; a forecast plan generation unit that generates a wastepaper stock forecast plan by determining the stock amount of the wastepaper transported from each collection base to a hub base and stored in a first future period based on the storage quantity actual information stored in the storage quantity actual memory unit; a wastepaper stock forecast plan transmission unit that transmits the wastepaper stock forecast plan to a wastepaper processing plant terminal of a wastepaper processing plant that generates recycled materials from the wastepaper; a data acquisition unit that receives from the wastepaper processing plant terminal a production plan that is generated in accordance with the wastepaper stock forecast plan and indicates the amount of wastepaper required to produce the recycled materials; and a stock instruction generation unit that generates a stock value for each collection base for a second future period that is closer to the first period based on the received production plan.

[0007] Another aspect of the present invention is a wastepaper management method executed by a computer, which generates a wastepaper stock forecast plan by calculating the stock amount of the wastepaper transported from each collection base to a hub base and stored therein at a first time period in the future based on storage amount actual information stored in a storage amount actual memory unit that stores, for each different collection base, storage amount actual information indicating the amount of collected wastepaper stored at the collection base, and transmits the wastepaper stock forecast plan to a wastepaper processing plant terminal of a wastepaper processing plant that generates recycled materials from the wastepaper, and receives from the wastepaper processing plant terminal a production plan generated in accordance with the wastepaper stock forecast plan and indicating the amount of wastepaper required to produce the recycled materials, and generates a stock value for each collection base for a second time period that is closer to the first time period based on the received production plan. Effect of the Invention

[0008] As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the difference between the waste paper shipping plan and the production plan in the waste paper processing plant. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram showing the concept of a waste paper management system S according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] 1 is a schematic system configuration diagram showing the configuration of a waste paper management system S. FIG. [Diagram 3] 2 is a flow chart for explaining the overall information flow of the waste paper management system S. [Figure 4] 2 is a schematic block diagram showing the functions of a used paper management device 200. FIG. [Diagram 5] 13 is a diagram showing an example of category data stored in a category storage unit 2022. FIG. [Figure 6] 4 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the waste paper management system S. [Figure 7] 13 is a diagram showing an example of storage amount actual data stored in a storage amount actual data storage unit 2021. FIG. [Figure 8]FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a case where a waste paper stock forecast plan is generated. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of production plan information. [Figure 10] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of stock instruction information. [Figure 11] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of actual stock amount information acquired in the current month. [Figure 12] 13 is a diagram showing production plan information in a case where the production plan is adjusted in accordance with the difference between the procurement forecast and the production plan. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A used paper management system according to an embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the concept of a used paper management system S according to an embodiment of the present invention. This wastepaper management system S can manage the distribution of wastepaper for recycling by collecting wastepaper and producing bioethanol and the like from the collected wastepaper. In this embodiment, the object of collection is wastepaper. Wastepaper can be divided into papermaking wastepaper, which is wastepaper that is easily used as a papermaking raw material, and difficult-to-recycle wastepaper (sometimes also called difficult wastepaper), which is not easily used as a papermaking raw material. As mentioned above, there are various types of hard-to-recycle waste paper, such as shredded paper, carbonless paper, sticker paper, thermal paper, paper cups, laminated paper, foil-stamped paper containers, and wraps. The types represent the classifications that are used to visually check the waste paper when it is discharged.

[0011] In addition, in the waste paper management system S, when waste paper to be collected is classified from the viewpoint of the place of generation and the collection route, it can be roughly divided into two types: industrial waste paper and municipal waste paper. Industrial waste paper is paper that is generated during the production of products (printed matter or paper containers) and is not used as a product, such as broken paper, and is discharged from business establishments such as printing factories and paper container factories. City waste paper is generated in the city from office buildings, commercial facilities, local governments, etc., and includes, for example, paper cups, receipts using thermal paper, etc.

[0012] When industrial waste paper is generated at a business, it is stored at the business's storage facility for a certain period of time, and when it is time to collect it, it is collected by a collection company and stored in a storage facility owned by the collection company. After being stored in the collection company's storage facility for a certain period of time, the collection company transports the waste paper stored in the storage facility to a hub base. Such industrial waste paper may be transported from the business to the hub without being temporarily stored at a collection site, or may be stored at a collection company's storage site and then transported to a storage company's storage site and stored there again before being transported to the hub. Companies that collect and store waste paper are sometimes called waste paper dealers.

[0013] When the predetermined collection date and time arrives, the waste paper generated in the city is collected from the source by a collection company and stored in a storage area owned by the collection company. After being stored in the collection company's storage area for a certain period of time, the collection company transports the waste paper stored in the storage area to a hub base. Such city-generated waste paper may be transported from a business establishment to a hub location without being temporarily stored at a collection center, or it may be stored in the storage facility of a collection company, then transported to the storage facility of a storage company and stored there again, before being transported to the hub location.

[0014] The hub base temporarily stores waste paper collected from different collection bases and delivers the waste paper to the waste paper processing plant as the destination. The hub base is a facility that temporarily accumulates and stores waste paper procured (collected) for the purpose of recycling from multiple collection points (disposers and waste paper dealers).The hub base also monitors the collection status of waste paper at multiple collection points (disposers and waste paper dealers) and the storage status of the waste paper stored by the collectors, and systematically ships the waste paper to waste paper processing plants.

[0015] Here, some difficult-to-recycle wastepaper requires pre-processing in order to be recycled. The difficult-to-recycle wastepaper undergoes different pre-processing depending on the type before being generated as recycled material. At the hub base, the difficult-to-recycle wastepaper is classified by type and stored. Also, some types can be pre-processed in the same way. For example, difficult-to-recycle wastepaper types A and B can be pre-processed in the same way, but type C requires a different pre-processing, and the contents of the pre-processing process differ depending on the type. In this way, by storing the difficult-to-recycle wastepaper by type or by classification according to the processing conditions, the hub base can prevent the difficult-to-recycle wastepaper types from being delivered to the wastepaper processing plant in a mixed state. This allows for smooth and efficient recycling processing.

[0016] A waste paper processing plant is a plant that produces recycled materials by recycling waste paper. A waste paper processing plant is a plant that produces recycled materials from waste paper. For example, a waste paper processing plant may be a plant that performs at least one of the following processes: a process of producing raw materials for producing bioethanol from waste paper, a process of producing materials for producing recycled paper from waste paper, and a process of producing materials for solid fuel (RPF: Refuse derived paper and plastics densified fuel) from waste paper.

[0017] In such a waste paper management system S, waste paper may be collected from at least one of industrial waste paper and municipal waste paper.

[0018] FIG. 2 is a schematic system configuration diagram showing the configuration of the used paper management system S. As shown in FIG. In the used paper management system S, a plurality of terminal devices and a used paper management device 200 are connected via a network N so as to be able to communicate with each other. The multiple terminal devices include terminal devices used at the source of waste paper generation, terminal devices used by waste paper dealers, a hub base terminal 100, and a waste paper processing plant terminal 300. Terminal devices used at the source of waste paper include, for example, a printing factory terminal 10, a paper carton factory terminal 20, a commercial facility terminal 30, and a local government terminal 40. These terminal devices may be any of a PC (Personal Computer), a smartphone, a tablet, etc. The printing factory terminal 10 is a terminal device used in a printing factory that prints print media. The paper carton factory terminal 20 is a terminal device used in a factory that produces paper cartons. The commercial facility terminal 30 is a terminal device used in a commercial facility. Commercial facilities include, for example, department stores, train stations, public facilities, etc. The local government terminal 40 is a terminal device used in a local government, etc.

[0019] Terminal devices used in used paper dealers include, for example, a collector terminal 50a, a collector terminal 50b, a collector terminal 50c, and a collector terminal 50d (hereinafter, when not specifically identified, they may simply be referred to as collector terminals 50).

[0020] Here, there are multiple bases for collecting waste paper, such as collection base W, collection base X, collection base Y, and collection base Z. Collection base W includes a printing factory, which uses a printing factory terminal 10 and a collection company terminal 50a. Collection base X includes a paper container factory, which uses a paper container factory terminal 20 and a collection company terminal 50b. Collection base Y includes a commercial facility, which uses a commercial facility terminal 30 and a collection company terminal 50c. Collection base Z includes a local government or the like, which uses a government terminal 40 and a collection company terminal 50d.

[0021] Here, collection sites W and Y belong to group G1 where industrial wastepaper is disposed, and collection sites Y and Z belong to group G2 where municipal wastepaper is disposed.

[0022] The hub base terminal 100 is a terminal device used at a hub base. The waste paper processing plant terminal 300 is a terminal device used at a waste paper processing plant.

[0023] The used paper management device 200 receives data from each terminal device via the network N, and transmits various data to the terminal devices via the network N.

[0024] FIG. 3 is a flow chart for explaining the overall information flow of the used paper management system S. <Disposal point, waste paper dealer> A wastepaper collector or a wastepaper dealer at a wastepaper discharge site transmits wastepaper accumulation information indicating the wastepaper accumulation status from a terminal device to the wastepaper management device 200 (step S101). The wastepaper accumulation information includes, for example, the type of wastepaper, the accumulated amount, and the date. The wastepaper accumulation information may also include the type of wastepaper. The base generator is, for example, a printing factory, and an operator at the printing factory checks the wastepaper accumulation status in the printing factory and inputs wastepaper accumulation information corresponding to the accumulation status from the printing factory terminal 10 via any input device such as a keyboard, mouse, or tablet. Alternatively, wastepaper is managed by the bale or by weight, and the printing factory terminal 10 automatically acquires the accumulation information and uses it as wastepaper accumulation information. In this way, the printing factory terminal 10 transmits wastepaper accumulation information corresponding to the wastepaper accumulation status of the printing factory to the wastepaper management device 200. Here, we will explain the case where the base generator is a printing factory, but if the base generator is a paper container factory, an operator at the paper container factory checks the accumulation status at the paper container factory and inputs waste paper accumulation information corresponding to the accumulation status from an input device of the paper container factory terminal 20. As a result, the paper container factory terminal 20 transmits waste paper accumulation information corresponding to the accumulation status of waste paper at the paper container factory to the waste paper management device 200. The base generator may be a commercial facility or a local government. In this case, similarly, waste paper accumulation information is input by an operator of a commercial facility, and transmitted from the commercial facility terminal 30 to the waste paper management device 200, and waste paper accumulation information is input by an operator of a local government, and transmitted from the local government terminal 40 to the waste paper management device 200. The waste paper accumulation information is transmitted from each terminal device of the base disposer at regular intervals, for example. In addition, waste paper dealers may temporarily store waste paper collected from collection points, etc. The waste paper dealer inputs waste paper accumulation information according to the waste paper storage status from a terminal device of the waste paper dealer. As a result, the waste paper accumulation information is transmitted from the terminal device of the waste paper dealer to the waste paper management device 200. In this manner, the used paper management device 200 can collect used paper accumulation information from site dischargers at the discharge site.

[0025] Salvage Base A collection and transporter at a collection site transmits collection and transport plan information, which indicates a transport plan for the collection and transport vehicle, from a terminal device to the waste paper management device 200 (step S102). The collection and transport plan information includes, for example, a transport plan including the route (area) that each collection and transport vehicle will travel (circulate), the discharge bases to be visited for collection, storage locations, and scheduled collection dates and times. The collection and transport plan information may also include the type of waste paper.

[0026] The collection and transporter is, for example, a waste paper recycling company, and an operator of the waste paper recycling company inputs a waste paper transportation plan drawn up by the waste paper recycling company into the waste paper recycling company terminal 50 via any input device such as a keyboard, mouse, or touch panel. Alternatively, waste paper may be managed by bale or weight, and the waste paper recycling company terminal 50 may automatically acquire accumulation information. In response to this, the waste paper recycling company terminal 50 transmits the transportation plan information to the waste paper management device 200. Here, the collection company has a set area for collection, and visits the waste paper collection points or storage points in that area to collect waste paper. In some cases, the collection company periodically visits the waste paper collection point to collect the waste paper, but in other cases, when a certain amount of waste paper has accumulated at the collection point, the collection point and the collection point communicate with each other to decide the collection time.

[0027] Hub The administrator of the hub base transmits waste paper storage information from the hub base terminal 100 to the waste paper management device 200 (step S103). The waste paper storage information is, for example, information that indicates the storage status of waste paper stored at the hub base, and includes, for example, the storage location of the waste paper, the type of stored waste paper, the amount of stock stored, the storage condition, etc. The storage condition includes the moisture content, the presence or absence of dirt, the degree of dirt, the type of dirt, etc.

[0028] Shipping and transportation base The shipping and transportation company at the shipping and transportation base transmits shipping and transportation plan information representing the shipping and transportation company's transportation plan from a terminal device to the waste paper management device 200 (step S104). The shipping and transportation plan information includes, for example, the route (area) that each shipping and transportation vehicle will travel (circulate), the location of the waste paper processing plant to which the paper will be shipped, the amount of waste paper to be shipped, the type of waste paper to be shipped, and the scheduled date and time of transportation.

[0029] The operator of the shipping and transportation company inputs the shipping and transportation plan drawn up by the shipping and transportation company into the terminal device used by the shipping and transportation company via any input device such as a keyboard, mouse, touch panel, etc. In response to this, the terminal device of the shipping and transportation company transmits the shipping and transportation plan information to the waste paper management device 200. Here, the shipping and transportation company may be the same company as the collection and transportation company. The shipping and transportation plan may be input as a forecast showing when and how much waste paper can be transported from the hub base to the waste paper processing plant.

[0030] Waste Paper Processing Plant The manager of the wastepaper processing plant transmits a mid- to long-term production plan, which indicates a plan for recycling wastepaper, from the wastepaper processing plant terminal 300 to the wastepaper management device 200 (step S105). The mid- to long-term production plan is, for example, information indicating the production volume for each wastepaper category, and may indicate which process for each category is to be produced. Here, it may be the amount of products to be produced, or the amount of each type of wastepaper required for production. The mid- to long-term production plan information can be generated based on wastepaper stock forecast plan information received from the wastepaper processing plant terminal 300, which will be described later.

[0031] The manager of the waste paper processing plant inputs the mid- to long-term production plan drawn up at the waste paper processing plant via any input device such as a keyboard, mouse, or touch panel to the waste paper processing plant terminal 300. In response, the waste paper processing plant terminal 300 transmits the mid- to long-term production plan to the waste paper management device 200.

[0032] <Wastepaper management device> The used paper management device 200 performs various processes based on the information obtained from each terminal device, and transmits various information to the terminal device based on the results of the processes. For example, the waste paper management device 200 transmits a medium- to long-term stock instruction to a terminal device at a waste paper disposal site and a terminal device at a waste paper dealer (step S151). The medium- to long-term stock instruction is information that indicates a target amount of waste paper to be collected in the medium to long term. When waste paper is actually transported from a waste paper disposal point or waste paper dealer to a hub location, the waste paper management device 200 generates certificate data to certify to the waste paper disposal point or waste paper dealer that recycled materials have been produced using the collected waste paper, and can also transmit the certificate data to a terminal device of the waste paper disposal point or waste paper dealer where the waste paper originated. The wastepaper management device 200 also transmits a wastepaper collection instruction to the collection company terminal 50 (step S152). The wastepaper collection instruction is information that indicates a target amount of wastepaper to be collected in the medium to long term. The wastepaper collection instruction is information that includes the route for transporting the wastepaper from the wastepaper source, wastepaper dealer, etc. to the collection base, the target amount to be transported, the transportation date, etc. The wastepaper management device 200 generates the wastepaper collection instruction based on a stock forecast plan. The stock forecast plan includes the type of wastepaper, the target amount of wastepaper to be stored at the collection base, and the storage time, and the wastepaper management device 200 generates a wastepaper collection instruction by generating a plan (load capacity of the vehicle to be used, number of vehicles required for transportation, transportation time, etc.) for collecting wastepaper from the wastepaper source or wastepaper dealer, etc. so as to meet the storage amount by the storage time, and transporting it to the collection base. Moreover, the used paper management device 200 transmits the medium- to long-term used paper stock forecast plan information and a medium- to long-term used paper stock instruction to the hub base terminal 100 (step S153).

[0033] The wastepaper management device 200 also transmits a wastepaper shipping and transportation instruction, which is a plan for transporting wastepaper from the hub base to the wastepaper processing plant, to the collector terminal 50 of the shipping and transportation company (step S154). The wastepaper shipping and transportation instruction is information including the route for transporting the wastepaper from the hub base to the wastepaper processing plant, the target amount to be transported, the transportation date, etc. The wastepaper management device 200 generates the wastepaper shipping and transportation instruction based on the shipping plan. The shipping plan includes the type of wastepaper and a shipping plan value indicating the shipping amount of the wastepaper, and the wastepaper management device 200 generates the wastepaper shipping and transportation instruction by generating a transportation plan (load capacity of the vehicle to be used, number of vehicles required for transportation, transportation time, etc.) to satisfy the type of wastepaper and the shipping plan value indicated in the shipping plan by the shipping time. The waste paper management device 200 also transmits the mid- to long-term waste paper stock forecast plan and short-term procurement forecast information to the waste paper processing plant terminal 300 (step S155). The short-term procurement forecast information is information that indicates the forecast amount of waste paper immediately before shipping, which is generated from the performance information of the collection bases and hub bases where the waste paper is collected and stored, based on the mid- to long-term stock instruction information.

[0034] Next, the functions of the used paper management device 200 will be described. FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram showing the functions of the used paper management device 200. As shown in FIG. The waste paper management device 200 has a communication unit 201, a memory unit 202, a data acquisition unit 203, a calculation unit 204, a forecast plan generation unit 205, a waste paper stock forecast plan transmission unit 206, a stock instruction generation unit 207, a stock instruction transmission unit 208, a procurement forecast generation unit 209, a procurement forecast transmission unit 210, and a control unit 211.

[0035] The communication unit 201, data acquisition unit 203, aggregation unit 204, forecast plan generation unit 205, waste paper stock forecast plan transmission unit 206, stock instruction generation unit 207, stock instruction transmission unit 208, procurement forecast generation unit 209, procurement forecast transmission unit 210, and control unit 211 may be composed of a processing device such as a CPU (central processing unit) or a dedicated electronic circuit.

[0036] The memory unit 202 is configured with a storage medium, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD), a flash memory, an electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), a random access read / write memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), or any combination of these storage media. The storage unit 202 may be, for example, a non-volatile memory.

[0037] The communication unit 201 communicates with each terminal device via the network N. The storage unit 202 stores various data. The storage unit 202 includes a storage amount actual result storage unit 2021 and a classification storage unit 2022.

[0038] The storage amount record storage unit 2021 stores storage amount record information indicating the amount of collected wastepaper stored at a collection base for each type of wastepaper and for each different collection base. The storage amount record information may be the amount of wastepaper discharged from a discharge base and transported to a hub base, or the amount of wastepaper stored in a storage location of a wastepaper dealer that is transported to the hub base and stored there. The storage amount record information may also be the amount of wastepaper discharged from a discharge base and transported to the hub base and stored there. The storage amount record includes the type of wastepaper and the amount of collected wastepaper stored.

[0039] The classification storage unit 2022 stores the type of waste paper in association with a classification indicating a type that can be used in a production process for generating recycled materials from waste paper. Here, the waste paper collected from the collection base includes difficult-to-recycle waste paper, and the difficult-to-recycle waste paper can be divided into a plurality of different types. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the category data stored in the category storage unit 2022. As shown in FIG. The classification data is data that corresponds to the classification of waste paper (waste paper type). For example, it is shown that the waste paper type "Type A" corresponds to the classification "D1", and the types "Type D" and "Type E" correspond to the classification "D4". This indicates that the type "Type A" is recycled in a production process corresponding to the classification "D1", and that since the types "Type D" and "Type E" are in the classification "D4", there is no problem in putting them together in a production process corresponding to "D4".

[0040] The data acquisition unit 203 acquires data transmitted from each terminal device via the communication unit 201. As data obtained from the terminal devices, for example, the data acquisition unit 203 acquires waste paper accumulation information from the printing factory terminal 10, the paper container factory terminal 20, and the terminal device of the waste paper dealer. The data acquisition unit 203 also acquires transportation plan information from the collection company terminal 50, waste paper storage information from the hub base terminal 100, shipping and transportation plan information from the terminal device of the shipping and transportation company, and production plan information from the waste paper processing factory terminal 300. The data acquisition unit 203 acquires the production plan, which is generated according to the wastepaper stock forecast plan and indicates the amount of wastepaper required to produce recycled materials, by receiving it from the wastepaper processing plant terminal 300 via the communication unit 201. The data acquisition unit 203 also acquires a stock amount record for each collection base station, which represents the amount of waste paper collected and stored at each collection base station during the second period. The stock amount record is the amount of waste paper stored based on a stock instruction from the waste paper management device 200. Moreover, the data acquisition unit 203 writes the acquired data into the storage unit 202 to store it.

[0041] The counting unit 204 counts up different types of waste paper for each section based on the storage volume record for each collection base.

[0042] The forecast plan generation unit 205 generates a waste paper stock forecast plan by calculating the future stock amount of waste paper to be transported from each collection site to a hub site and stored based on the actual storage amount stored in the actual storage amount memory unit 2021. Further, the forecast plan generating unit 205 generates a waste paper stock forecast plan for each category by tallying up the actual storage amount for each category based on the tallying result of the tallying unit 204 and estimating the estimated stock amount for each category. In addition, the forecast plan generating unit 205 obtains an estimate of the collection amount of the collection center by calculating the average value of the past actual values ​​of the collection center within a specified period of time, and calculates an estimated stock amount by aggregating the obtained estimates for each collection group.

[0043] The wastepaper stock forecast plan transmitting unit 206 transmits the generated wastepaper stock forecast plan via the communication unit 201 to a terminal device of a wastepaper processing plant that generates recycled materials from wastepaper.

[0044] The stock instruction generating unit 207 generates stock instruction information indicating a target value of the storage amount for each collection base in a second time period that is closer to the future than the first time period, based on the received production plan. The stock instruction transmission unit 208 transmits the stock instruction information to the terminal device at the collection point.

[0045] The procurement forecast generating unit 209 generates procurement forecast information indicating the procurement forecast of waste paper based on the stock amount performance in the second period. The procurement forecast sending unit 210 sends procurement forecast information to the waste paper processing plant terminal.

[0046] The control unit 211 controls each part of the used paper management device 200 .

[0047] Next, the operation of the waste paper management system S will be described. FIG. 6 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the used paper management system S. The data acquisition unit 203 of the waste paper management device 200 acquires storage amount actual information for each base from a terminal device (for example, the collection company terminal 50a, collection company terminal 50b, collection company terminal 50c, collection company terminal 50d, a terminal device of a waste paper dealer, the hub base terminal 100, etc.) (step S201), and stores it in the storage amount actual storage unit 2021 (step S202). For a collection company, this storage amount actual information is the amount of waste paper temporarily stored at the base of the collection company by the collection company that collected the waste paper. For a hub base, the storage amount actual information is the amount of waste paper collected by each collection company, transported to the base by the collection company, and stored at the hub base. The storage amount actual information can be obtained by measuring the amount brought into the storage location for each type when storing waste paper, and by measuring the amount taken out of the storage location for each type. The obtained storage amount for each type is then input by the operator via any input device such as a keyboard, mouse, or touch panel. The input storage amount for each type is stored in the terminal device as storage performance information, and then transmitted to the used paper management device 200. The data acquisition unit 203 stores such storage amount result information in the storage amount result storage unit 2021 every time the data acquisition unit 203 acquires such storage amount result information from any of the terminal devices at the collection base.

[0048] When the storage volume performance data is stored, the tallying unit 204 generates storage volume performance information by tallying the data for each tallying period and for each type of waste paper, and stores the information in the memory unit 202. This storage volume performance information represents the performance of the storage volume of waste paper at the hub base. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the storage amount actual data stored in the storage amount actual data storage unit 2021. As shown in FIG. The storage volume actual information includes waste paper type, collection base, and storage volume actual value. Waste paper type indicates the type of waste paper. Collection base indicates the base where waste paper is collected. Storage volume actual value is actual value by period. The period may be any period, but examples are the year before last (Ya), the previous year (Yb), and the current year (Yc). Here, for example, waste paper type "Type A" is collected at collection base "W", and the actual monthly average in "Ya" is "800kg", "900kg" in "Yb", and "750kg" in April, "800kg" in "Yc" and "850kg" in September (present). Also, for example, waste paper type "Type c" is collected at collection center "Y" and collection center "Z." The actual collection amount at center "Y" is "500kg" on a monthly average in "Ya" and "400kg" on a monthly average in "Yb," and "350kg" in April, ..., August, and "300kg" in September (present) of "Yc." The actual collection amount at center "Z" is "50kg" on a monthly average in "Ya" and "50kg" in "Yb," and "50kg" in April, ..., August, and "50kg" in "Yc."

[0049] The tallying unit 204 generates storage volume performance information by tallying up the storage volume performance information for each type of waste paper and for each collection base for a certain period (here, for each fiscal year). Since storage volume performance information is generated for each certain period of time, it is possible to grasp the trend of storage volume based on past collection results.

[0050] Next, the forecast plan generating unit 205 generates a waste paper stock forecast plan by calculating the stock amount of waste paper transported from each collection base to the hub base and stored in the first period, which is the future, based on the storage amount actual information collected by the collecting unit 204 (step S203). For example, when the current month is September, the waste paper stock forecast plan is generated by calculating the storage amount in December, which is three months from now, as the first period. Here, the case where the first period is three months will be described, but it may be another number of months, such as four months from now, or a period based on a week, such as ten weeks from now. The first period may be set to a period when it is easy to make a shipping plan or a production plan between the hub base and the waste paper processing plant. Here, the stock amount represents the amount of waste paper that needs to be stored (secured) as waste paper that is planned to be shipped or used for production, out of the storage amount. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example in which a waste paper stock forecast plan is generated. The forecast plan generation unit 205 generates a waste paper stock forecast plan by calculating the future stock amount (estimated stock amount) of waste paper that will be transported from each collection site to a hub site and stored based on the storage amount actual information stored in the storage amount actual memory unit 2021. Here, the waste paper stock forecast plan is stored in association with storage amount actual data. For collection base "W" for waste paper type "Type a", the forecast plan generating unit 205 estimates the estimated stock amount in the future (for example, December of "Yc") as "800 kg" by calculating the average of the monthly average storage amount in "Ya" year, the monthly average storage amount in "Yb" year, and the storage amount from April to September (present) of "Yc" year. Here, the future storage amount is estimated by calculating the average value for each year, but it may be estimated by other methods, for example, the average value for the same month in the past may be calculated, or it may be calculated by a weighted average.

[0051] In this figure, the waste paper stock forecast plan includes an estimated value of the storage amount for each waste paper type at a certain time in the future (first time period). Here, for the collection base "W" for waste paper type "a", the estimated value of the storage amount for a future month (e.g. December) of "Year Yc" is "800 kg", for the collection base "X" for waste paper type "b", the estimated value of the storage amount for a future month (e.g. December) of "Year Yc" is "250 kg", and for the combined collection base "Y" and collection base "Z" for waste paper type "c", the estimated value of the storage amount for a future month (e.g. December) of "Year Yc" is "200 kg", and these are stored in the memory unit 202.

[0052] When the wastepaper stock forecast plan is generated, the wastepaper stock forecast plan transmission unit 206 transmits the generated wastepaper stock forecast plan to the wastepaper processing plant terminal 300 (step S204). By transmitting the wastepaper stock forecast plan to the wastepaper processing plant terminal 300, the manager of the wastepaper processing plant can grasp the future stock amount of wastepaper by type at the hub base, so the wastepaper processing plant itself does not need to grasp the collection status of each individual collection base, and can predict the wastepaper that can be received from the hub base in the future by type. This allows production plans to be considered at an early stage.

[0053] The data acquisition unit 203 receives production plan information representing a production plan generated according to the wastepaper stock forecast plan from the wastepaper processing plant terminal 300 (step S205), and stores it in the storage unit 202 (step S206). The production plan information received here is data indicating the amount of wastepaper to be used for production in the first period by category (or by type). FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of the production plan information. The production plan information includes a production period, a waste paper type, and an input amount. The production period indicates the time when production will be performed, for example, a future month when production will be performed. The production period may be further subdivided, such as by week that belongs to the month when production will be performed. The waste paper type may be a classification. The input amount indicates the amount of waste paper used in production. In this example, for the waste paper type "a" in January, the input amount is "800 kg", and the input amount is shown by week, such as "300 kg" in the first week, "300 kg" in the second week, and "200 kg" in the third week. For the waste paper type "b" in January, the input amount is "250 kg", and the input amount is shown by week, such as "100 kg" in the third week, and "150 kg" in the fourth week. For the waste paper type "c" in January, the input amount is shown as "150 kg", and the input amount is shown as "150 kg" in the fourth week. Here, since the input amount by week is shown, it can be understood that the amount of waste paper according to the input amount should be shipped from the hub base to the waste paper processing plant in time for the production of that week. Here, since the production plan is determined based on the wastepaper stock forecast plan, the production plan can be determined based on the amount of wastepaper that can be expected to be prepared based on past trends. Here, the same amount as the wastepaper stock forecast plan is determined as the production plan, such as the input amount of "800 kg" for wastepaper type "a", the input amount of "250 kg" for wastepaper type "b", and the input amount of "150 kg" for wastepaper type "c". The production plan may have the same content as the wastepaper stock forecast plan, or may be the stock amount after changes are made based on the stock amount indicated by the wastepaper stock forecast plan. When a value different from the wastepaper stock forecast plan is specified as the production plan, it may be specified from a range of values ​​that can be changed in advance. The production plan may be data indicating the amount of wastepaper by category, or may be data indicating the amount of wastepaper by type.

[0054] Next, the stock instruction generating unit 207 generates stock instruction information indicating the stock amount for each collection base in a second period, which is closer to the first period, based on the production plan acquired from the waste paper processing plant terminal 300 (step S207). The second period is a period shorter than the first period, for example, two months in the future. Here, it is possible to specify the amount of waste paper stock to be prepared before the month planned in the production plan arrives. Therefore, at the collection base, it is possible to carry out collection work and store the waste paper after knowing in advance how much waste paper should be stored. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the stock instruction information. The stock instruction information includes the waste paper type, the collection base, and the future stock instruction amount. The future stock instruction amount is a target value indicating how much of each type of waste paper is to be stored at the collection base for the second time period. Here, the stock instruction amount is calculated based on a production plan determined based on the waste paper stock forecast plan, so that a target that is likely to be achievable can be set based on past trends. For example, collection site "W" is assigned a December stock instruction amount of "800 kg" for waste paper type "a," and collection site "X" is assigned a December stock instruction amount of "250 kg" for waste paper type "b." Collection site "Y" is assigned a December stock instruction amount of "150 kg" for waste paper type "c," and a December stock instruction amount of "50 kg" for waste paper type "d." The stock instruction amount allocation is based on the past accumulation amount performance of each collection site.

[0055] The stock instruction transmitting unit 208 transmits the generated stock instruction information to the terminal device at the corresponding collection point via the communication unit 201 (step S206). Here, future stock instruction amounts can be notified to collection centers in advance, so each collection center can know how much of each type of waste paper they should collect and store at their own collection center. Then, waste paper can be collected and stored according to the stock instruction amount, and transported to the hub center according to the month indicated by the stock instruction amount. This makes it easier for collection centers to plan their collection activities.

[0056] When the month for which the stock amount is specified (here, December as an example) arrives, the operator at each collection base inputs the actual amount of waste paper stored at the collection base to which he or she belongs from a terminal device. For example, a collection agent at a collection base inputs the actual amount of waste paper stored in the collection agent terminal 50, and an operator at a hub base inputs the actual amount of waste paper stored in the hub base terminal 100. As a result, each terminal device transmits the actual amount of waste paper stored to the waste paper management device 200 as stock amount actual information.

[0057] The data acquisition unit 203 acquires, for each collection base, the stock amount performance information transmitted from the terminal device of each collection base (step S209), and writes the information in the storage unit 202 (step S210). 11 is a diagram showing an example of stock amount actual information acquired in the current month. The stock amount actual information includes the waste paper type and the amount (stock amount actual) stored in the current month (December in this case). Here, as an example, the stock amount of waste paper type "a" in December is "900 kg", the stock amount of waste paper type "b" in December is "200 kg", and the stock amount of waste paper type "c" in December is "150 kg". For waste paper type "c", stock amount actual information is received from the terminal devices of collection bases "Y" and "Z", and therefore these total values ​​are obtained.

[0058] The procurement forecast generating unit 209 generates procurement forecast information based on the storage volume actual value in the second time period. Here, the procurement forecast generating unit 209 may use the storage volume actual value in the second time period as the procurement forecast information, or may obtain a difference between the stock instruction volume and the stock volume actual value, and generate the obtained difference and the storage volume actual value in the second time period as the procurement forecast information. For example, for the difference between the stock instruction amount and the actual stock amount for waste paper type "type a," the stock instruction amount is "800 kg" and the actual stock amount is "900 kg," so the procurement forecast generation unit 209 calculates that it is "100 kg" more than the stock instruction information; for waste paper type "type b," the stock instruction amount is "250 kg" and the actual stock amount is "200 kg," so the procurement forecast generation unit 209 calculates that it is "50 kg" short; and for waste paper type "type c," it calculates that there is no difference.

[0059] The procurement forecast sending unit 210 sends the procurement forecast information generated by the procurement forecast generating unit 209 to the waste paper processing plant terminal 300 (step S211).

[0060] The waste paper processing plant terminal 300 receives the procurement forecast information transmitted from the waste paper management device 200. This allows the waste paper processing plant of the waste paper processing plant terminal 300 to grasp the procurement forecast for the second period, and if necessary, adjust (fine-tune) the production plan according to the difference between the procurement forecast and the production plan.

[0061] FIG. 12 is a diagram showing production plan information in a case where the production plan is adjusted in accordance with the difference between the procurement forecast and the production plan. In the production plan, in January, the recovered paper type "a" is "800 kg," and the actual stock amount in December is "900 kg," so 100 kg more than the production plan will be received, so the production plan can be adjusted so that in the first and second weeks of January, "300 kg" will be used as planned, and in the third week of January, "250 kg" will be used, which is 50 kg more than the production plan. By making this adjustment, there will be a surplus of "50 kg" of recovered paper type "a" that will not be used in production, but adjustments can be made between the hub base and the recovered paper processing plant so that this will be stored as inventory at the hub base. In addition, in the production plan, the amount of recovered paper type "b" in January is "250 kg," and the actual stock amount in December is "200 kg," so that 50 kg less than the production plan will be received. Therefore, the production plan can be adjusted so that production in the third week of January will use "50 kg," which is 50 kg less than the production plan, and the production in the fourth week of January will be adjusted to be as per the production plan. Here, for recovered paper type "b" in the third week of January, the production period may be shorter than the production plan, but a plan can be made to allocate the shorter period to a period for performing maintenance on equipment on the production line, so that the period can be used effectively.

[0062] According to the embodiment described above, since the wastepaper stock forecast plan can be transmitted to the wastepaper processing plant at a stage (first period) prior to the production period, it is possible to make a long-term production plan at the wastepaper processing plant at an early stage. In addition, since the wastepaper stock forecast plan can be generated and notified based on the past stock amount performance, it is possible to grasp the amount of wastepaper to be received in the future with high accuracy. In addition, since the stock amount results are notified to the waste paper processing plant in the second period, which is the period between the first period and the production period, the waste paper processing plant can grasp the stock amount results before formulating a short-term plan that is planned before the production period. Here, the collection base receives stock instruction information based on the production plan in advance, and can collect in accordance with the stock instruction information, so that deviation of the stock amount from the production plan can be reduced. Therefore, the error of the stock amount from the production plan can be reduced, so that the difference between the long-term production plan and the short-term production plan can be reduced, and it is possible to prevent major changes to the production plan. Even if there is a difference between the long-term production plan and the short-term production plan, the difference is reduced, so that it is easy for the waste paper processing plant to adjust production.

[0063] According to the embodiment described above, a waste paper stock forecast plan can be made at the hub location, and then stock instructions can be sent to each collection location in advance regarding the amount of waste paper to be stored there, thereby reducing the burden of managing the amount of waste paper stored at each collection location. Furthermore, according to the above-described embodiment, a waste paper shipping plan for the hub base can be made based on a forecast plan established at an early stage, so that waste paper can be supplied (shipped) to waste paper processing plants in a stable manner.

[0064] According to the above-described embodiment, depending on the type of hard-to-recycle waste paper, the amount of waste paper collected may vary depending on the season, events, etc., but even in such cases, the waste paper collected at the collection site can be collected at a hub site, temporarily stored, and then shipped to the waste paper processing plant when a certain amount of waste paper has accumulated. Therefore, even if the amount of waste paper collected varies depending on the market conditions, the waste paper processing plant can receive waste paper steadily, and can carry out recycling processing while planning recycling processes such as bioethanol production from an early stage. Therefore, the impact on production plans at the waste paper processing plant can be reduced, and stability can be increased. Furthermore, compared to a case where a wastepaper processing plant receives wastepaper collected from collection centers on an ongoing basis, and then makes a plan for recycling when a certain amount of wastepaper has accumulated, in the above-described embodiment, a production plan for the wastepaper processing plant is made in advance, and wastepaper is shipped from the hub base to the wastepaper processing plant in accordance with that production plan, so that recycling plans can be made from a long-term perspective. In this way, even if the waste paper contains difficult-to-recycle waste paper, for which collection systems have not always been fully established, it will be easier for waste paper processing plants to accept difficult-to-recycle waste paper, and recycling processing will be stable.It will also become possible to make long-term production plans, making it easier to utilize difficult-to-recycle waste paper.

[0065] In addition, when waste paper is received individually from many different collection points, the management burden increases if the collection status of the multiple collection points is managed individually to create a production plan, but the hub base can be used to consolidate waste paper and manage the collection status from each collection point, reducing the burden of waste paper receipt management. In addition, instead of receiving waste paper individually from collection points, it can be consolidate at the hub base and receive waste paper in large units, making it easier to plan production. In addition, waste paper collected from collection points can be collected at the hub base and temporarily stored before being shipped to the waste paper processing plant, so even if there are fluctuations in the collection status, the hub base can absorb the fluctuations because the stock already stored at the hub base can be used for shipping. This allows waste paper processing plants to receive a stable supply of waste paper.

[0066] In addition, although there are multiple types of difficult-to-recycle waste paper, the difficult-to-recycle waste paper is collected from multiple different collection points at a hub location before being shipped to the waste paper processing plant.Therefore, even if the difficult-to-recycle waste paper is of different types, if it belongs to the same category, it can be aggregated into one category to generate a waste paper stock forecast plan.Therefore, by collecting waste paper of different types to correspond to the processing unit at the waste paper processing plant, it becomes easier to carry out recycling processing corresponding to that category, compared to handling it as is by type. Furthermore, waste paper stock plan instruction information can be notified to each collection base, and waste paper can be collected with the waste paper stock plan instruction information as a target, so that waste paper can be collected stably.

[0067] In addition, because wastepaper processing plants can receive wastepaper from hub locations at times according to production plans, there is no need for the plants to store the wastepaper until it can be recycled.

[0068] In the above-described embodiment, when the procurement forecast generating unit 209 generates the procurement forecast, the procurement forecast transmitting unit 210 may also transmit the procurement forecast information to the hub base terminal 100. This allows the hub base to grasp whether the stocked amount in the second period is less than the amount indicated by the stock instruction information, and if a shortage occurs, it may be allocated from the inventory of another collection base or the hub base. For example, since the amount of waste paper type "b" at collection base "X" is "50 kg" less than the stocked amount for December, it is possible to procure the shortage by checking with other collection bases (collection bases other than collection base "X") that can provide waste paper type "b". It is also possible to procure the shortage by using the inventory at the hub base.

[0069] The waste paper management device 200 in the above-mentioned embodiment may be realized by a computer. In that case, a program for realizing this function may be recorded in a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded in the recording medium may be read into a computer system and executed to realize the function. The term "computer system" here includes hardware such as an OS and peripheral devices. The term "computer-readable recording medium" refers to portable media such as flexible disks, optical magnetic disks, ROMs, and CD-ROMs, and storage devices such as hard disks built into a computer system. The term "computer-readable recording medium" may also include a medium that dynamically holds a program for a short period of time, such as a communication line when a program is transmitted via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line, and a medium that holds a program for a certain period of time, such as a volatile memory inside a computer system that is a server or client in that case. The above-mentioned program may be a program for realizing part of the above-mentioned function, or may be a program that can realize the above-mentioned function in combination with a program already recorded in the computer system, or may be a program that is realized using a programmable logic device such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array).

[0070] Although an embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and designs that do not deviate from the gist of the present invention are also included. [Explanation of symbols]

[0071] 10...printing factory terminal, 20...paper container factory terminal, 30...commercial facility terminal, 40...municipality terminal, 50...recycling company terminal, 50a...recycling company terminal, 50b...recycling company terminal, 50c...recycling company terminal, 50d...recycling company terminal, 100...hub base terminal, 200...waste paper management device, 201...communication unit, 202...storage unit, 203...data acquisition unit, 204...tallying unit, 205...forecast plan generation unit, 206...waste paper stock forecast plan transmission unit, 207...stock instruction generation unit, 208...stock instruction transmission unit, 209...procurement forecast generation unit, 210...procurement forecast transmission unit, 211...control unit, 300...waste paper processing factory terminal, 2021...storage amount actual memory unit, 2022...category memory unit, S...waste paper management system

Claims

1. a storage amount record storage unit that stores, for each different collection base, storage amount record information that indicates the amount of collected waste paper stored at the collection base; A forecast plan generating unit that generates a waste paper stock forecast plan by calculating a stock amount of the waste paper transported from each of the collection bases to a hub base and stored therein in a first period based on the storage amount actual information stored in the storage amount actual storage unit; a waste paper stock forecast plan transmitting unit that transmits the waste paper stock forecast plan to a waste paper processing plant terminal of a waste paper processing plant that generates recycled materials from the waste paper; a data acquisition unit that receives from the waste paper processing plant terminal a production plan that is generated in accordance with the waste paper stock forecast plan and indicates the amount of waste paper required to produce the recycled material; a stock instruction generating unit that generates stock instruction information indicating a target value of a storage amount of waste paper at each collection base in a second time period that is closer to the first time period based on the received production plan; A waste paper management system.

2. A stock instruction transmission section that transmits the stock instruction information to a terminal device at a collection point. The waste paper management system according to claim 1 , further comprising:

3. The data acquisition unit acquires, for each collection base station, a storage amount record that indicates a storage amount record of waste paper at each collection base station during the second period; The waste paper management system includes: A procurement forecast generating unit that generates procurement forecast information indicating a procurement forecast of waste paper based on the storage amount record in the second period; a procurement prospect transmission unit that transmits the procurement prospect information to the waste paper processing plant terminal; The waste paper management system according to claim 1 , further comprising:

4. The waste paper collected from the collection site is difficult-to-recycle waste paper and can be separated into a plurality of different types, A classification storage unit that stores the type of waste paper and a classification that indicates a type that can be used in a production process for generating recycled materials from the waste paper in association with each other; A counting unit is provided for counting different types of waste paper by classification based on the storage amount record for each collection base, The forecast plan generating unit generates a waste paper stock forecast plan for each category by tallying up the storage amount actual results for each category based on the tallying result of the tallying unit and estimating an estimated stock amount for each category, The waste paper stock forecast plan transmission unit transmits the waste paper stock forecast plan for each category to the waste paper processing plant terminal. The waste paper management system according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. The forecast plan generating unit obtains an estimated value of the collection amount of the collection base by calculating an average value of past performance values ​​of the collection base within a specified period of time, and calculates an estimated stock amount by aggregating the obtained estimated values ​​for each collection group. The waste paper management system according to claim 4.

6. 1. A computer-implemented waste paper management method, comprising: A waste paper stock forecast plan is generated by calculating a stock amount of the waste paper transported from each collection base to a hub base and stored therein in a first period in the future based on storage amount actual information stored in a storage amount actual storage unit that stores, for each different collection base, storage amount actual information indicating the amount of collected waste paper stored at the collection base; The waste paper stock forecast plan is transmitted to a waste paper processing plant terminal of a waste paper processing plant that generates recycled materials from the waste paper; a data acquisition unit that receives from the waste paper processing plant terminal a production plan that is generated in accordance with the waste paper stock forecast plan and indicates the amount of waste paper required to produce the recycled material; A stock value for each collection base in a second time period that is closer to the first time period is generated based on the received production plan. Waste paper management methods.

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